NCAA Tournament Commitee Home Cooking

The NCAA tourney committee each year has a difficult job...and honestly, and unlike in football, teams really do play in or play out of their chance to win a championship.

The drum beat we've heard this year is that the committee looked at the body of work, not just the end of the season...and clearly, that's the case for some teams.

-Arizona, who lost 5 of their last six...but still managed to muster up 19 wins in the tough Pac-10 made it in.

-Xavier, who lost 5 of its last 10 games in the rugged A10 got a 4 seed.

-Oklahoma earned a 2 seed in spite of losing 4 of its last 7 in the Big 12.

But, the over-riding body of work principle didn't work out in all cases.

-Penn State didn't finish strong, but won 22 games in the Big Ten was left out in the cold.

-Butler lost 3 of its last 7, but managed to win 25 games was sent to the South to play and SEC school as a 9 seed.

So there are problems with the excuses...errrrr...reasoning behind the tournament committee's selections. That said, one thing really bothers me about this committee. It seems biases were obvious in many cases:

-The Pac-10 probably didn't deserve to have as many in as it had...but they also had more Pac-10 AD's in the group than any other conference (2 out of 10)...

"Where's she get her hair done?" -Keaton Grant

-aOSU didn't deserve to get top-4 seed regional placement...but it probably didn't hurt that their AD was on the committee.

-Many thought UConn didn't deserve a 1 seed because of the way they played down the stretch with their injury...and UConn's AD helped nudge them into one of the three #1s that conference was given. His pulling for the Big East also earned the conference two other #1 seeds...Furthermore, Syracuse played well in the Big East tourney and handsomely rewarded with their play by being handed a 3 seed for the dance. Purdue, on the other hand, won their conference tourney and was given a 5 seed with their second game coming against Washington just 3 hours from Seattle. Purdue finished the season 25-9...Syracuse finished 26-9.

-Xavier gets a four seed in spite of playing in a horribly weak conference and losing 5 of their last 10 games...and X's AD was on the committee as well.

But, the fact for Purdue and most other teams (except Arizona) is this- you earn your way into and out of the tournament.

If you're a bubble squad, chances are, you didn't tie up loose ends that you could have during your conference schedule.

And, if you're like Purdue and think you deserved a higher seeding, you probably didn't win all of the games you belonged winning. MSU handled its business down the stretch and was placed as a 2, relatively close to home with very winnable games until it gets difficult in the round of 16.

All that's unimportant at this point because the field is set...Don't forget to sign up for the Boiled Sports tournament pick 'em...The link's at the top of the page.

Kiffin Keeping Tradition Alive

BTN Weighs in on Purdue's chances...