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February Madness - Live Blog - Feb 06, 2008
posted by: Josh
1:35 p.m. Introductions are currently being made. There are about 20 sportswriters from across the country presently in the Palmer Pierce room at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. Two journalists are paired together to represent one member of the Men's Basketball Committee. Throughout the mock selections, we will offer podcasts with some of the writers as they go through this unique process. 1:49 p.m. It was stormy in Indianapolis last night and I had trouble sleeping, due in large part to my concern that the weather might prevent our mock committee members from making it into town. Since this is an exercise, canceled flights may have had a significant impact on the day’s proceedings but wouldn’t have negatively impacted any actual games. I asked one of the men’s basketball staffers about the actual selections in March and it turns out that committee members are flown in on Tuesday night and begin meeting on Wednesday. Conference championships aren’t completely settled until Sunday, so that provides ample time for the committee to get into town safely and begin deliberating. 1:59 p.m.Before we start looking at the teams, NCAA Director of Public and Media Relations Erik Christianson swung by to brief the media members about updates on the academic progress rate, and specifically how men’s basketball players are performing in the classroom. As many of you know, teams can be penalized for not keeping student-athletes eligible and on track for graduation. Last year, 13 Division I men’s basketball teams lost scholarships and another eight received public warnings for historical penalties. The good news is that academic performance is improving – 55.8 percent of men’s basketball players graduated in 1995 while 63.6 percent graduated from the 2000 cohort. The bottom line is that if programs don’t take the academic performance of their student-athletes seriously, they will be penalized, and will eventually find themselves out of the mix come March. 2:10 p.m. NCAA Senior Vice President Greg Shaheen is giving the lowdown about the actual selections process that transpires at The Westin each March. An interesting note: committee members don’t take place in conversations that concern their institutions. Essentially, a conference commissioner won’t participate in discussions about his or her conference schools, and an athletics director isn’t permitted to discuss his or her own institution. It’s got to be intense for those individuals to sit there quietly as the postseason fates of their squads are decided. 2:33 p.m. All of today's participants are here except for Andy Katz, who is teaming with Dick Jerardi of The Philadelphia News to represent committee chair Tom O'Connor. Andy's plane was delayed and he is en route to the national office right now. 2:53 p.m. We were just informed of which journalists will represent which committee members during the mock selections. Here’s the list: • Dick Jerardi (Philadelphia Daily News)/Andy Katz (ESPN .com) – Tom O’Connor All of the actual committee members are athletics directors except for LeCrone and Slive, who are commissioners of the Horizon League and SEC, respectively. 3:08 p.m. Earlier we addressed that the Men’s Basketball Committee begins discussions on the Wednesday before Selection Sunday. We just learned that before dinner on Wednesday, committee members submit an initial ballot with two columns “AL” and “C.” The “AL” or “at-large” column, represents up to 34 no-brainers that will make the tournament regardless of what happens in the conference tournaments. There don’t have to be 34 teams on the “AL” list, but there can’t be any more than that. On the “C” or “consideration” list, are all of the other teams that committee members believe merit debate. 3:17 p.m. There isn’t a requirement for whether athletics directors or conference commissioner make up the actual committee, but there are geographic requirements. There is also a provision for six representatives to come from Football Bowl Subdivision schools and four committee members from Football Championship Subdivision/non-football sponsoring Division I institutions. 3:31 p.m. The process has begun! Our mock committee members are now submitting their initial ballots. We should have some results in 20 minutes or so. 3:44 p.m. The initial ballot has just been tallied. The following 18 teams have been selected by at least seven committee members (in this case, two sportswriters). Arizona 3:52 p.m. The following 49 teams received two or more votes on the at-large ballot or were nominated by a committee member:
