By Ryan Dunleavy
It is a ridiculous idea to suggest that the NCAA Tournament committee selects its 65 participants and THEN seeds them in order to create the most intriguing matchups.
Or is it?
Nevada versus Creighton and Butler versus Old Dominion in the first round? A possible second-round rematch of last year’s Gonzaga-UCLA thriller? Star freshmen Kevin Durant of Texas and Brandan Wright of North Carolina meeting in the Sweet 16?
No, some of these matchups are too good to be devised on purpose. After one of the unpredictable college basketball regular seasons in recent history, it only seems fitting that this Selection Sunday had experts demanding a recount quicker before you could finish listening to One Shining Moment.
Here is our review of the madness.
FIVE WINNERS
1. Stanford University
With 104 20-win teams to consider, the question is
why the Cardinal, losers of six of their past nine including choking away a
Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinal against USC? Only two of the 65 teams have
less than 20 wins, and Miami (Ohio) was an automatic berth. At 18-12,
Stanford’s selection leaves even the top geniuses guessing.
2. University of Tennessee
After barely surviving his first-round game as a
No. 2 seed last year, coach Bruce Pearl celebrated with fans as if he had
just won the national championship instead of quietly saying a thank-you
prayer. It appears he said one this year, and it was answered with a soft
mid-major in Long Beach State and an inexperienced probable second-round
opponent in Virginia.
3. Big Ten
What will having two of the top six teams in the country do for
you? If you’re the Big Ten Conference, it will get three of your bubble
teams – Michigan State, Purdue and Illinois – invited to the dance. The Big
Ten was average top to bottom this season, but its mediocre teams got a
break because losses to Ohio State and Wisconsin virtually are disregarded.
Of course, even this break could not earn Michigan a bid.
4. Virginia and Indiana
The Mother State (Virginia) had a mother of a
Sunday when four schools earned bids. Colonial Athletic Association champion
Virginia Commonwealth was known and Virginia Tech and Virginia were expected
at-larges, but Old Dominion completed the quartet. The Hoosier state also
got four bids – all at-larges. The namesaked Indiana Hoosiers as well as
Butler, Purdue and Notre Dame are all bringing the Midwestern flavor.
5. San Antonio Region
Eight of the 16 teams earned automatic bids, seven by
winning their conference tournaments and UPenn by winning the Ivy League
regular-season title. That’s a lot of hot teams playing good basketball
right now. And let’s not forget Virginia, Xavier, BYU, and Nevada also were
all regular-season conference champs. Ohio State is the favorite, but any of
about 10 teams could remember the Alamo.
