Listen, we all know Xavier got snubbed. A solid 4-17 in the top two quads, only one Q3 loss, and a run all the way to the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. That’s a team that should be in.
But other than that, the Selection Committee has finally gotten it right. For years there have been questions about how the field was formed, and whether it was all popularity, or money, or name recognition that got teams in. The system was about as clear as the reasons for another war in the middle east.
As a distraction? Because we hadn’t in awhile? Just because? It was hard to sort exactly why mediocre high-majors snuck in or mid-majors that had accumulated vaguely impressive resumes landed single digit seeds.
This year the NCAA said it would be a lot of NET, metrics, and wins above bubble. Then, shockingly they held to that. The questions coming in were whether Auburn, Oklahoma, or Indiana would ride their strength of schedule into the tournament and what would happen to Miami. The Miami question was tied into the other ones. Does it matter if you win every game if the teams you beat aren’t very good (or are flat out terrible)? Does it matter if you play a great schedule if you are pretty pitiful against those top teams?
We found out early. Texas got in, which was a warning shot to the rest of the bubble. Texas wasn’t great, but they actually won some of the Q1 games they played. Sure enough, that mattered. SMU also got in. As it turns out, winning games matters. Auburn, the great .500 question, was left out. There is some relief in the committee finally deciding that actually winning games matters. Playing a tough schedule should be a benefit if you demonstrate you can win some of those games. SMU won 20, Texas was 18-14. Auburn was 17-16 and went a shocking 4-13 in Q1 and 7-15 in the top two quads. The rest of the bubble was just a hair better.
The other message that committee sent was that you have to try to schedule someone. Miami was in, and sort of comfortably, but they took a massive hit in seeding because they beat up on a pitiful schedule. So pitiful, in fact, that for the purposes of the NCAA they are 28-1. Yes, beating three NAIA teams doesn’t actually count toward your resume. Who knew? But, Miami did win every D1 regular season game they played and that should count for something. It got them in, now they get a chance to prove they can beat good competition.
No one was snubbed, no undeserving team got in. Money will, like it always does, eventually win out, but expanding this thing would be stupid. No one is clamoring to watch Auburn play San Diego State. That’s gross. Frankly, only Vanderbilt has a real argument about much of anything. They are clearly better than all of the four seeds and yet somehow landed on the five line. Maybe the committee just felt like doing something that would cause some discussion.
Because other than that this bracket looks really good. It’s not the 68 best teams because it isn’t supposed to be. It is the 68 teams that deserve to be here, though, and for that the NCAA should be commended.