3:55 p.m. The following 10 teams were regular-season conference winners (pre-determined by NCAA staff for the mock exercise) and were added to the list: Alabama State 4:09 p.m. Right now, we’re simulating Thursday morning, and committee members are ranking their top eight teams on the “consideration list.” After the cumulative rankings are tallied, four teams will move over to join the other 18 on the “at-large list.” 4:11 p.m. A discussion just popped up about Dayton and whether the injury to freshman Chris Wright could and should affect a tournament berth and/or seeding for the Flyers. The answer was affirmative – “player availability” is taken into account and can include illness, injury, academic issues, etc. 4:25 p.m. The committee just put up what they call the “rank eight.” The teams will be ordered from 1-8 and the top four move over to join the 18 already on the “at-large list.” The eight teams are: Gonzaga 4:27 p.m. The point was just raised that Louisville beat Marquette twice. Folks around the room are sharing thoughts about the teams on the board and are having some put up side-by-side to compare strength of schedule, record against common opponents, wins versus the top 50, RPI, etc. 4:36 p.m. There have been good questions coming in about the automatic qualifiers – those teams that have earned access to the tournament based on winning their conference championships. The NCAA staff determined conference winners for 15 conferences at this point. More conference winners will be announced throughout the evening to provide a realistic experience. Here are the 15 at this point: Atlantic Sun – Belmont 4:43 p.m. The top four teams determined from the “rank eight” list were: Kansas State These four have moved from the “consideration list” to the “at-large list.” The other four are holding. 4:50 p.m. Contrary to popular belief, the committee doesn’t look to get a certain number of teams from a conference in. After the automatic qualifiers, every team is treated as an independent. 5:01 p.m. There are 15 automatic qualifiers and 22 at-large teams right now. The second “rank eight” was just determined: Gonzaga The merits of these teams are being debated right now. 5:09 p.m. Eric Prisbell from The Washington Post checks the computers.
5:12 p.m. The following four teams were added to the at-large list: Gonzaga Purdue and Notre Dame have gone through two cycles of rankings and didn’t make it to the at-large field. Teams that go through two “rank eights” without making it to the “at-large list,” go back to the “consideration list.” 5:16 p.m. The conversation right now is about why Purdue hasn’t been moved over to the “at-large list.” Some of Purdue’s detractors are suggesting that the Big Ten doesn’t stack up and it doesn’t matter that the Boilermakers are a first-place team. 5:24 p.m. Four new teams were just announced as conference winners and will receive automatic bids to the tournament: America East – UMBC 5:27 p.m. Since Memphis and Pittsburgh were on the original at-large list, that group has now been reduced from 26 to 24. There are 19 teams that have earned access to the tournament through automatic qualifications. The committee is compiling its third “rank eight” list right now and four teams will then be moved to the “at-large list.” 5:31 p.m. The third “rank eight” was just announced. The teams are: Baylor Notre Dame and Purdue were put back on after passing through the first two "rank eights." 5:37 p.m. The following four teams have been added to the at-large list: Clemson Purdue passed through for a third time. There are 28 at-large teams now selected, and along with 19 automatic qualifiers, we have 47 teams in the field. 5:39 p.m. With 47 teams now in the field, the mock committee is taking its first stab at seeding. The top eight teams are now being ranked. 5:52 p.m. The top eight teams in the field have been identified: Duke The committee is now choosing the top four teams from that eight, essentially selecting its No. 1 seeds. 5:57 p.m. The overall No. 1 seed is Memphis. UCLA, Kansas and Duke are the other top seeds. This is not final by any means – there will be ample opportunities to reorder. It’s also important to keep in mind that not all conference championship winners have been announced at this point. 6:00 p.m. It was just pointed out that UCLA still earned a top seed despite the fact that it has been reported that the Bruins were eliminated in the Pac-10 tournament. The weight of conference tournaments is now being discussed. 6:11 p.m. In attempting to select the next eight teams to be considered for seeding, there were 17 teams put forward by different people in the room. Those selected were: Georgetown Four will be chosen as No. 2 seeds. 6:15 p.m. The 5-8 teams have been chosen. They will occupy No. 2 seeds at this point: North Carolina 6:16 p.m. We are putting seeding on hold and moving back to tournament selections. The committee will "rank eight" and then push four over to the "at-large list." 6:22 p.m. The qualifications of BYU, Utah State and Arkansas are being debated.
