Tourney thoughts...

The NCAA tournament selection committee just doesn’t make sense sometimes. I think they did a good job with getting the right teams in the tournament, but the teams that are grouped together in individual regions makes no sense.

First, I have no problem with putting Utah St in as the last team over Miss St, VT , and Illinois . Those three have similar resumes and Utah St is a 27 win team that won their conference regular season championship. Florida got in due to a solid non-conference schedule with 21 wins including Florida State , Michigan State, NC State, and Rutgers . They also had non-conference losses to Xavier, Richmond , and Syracuse – certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

On the other hand, Illinois scheduled well, but simply didn’t win enough games. The Illini had some good wins down the stretch, but a 19-14 record with losses to Utah , Bradley , Georgia , and Northwestern kept them out. Mississippi State , if you really study their season, doesn’t have much of an argument besides “We almost beat Kentucky twice.” Their best non-conference wins were UCLA, Old Dominion, and Houston. They had bad losses to Rider and Western Kentucky and also were beat by Richmond . Throw in that most of their SEC wins came against LSU, Auburn , Arkansas , and Alabama and their case drops even more. They lost regular season SEC games to Vandy, UF, Kentucky , and Tennessee .

Seth Greenberg basically said after the brackets were released that he didn’t schedule as if he was going to have a good team this year. They weren’t projected to finish very high in the ACC and caught a lot of people off guard by going 10-6. However, Greenberg’s failure to play anyone decent outside of Temple and Seton Hall (double digit loss and OT win); cost his team in the end. You can’t schedule thinking that your team won’t be very good, then use that as an excuse as to why your non-conference schedule was so weak.

The problem the 2010 NCAA committee made was when they placed certain teams into their regions. The numbers that teams were seeded were fine; it was which region they were placed in that failed to make sense. Kansas got as royally screwed as any team I can remember. Not so much because I think the teams in their region will beat them, but the caliber of team in their region was not what you would expect from a #1 overall seed.

First, they were given the better of the #2 seeds in Ohio State . The weakest #2 (Nova) should have been placed with the best #1 (KU). The best #2 ( Ohio State ) should have been placed with the weakest #1 (Duke). Georgetown is arguably the best and hottest #3 seed and is as big and talented as anyone. Granted Kansas won’t have to beat both, but it is still worth noting. The #4 and #5 seeds were the co-champions of the ACC and Big 10 respectively. The #6 seed and #7 seeds are the only 2 teams that beat Kansas this year.

Interesting to say the least…If you swap Ohio St with Nova, I would have Ohio St in the Final Four out of the South regional. If you swap Georgetown with New Mexico , I would have Georgetown advancing to the Final Four out of the East regional. I think in the end, the committee cared too much about where teams were being sent more than who they were being placed in a regional with.

This begs the question, “Why is the committee made up of mostly Athletic Directors?” Should some former coaches be in there to say “Hey, if I am the #1 overall seed, I want the weakest #2 seed in my regional.” Or, “If I am Ohio St and the top #2 seed, I don’t care so much about being in the Mid West regional as I do being placed in a regional away from Kansas .”

Bobby Knight questioned the panel being mostly AD’s Sunday night due to their lack of pure basketball knowledge. I see his point here too because it is difficult to trust a group to pick the best teams if they are not basketball guys.

Alas, the tournament starts once again this week and will surely bring some good games. A few 2010 NCAA tourney predictions before action gets underway Thursday:


1) At least two of the #11 seeds will beat a #6

2) Kentucky is the first #1 seed to be eliminated

3) For the 2nd time since the tourney went to 64 teams in 1985, no #12 seeds win

4) The Big 12 will have a strong presence in the Sweet 16

5) Kansas wins it all, despite their stacked regional

Saturday morning musings...

Haven't written anything here since the Falcons signed Dunta Robinson. I wrote back in January about the cornerback issue and how an instant upgrade had to be made. I think TD and company are happy with the CB situation now with Robinson, Williams, Jackson, Grimes, and Owens. This signing gives the Birds more flexibility in the draft and makes it easier to trade down, which I still think is a goodg idea...

Looks like Jeremiah Masoli will be suspended for all of the 2010 season. The Ducks looked like a preseason top 5 team, but will have to go with Costa now. At least there will still be a laptop stealing quarterback getting some action this fall. Cameron Newton looks like the new starter at Auburn...

How good has Josh Smith been this year for the Hawks? As of last week, he and LeBron were the only two players in the NBA that ranked in the top 50 in the league in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals...

It is just too bad the Hawks haven't been able to make any kind sustained run after a fast start. Since beating Utah at home just before Christmas, the team is a mediocre 22-16. Most of the problems can be attributed to 4th quarter collapses where the team looks lost in half-court sets and the Johnson/Smith/Crawford trio just stand around and settle for bad shots...

I blame that on the coach, FWIW...

Congrats to David Boyd, who won his 5th Georgia High School boys basketball state championship at his 4th different school. The Milton team that wore down Westlake last night is mostly made up of juniors and could be the nations best high school team next year...

Selection Sunday tomorrow and three of the #1 seeds appear to be locked in: Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas. Does Syracuse earn the final spot because they were the best team all year in the best conference? Or will the committee look at the 2 game losing streak and the Onuaku injury and give the spot to Purdue or Ohio State?

I think several teams played their way in yesterday. San Diego State should be a lock now after knocking off UNM. Washington reaching the Pac 10 final probably means both Cal and Washington get in the tourney. Georgia Tech is now in after beating Maryland to reach the ACC semi-finals. Illinois is now back to bubble status after beating Wisconsin and probably need to play Ohio State close today to have a shot. I am not sure how the SEC teams will shake out after MSU knocked off Florida. Ole Miss will probably be left out after losing yesterday, but I wouldn't be shocked if both MSU and UF make the field...

Georgetown looks like they can beat anyone after the way they have played in the Big East tournament. They have several athletic big guys and when Freeman and Wright are knocking down shots, they are very tough to beat. If they win the Big East tourney, the Hoyas are most likely looking at a #3 or #4 seed. I would not want my team to get a #1 seed and see Georgetown as the #4 in their region...

Conference USA championship game on now, let the games begin...