One of the committees' primary objectives over the last few years has been to increase the transparency and understanding regarding the process of selecting teams for the tournament. We think that announcing the results of the RPI ranking on a weekly basis has its benefits. |
One person might rely on (RPI) heavily and another might rely on it less heavily. |
Our first hope was that he would return to full health, and yes, to his team, too. At the end, we felt like this was a good basketball team even without him, and he probably makes them a great team. So we felt they warranted a No. 1 seed. |
Our selections really do dispel the myth that (the field) is RPI-driven. I think the results will be shown over the next couple of weeks. |
Personally, I would be resistant to that and I believe that in listening to my colleagues on the committee, there doesn't seem to be a lot of momentum in that direction. I think that over the last two years there is a certain magic that has evolved over the course of this tournament, and I wouldn't want to fool around with that in the short term in regards to expanding the field in any way. |
Some of the losses that took place ... it certainly does open up the opportunity for teams in the postseason tournaments to solidify a 1-seed or maybe to open the door for other teams. |
That was really the new path we had to go down, was to evaluate a number of schools from the types of conferences to which you refer, and contrast them to those teams from the supposed power conferences. |
The advice I would have is to look at the performance of the team. I understand their questions. I understand their disappointment. The committee is equally devastated when we know there are excellent teams that won't have an opportunity to play. |
The discussion about any one league will not go into our discussions when it comes time to select the at-larges. We are going to look strictly at teams, what teams have done. |
The discussion about any one league will not go into our discussions when it comes time to select the at-larges. We are going to look strictly at teams, what teams have done. Certainly there's a level of discussion as it relates to the conferences only to the extent that they're playing within a family, if you will, a family of colleagues. |
The goal is still to pick the 34 best at-large teams and to seed and balance the 65-team bracket. But this committee is going to face some very unusual challenges because there is so much gridlock at the top and the middle of some of these conferences. |
The last time I felt like this was when I was completing my taxes at about 11:35 p.m. the night before the deadline. There was that kind of pressure to get it done, but I think we put together a diverse field. |
The last time I felt like this was when I was completing my taxes on April 15 at 11:35 p.m.. |
The last time I felt like today was when I was completing my taxes on April 15. … When we got to the seventh line, that's where things got bunched together and a lot of teams started looking alike. Where we really got the opportunity to debate was the middle of our bracket, seven, eight, nine and 10. |
The message is that there is great basketball played all around the county. |