This conversation will be particularly interesting during tomorrow’s mock exercise, pending the outcome of tonight’s game against Connecticut. 6:41 p.m. The next “rank eight” has been determined for the “at-large list.” The teams are: Arkansas Of note is a conversation that recently transpired. In debating whether or not Maryland or Syracuse should make the list of eight, results against common opponents were shared. 6:59 p.m. Before dinner, I had a chance to chat with USA Today's Steve Wieberg, who shared his impressions of the mock selection process. Listen to Steve Wieberg 7:31 p.m. We're back from dinner. We feasted on chicken, fish, salad and some of the best cheesy potatoes this side of Boise. 7:37 p.m. Four more teams were selected for the “at-large list”: Baylor Davidson was passed over twice and now goes back to the original “consideration list.” There are now 32 at-large teams on the list. 7:44 p.m. With 19 automatic qualifiers and 32 teams on the at-large list, we have 51 teams fairly securely in the field (at-large bids are not yet absolute). The Sunday conference championships have not yet been determined. With few spots remaining in the field, the mock committee members have just been advised by Tom O’Connor, the athletics director at George Mason and actual committee chair. He told them that this is when the committee really begins to crunch all of the numbers closely to make sure that the best teams end up in the field. He reminded the sportswriters that the committee members never want to do wrong by the student-athletes. 7:57 p.m. The conversation has shifted to Davidson and some are bothered by the program’s strength of schedule. Davidson is undefeated in its conference but has lost all four of its games against teams with an RPI from 1-50. The Wildcats are 3-1 against teams with RPIs between 51 and 100 – two of the wins are over Chattanooga. One of the issues is that Davidson plays in the Southern Conference, which currently has a conference RPI of 17. To Davidson’s credit, however, is a tough schedule that included non-league games against Duke and North Carolina. This statement was just made: “It goes back to who you play, where you play and how you did.” 8:04 p.m. It was just announced that St. Joseph’s won the Atlantic-10 conference championship. Since the Hawks were already in the at-large field, another spot has opened up. We now have 20 teams that have earned automatic bids and 31 on the at-large list. With 34 at-large bids available, that means we have three spots remaining. Of course, there are other conference finals that still must be played. 8:09 p.m. Votes are in for the next “rank eight.” Six teams advanced to the group, but three programs tied for the final two spots: These six programs advanced: Arizona State Head-to-head match-ups are now being discussed for the following three programs as the committee determines which two should move to the group of eight: Florida 8:10 p.m. Florida and Ohio State moved over to the “rank eight.” 8:21 p.m. Four more teams were just added to the at-large list: Arkansas There are 35 now in the at-large field, which has created an overflow of one. Spots should open as the conference tournament results come in. 8:26 p.m. We have moved back over to seeding. These eight teams are being considered for teams 9-12, better known as the No. 3 seeds: Arizona 8:35 p.m. The following four teams have earned No. 3 seeds: Wisconsin 8:37 p.m. The following three teams won their conference championships: Hampton - Mid-Eastern 8:44 p.m. The following eight teams are now being considered for No. 4 seeds: Butler 8:47 p.m. The No. 4 seeds are: Connecticut Among the folks in the room, Butler received votes between 1 and 7 (from the group of eight), Michigan State was ranked between 1 and 8 and Kansas State was ranked between 2 and 8. Just goes to show you that there is disparity in opinions. 9:07 p.m. The next group of eight has been selected as the committee looks at the No. 5 seeds: Drake 9:10 p.m. Here are your No. 5 seeds: Kansas State 9:12 p.m. BYU has just been announced as the Mountain West winner. Later on, the committee will have to find a way to place the Cougars in a Thursday-Saturday bracket due to the university’s religious standards. There are 23 teams that have now won conference tournaments. 