Is the Selection Committee a Joke?

[Wireman]

I'm not sure I've ever been more disappointed in the NCAA Selection Committee as I am this season.

 

I think there are multiple seeding errors, teams left out that should be in the tournament and all kinds of little snafus that rub me the wrong way.

 

Anyone else think the selection committee blew it and should be reevaluated? I think the cherry on top is that the committee chairman was interviewed multiple times and seems to never answer any of the questions. He just rambles and works himself around every difficult question.

 

Some things that bug me:

 

- Louisville is clearly playing better than a 4-seed; heck, they are ranked in the top 5. The Cards started and ended the season in the top 5.

 

- Kentucky is playing better than an 8-seed. Yes, they went through struggles this season but are playing good basketball now. They should be higher than an 8-seed.

 

- How is Kansas a 2-seed with 9 losses? Yes, they played a tough schedule but they also lost 9 games and some of those were bad losses. Kentucky loses 10 games and is an 8-seed, Kansas loses 9 games and is a 2-seed. Makes perfect sense.

 

- SMU is ranked No. 25 and doesn't get into the tournament at all?

 

- Louisville vs. Manhattan; I'm sure things "randomly" worked out to where Rick Pitino is matched up against his former assistant Steve Masiello in the first round

 

- Oh yeah, Louisville and Kentucky are perfectly set up for a Sweet 16 rivalry game; and they happened to throw Duke in the region as well.

 

There are many other things but that's a good start...what bothers you about this NCAA Tournament?

[doubledeuce]

As Oscar Combs tweeted about, only one regional site with a dome is Indy. So the committee has UK, Duke,UL, Michigan and Witchita St in that bracket to help make sure there are plenty of people in those seats.

[LOOGY]

This years bracket kind of summarizes the NCAA as a whole. Ignorant, incompetent, and and just plain ol' corrupt.

[Getslow]

It's abundantly clear how much the committee loves the RPI, but that's not a particularly good measure of anything. Louisville could have beaten Rutgers, Houston, et al. by three points each and would have had the same effect as beating them by 40-50. It takes schedule into account without doing a very good job of looking at how a team performed against that schedule.

 

Ken Pomeroy's rating has UofL as one of (I think) only three teams in the country in the top 15 for both schedule-adjusted offense and defense.

 

Several guys said yesterday that Louisville "passes the eye test" but are hurt by "the numbers". To that, I have two responses: 1) the "eye-test" is dumb and 2) people talk about the "eye-test" because they don't actually know how "the numbers" work and use the wrong stats.

 

The NCAA selection committee doting on RPI is the basketball equivalent of the guy who thinks wins are the best measure for determining the talent of a major league pitcher.

[UKMustangFan]

Rankings are absolutely meaningless when it comes to the tournament and seeding....

[Jumper_Dad]

Committee loves putting butt in seats IMO with seeding the way it is.

[MJAlltheWay24]

I'm not sure why they coin a "Number 1 Overall Seed". It's fun and all but how could you call Florida the overall and give the cake walk to Arizona.

[MJAlltheWay24]

Committee loves putting butt in seats IMO with seeding the way it is.

 

Completely agree.

 

Think Kentucky still lands as the 8 seed with a win yesterday?

[mobaar]

It's abundantly clear how much the committee loves the RPI, but that's not a particularly good measure of anything.

 

Kinda. Kentucky RPI = 18.

[mobaar]

I think they've gotten way too caught up with geography.

[Wireman]

NCAA Tournament 2014: Ranking the field of 68 - NCAA Basketball - Sporting News

[Michael Corleone]

Simple answer is Yes they are a joke.

[Getslow]

I think they've gotten way too caught up with geography.

 

I think so too. Right before Creighton's name was called, I was really hoping Louisville would grab that No. 3 seed out West. I couldn't care less about being in Indianapolis; much rather have the better matchups that come with a West regional.

[bugatti]

I realize it is a helpless job, but they bring it upon themselves. The problem is they pigeon hole themselves with too many rules. Again, seed them 1-68 and pair them accordingly like a normal tournament, regardless of proximity or conference affiliation. The only teams that have earned the right to be seeded according to their proximity are the #1 seeds. No person has ever given me a good reason as to why if you have two Big East teams paired against one another in Round 1, why that is such a big deal?

[ColonelCrazy]

It's the same thing every year. Everybody complains about the seeding, the talking heads go on & on about it, and it just fills the gap until the games actually begin. Then, every year the tourney is great.