Well, it's out! The field of 65 has been released, and by now I'm sure most people have painstakingly looked over who's going to win that first round matchup between Kent St. and UNLV. As if if people can tell you anything substantial about either of the two teams., like for instance Kent St.'s mascot. Anyways, the best sporting event in the country begins Tuesday night in a rather lackluster way, with the Opening Round game.
In all, I think the committee did a decent job. I'm not going to believe the selection process is as grueling as they say. These dozen or so people stay in a 5 star hotel, secluded from society pampered like you wouldn't believe for a week, and get paid for it. It's not like they show up Saturday afternoon after a wild Friday night, and see an empty bracket in front of them. No, these folks have a pretty decent idea who's in, and who's going where by the time they get to the weekend. Their toughest decision is selecting the final 2 or 3 teams to get at large berths, but I have a feeling their unspoken motto is, "When in doubt, don't pick a mid-major". The selection committee had a stroke of genius when they allowed sports writers to "simulate" the process in February. They give the writers about a tenth of the actual time it takes to get a bracket out, and get them to think it's a much more difficult process than it actually is. Think about it. The committee meets at least a week prior to selection Sunday, and all they have to do is watch basketball and crunch numbers. It's amazing how this is such a hard process, yet they have the field figured out less than an hour after the final conference tournament title game is concluded.
Now as far as the bracket, it does seem like their motto held true this year. I won't for a second believe there was much of a difference between VCU, and Illinois St. compared to 'Nova, Oregon, and Arizona, except for the most obvious, the percieved power of their conferences. My feeling is, if you've got double digit losses on the season, and in conference games (including conference tournaments) then it probably means you aren't worthy of getting an at-large bid. Anyone who doesn't like that line of thinking needs to convince me otherwise. I am glad however the committee gave recognition to Drake as a 5 seed, only to pit them against a team with 28 wins on the season. Again, the committee showed it's true colors with that decision, and the decision to give Butler a 7 seed, with their opponent being another mid-major. Make no mistake folks, the committee has put the cap on non-BCS at large's to 6. Now that C-USA has become a 1 bid league, 6 at large bids will be the norm. I'm sure if you're a BCS conference fan you love it, as for me, I'd rather see a 20+ win VCU or Illinois St. team get a shot, rather than give BCS teams the benefit of the doubt.
Stay tuned for my breakdown of how to make bracket selections. I've gone back and done some research, in some aspects back to 1990 looking for trends. Also, if you filled out your brackets first thing yesterday evening, go back and look at it again. Take a few moments and digest all the information available to you. Look at the location of the game, time of the game, and what day they are playing on. For instance, don't believe the hype about Georgia. Anyone who picked them to upset Xavier needs to breathe and stop listening to ESPN. Georgia plays on a Thursday, and is the first game out of the gate.
BTW, take my advice on not listening to ESPN as you go through your brackets. They are paid to pick the favorites, and act like a 10 beating a 7 is a monumental upset. I'll give you a little preview of what's to come tomorrow. If you see any so called "expert" take 3 #1 seeds to the final 4 (no "expert" is dumb enough to pick all 4 #1 seeds, although deep down they really want to), right away put your TV on mute. since 1990 3 #1 seeds have made the final 4 just three times, and hasn't happened this decade.
That's all for now. Like I said tune in tomorrow for some interesting bits of info I've compiled regarding how NCAA tournaments play out.
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