9:15 p.m. Oregon has been announced as the Pac-10 tournament winner. 9:17 p.m. Taking a look back at the at-large field, there are 35 teams selected with 34 spots available. There are a few conference championships still outstanding with two finalists that have already been selected for the at-large fields. ACC Championship: Duke and North Carolina After those games are decided, three more spots will open up. If Mississippi beats Florida in the SEC final, an additional spot will open up. 9:19 p.m. Three more conference tournament winners have been announced: 9:23 p.m. Nevada beat Utah State to win the Western Athletic Conference title. That makes 25 teams with automatic bids. Six to go. 9:29 p.m. At this point, we have 35 at-large teams and two open spots. The committee is sifting through the 30 teams remaining on the “consideration list” and will move eight to rank for the final at-large spots. 9:32 p.m. Here are the eight teams: Arizona State The top two will be in the tournament and a third could get in pending the SEC final result. The bottom five teams will not make the field. 9:38 p.m. An interesting tidbit – only seven of the 10 committee members are permitted to vote in this situation. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive wouldn’t be allowed to vote because Florida is under consideration, George Mason AD Tom O’Connor wouldn’t be allowed to vote because the Patriots are under consideration and Ohio State AD Gene Smith can’t weigh in because the Buckeyes are on the list. For this exercise, the sportswriters acting as those particular committee members are not voting. 9:40 p.m. A sundae bar was just brought into the room. The NCAA Men's Basketball staff informed us that ice cream is consumed each night by the actual committee. 9:46 p.m. These three teams were just added to the at-large field: Massachusetts Because Florida and Mississippi are both in the at-large field, the SEC tournament final won't force anyone out of the field and one final spot opens up. Ohio State will fill the final at-large spot. The field of 65 has been finalized. 9:50 p.m. For fans of Arizona State, George Mason, North Carolina State, South Alabama and Syracuse – your bubble has burst. Just a note – tonight’s Syracuse loss to Connecticut was not factored into this field. 9:55 p.m. We’re now fully into the seeding. These eight teams are being considered for No. 6 seeds: Arkansas 10:02 p.m. NCAA President Myles Brand just came in to greet the sportswriters. 10:04 p.m. Sam Houston State just won the Southland Conference Tournament. 10:06 p.m. Kansas won the Big 12 Championship over Texas A&M. Both teams were already in the field. 10:08 p.m. The No. 6 seeds have been determined: Texas A&M 10:13 p.m. The following eight teams are being considered for the No. 7 seeds in the draw: Arkansas 10:14 p.m. North Carolina beat Duke at the buzzer to win the ACC tournament final. 10:21 p.m. UNC Asheville won the Big South championship. 10:23 p.m. The following have been selected as No. 7 seeds: Oklahoma 10:28 p.m. These teams are being considered for No. 8 seeds: Arkansas 10:36 p.m. The following have been selected as No. 8 seeds: Notre Dame Although the committee wouldn’t do it this way, those that weren’t selected as No. 8 seeds were automatically chosen as No. 9 seeds. This was done in the interest of time for tonight’s exercise. Generally, the committee would go back and rank eight teams to select the four No. 9 seeds. Tonight, the four No. 9 seeds are: Rhode Island 10:41 p.m. The sportswriters have headed next door to watch the completion of the game between Duke and North Carolina. The men’s basketball staff is filling out the bottom half of the seeded teams to speed up the process so we can get to bracketing. 10:53 p.m. The seed list has been completed. The No. 10 seeds are: Vanderbilt The No. 11 seeds are: Dayton The No. 12 seeds are: Florida 11:02 p.m. The Nos. 13-16 seeds have been selected as well, but it’s important to share a couple of notes about the “fourth quadrant.” The Men’s Basketball Committee forms a sub-committee – which meets for the first time on the Thursday before Selection Sunday – to address the fourth quadrant. The overall committee must give final approval of the selections, but the sub-committee is used to expedite the seeding process. Some of the factors the sub-committee uses to seed the bottom 17 teams are RPI, conference RPI, strength-of-schedule, teams that win regular-season conference title, etc. The one qualification for the opening-round game is that two historically black schools cannot play one another. 11:04 p.m. The No. 13 seeds: Creighton The No. 14 seeds: Siena The No. 15 seeds: Belmont The No. 16 seeds: UNC Wilmington Opening-round game teams: 11:25 p.m. At this point, Massachusetts and Vanderbilt have swapped seeds, with the Minutemen becoming a No. 10 seed and Vanderbilt grabbing a No. 9. The Commodores beat Massachusetts in Nashville on January 5, 97-88, and the committee felt that warranted a higher seed for Vanderbilt. 11:26 p.m. In order to swap seeded teams, all but two eligible members of the committee must approve the move. 11:32 p.m. Some questions are being raised about whether or not Arizona and Texas deserve No. 3 seeds. 11:35 p.m. Washington State was moved from the 18th overall team to 16th, which is a move from No. 5 to No. 4. Connecticut was moved to 17th and Kansas State to 18th to accommodate Wazzou’s move up. 11:38 p.m. A motion was made to swap Notre Dame and Gonzaga. Notre Dame moves from the 29th overall seed to No. 28, a change from a No. 8 seed to No. 7. 11:41 p.m. The committee is questioning whether Vanderbilt, at 18-4, should be seeded higher than No. 9. 11:44 p.m. Someone raised that Dayton’s RPI is 13 and is seeded 41st overall. The committee member was reminder that Dayton’s best player is injured. 11:46 p.m. Dayton and Mississippi are below .500 in their conferences, but having a conference record above .500 is not a pre-requisite for making the field. 11:47 p.m. Dayton and Ohio State just swapped seeds. Dayton becomes a No. 10 seed and the Buckeyes move to No. 11. 11:49 p.m. Sam Houston State and Creighton swapped spots. Sam Houston State moves down to a No. 13 seed while Creighton grabs a No. 12. 11:51 p.m. Cornell was question as a No. 13 seed, but a committee member who has seen the Big Red play sold the group when he vouched for how good they are. 12:00 a.m. Wednesday has become Thursday. We are about to begin bracketing the teams. 12:02 a.m. Conference affiliation has just been mentioned for the first time. Here is a snapshot breakdown: ACC – 4 12:10 a.m. Regions are now being assigned. As the tournament’s top seed, Memphis had the first chance to be assigned and the committee sent the Tigers to the South Regional (Houston). The second No. 1 seed is UCLA, which was sent to the West Regional (Phoenix). Kansas was selected as the top seed in the Midwest Regional (Detroit) and Duke gets some Carolina love in the East Regional (Charlotte). 12:13 a.m. As we assign teams to region, keep in mind that teams from the same conference cannot meet before the regional final. If nine teams from a conference get it, the top three teams in the conference still can't play one another, but the other six can meet in the regional semifinals. 12:20 a.m. Stanford was selected as No. 2 seed in the South and with UCLA the top seed in the West, Arizona can only go the Midwest or East. This gets back to the rule we mentioned a few moments ago – the top three teams from a conference cannot meet before the Final Four. Arizona was sent to the Midwest region. 12:28 a.m. I didn’t realize this, but the committee keeps tabs on the cumulative seeds of the regions as they go along to try and ensure that they are even in strength. For instance, Memphis is the top overall seed in the tournament and is headed south. Stanford is the No. 2 seed in that region is No. 8 overall. Pittsburgh is No. 13 overall and is third in the South regional while Butler, at No. 15 overall, is the No. 4 seed. If you add it all up (1+8+13+15), we get 37. That’s the weakest region right now – the other three are at 33. Balance is the priority but the committee puts a lot of time into travel considerations for each team as well. 12:35 a.m. The travel considerations that come in to play for regional assignments are not exactly the same as those for the first and second round match-ups. As the top seed in the bracket, Memphis can play at any of eight first and second-round sites, and the committee will do its best to keep the team close to home. In this exercise, Memphis will play its first game in Little Rock, Arkansas. 12:51 a.m. Assigning sites is a dizzying process. 12:53 a.m. We just found out that balance issues are only tracked through the first four seeds. After that, each team is counted as its seed (No. 5, 6, 7...), not its overall position in the field. 12:58 a.m. Arkansas was about to be placed as a No. 8 seed in Little Rock, but some weren’t at ease with a team seeded that low playing in its home state. The Hogs were moved Omaha. 1:07 a.m. BYU earned a No. 11 seed, but the committee couldn't accommodate its need to play on a Thursday-Saturday schedule, so the Cougars were moved to a No. 12 seed. 1:19 a.m. The committee has the purview to move teams up and down in their seeding to help the bracket make sense with regard to travel and location. A number of teams have moved up and down a seed since we began bracketing. 1:26 a.m. The bracketing is done – a PDF will be made available as soon as possible. Here are the 65 teams selected through the mock exercise:
Here's the bracket from the mock selection: 
CommentsLove the pic of our fearless leader. -Otto Why is this taking so long? We'll be here for the next 12 hours. Right now, all of the mock committee members are getting briefed on the process. What kind of snacks do you have? There are sodas and snacks in the other room, but we were just informed that there are in fact pretzels and popcorn supplied at The Westin. I will provide food updates throughout the night. Josh, Will you be doing a live blog for tomorrow's broadcasters' mock bracket? I will definitely be here tomorrow, Howard. Because some of this will be repetitive tomorrow, my posts won't be as descriptive, but I will be here all day as well to report on the proceedings and answer questions. The electronic media will go through the same mock selections tomorrow and I will be most interested to see where the variations in seeding/bracketing come from, so we know what the variables are come March. Woo Hoo! Those Golden Bears of Morgan State get love from the pseudo committee! So, does this mean that the "committee" has Drake winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney? Here is a team that should warrant at-large consideration: They've beaten Villanova All these teams are on the lists above This team is also currently 5-5 in conference play The Cincinnati Bearcats Actually, this group determined that Drake is one of the best 18 at-large teams in the country right now (Wednesday evening.). There are 34 at-large spots in the field. where's Butler? So, have the conference champions not been decided yet? If Drake doesn't win the MVC Tourney, doesn't that mean that a second MVC team will be in the NCAA field (Probably either Illinois State, Bradley, or Creighton.) Butler is on the AQ list because the Bulldogs have been projected as the Horizon League winner. I will share that list in a moment. Good stuff Josh... interesting to see the committee's thoughts on Dayton (and the situation like it with injuries and such) as well as the look at some of the at-large teams... very interesting stuff. St. Mary's on the "AQ" list, too? As you’ll see from the post at 4:36, Butler earned the Horizon League bid by winning the tournament. Drake lost in the MVC tournament, so Creighton earned the automatic berth. Drake still was determined to be one of the top 18 teams in the field and remains on the “at-large” list. How are the top "AQ" teams integrated into the teams already voted upon? Spencer is all confused. After Drake picked up a victory at Illinois State last night, it looks like Drake will get a NCAA bid outright. 20 games in a row is pretty impressive. The Valley should get 1-2 additional teams in. Creighton and ??? Bradley or Illinois State should make some noise. Bracket Buster game of Butler vs. Drake will tell a lot about both of these teams. Good work today Josh...since last year's mock event, I've wanted to be a part of it. Thanks for the scoop. p.s. any lobbying to get Butler a 3 seed is much appreciated. The AQ teams are in. While the "at-large list" isn't absolute, those teams should make the field as well. The process seems to get more and more difficult as teams are moved from the "consideration list" to the "at-large list." As it stands right now, 15 teams have earned AQs and 22 are on the "at-large list." As conference tournament results come in, however, the "at-large list" could be compromised. I am one of the bigger Drake fans out there. I understand that Drake should get a pretty good ranking in the NCAA Tourney, but I was trying to figure out whether or not the committee thought Drake would win the MVC Tourney. I agree that the Drake at Butler game will be huge. Will the winner of that game be on track to get a 2 seed? It's gonna be hard for Drake to go the MVC tourney and reg season unblemished. That said, this is a great team, in the truest sense. If they can go 21-0 in the MVC, they deserve a two seed and go to Omaha. This has nothing to do with what the committee "thinks" will happen. Creighton was randomly selected to win the MVC and the mock committee, made up of sportswriters, needs to deal with that. How are teams "randomly selected?" Is it like the NBA Lottery with increasing odds for the teams with the better records, or is it every team gets a sinlge draw? The way the procedures seem to dictate, what a team does in its conference tourney, beyond qualifying as an auto bid, doesn't have great significance attached to its overall profile. Does that make sense? This is just an exercise and the NCAA staff wanted to provide a realistic simulation for the journalists. That means that the favorites for each conference weren't necessarily selected because the favorites don't always earn the automatic bid in March. Make sense? Yep.....just trying to throw in some upsets....thanks for the help. It seems like they have a whole lot of work left to do. What chance do these guys have of finishing before the next committee meets tomorrow? That is an astute observation. I think we probably have at least six hours to go. I expect seeding will take an extremely long time. Woah, how does Arkansas fall so far? They are ballin right now. I would know. I'm Jimmy Dykes. That's just what this mock committee has determined based on the criteria, observations and debate. The seedings have yet to completed. Which one of the media guys do I get to chastise on national TV after the selection process is over? I'm back again....how does Drake go from being mentioned for a possible three seed to not even getting a 4 seed? Tell Calapari my offer still stands. Kansas State as a 4 seed, even I think that's overrated. It’s an interesting question. Remember that earlier in the afternoon Purdue and Notre Dame were identified as part of the original “rank eight” and went through two votes before being added to the at-large field. Additionally, remember that Butler just grabbed a No. 4 seed, but two people in the room thought the Bulldogs were only the seventh best out of the eight teams considered for the No. 4 line. In your face Boeheim. Thabeet is your daddy. UH OH! Oregon sneaks in with an automatic bid! Better not knock Arkansas out. Why is it that nearly EVERY tournament, 50% of the field is 'BCS', and they are ALWAYS distributed equally among each region, thus virtually ENSURING a BCS Champion? Hmm... TV cash have anything to do with it? Hmmm..... Hal, If you look at the breakdown at 12:01 a.m., it's pretty clear that the BCS conferences aren't gaining admittance to the field because of money. The Atlantic-10 has five teams in the field. I'm working on some features on StatSheet.com to help mock selection committees. Take a look at the Proximity report: http://statsheet.com/mcb/ncaatourneys/proximity or the Top 105 comparison report: More coming... Josh... Wait until the real field is 'randomly' chosen in March. As in previous years, you will find 32 BCS distributed almost EXACTLY 8,8,8,8 per region -- Ensuring a highly rated Final Four. This is not conspiracy, it is a statistical fact..... Don't even attempt that money doesn't factor into decisions when 90% of the Association's entire budget rides on this one tournament -- with its OWN members responsible for choosing what games CBS' advertisers (Corporate Champions) will be bidding on for their ROI. Again Josh...most excellent work with the blog. Thanks for all the info. Assuming Ole Miss makes the NCAA's above a Mississippi State team that is leading the Western Division in the SEC is beyond absurd. That's what the committee decided. We'll see what happens with those two programs in today's mock exercise. Post a Comment |
  
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