Will Selection Sunday provide the answers?
The competition is fierce; the debates rage back and forth and good men are prone to disagree. They call it March Madness for a reason. Yet the drama doesn’t begin with the games later this week.
It starts Sunday, in the selection room, as the nation waits to pounce on any sort of inconsistencies, demanding to know why such and such team was left out. And how could you give that team a No. 1 (or 2 or 3) seed? But team X played a soft schedule and beat team Y, how could they be seeded behind them?
Pre-tournament hype and discussion helps drive the NCAA Tournament’s popularity. It began in earnest several weeks ago, with talk of bracketology — as if this were some sort of science. Then again, maybe it is. Papers around the country, along with, oh, every other Web site have been guessing where various teams will be seeded.
And there are plenty of storylines entering the tournament. Who should be the No. 1 seeds? Does a team’s performance in the conference tournament matter? If it does, then Syracuse is out as a No. 1. The Orange lost two straight games, including one to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament opener. If they’re a No. 1 seed, should that happen?
Yet the body of work during the regular season suggests that Syracuse should remain a top seed. Besides, who else would get that spot? Kansas and Kentucky are locks and Duke probably is as well. If not Syracuse, then who? Ohio State, with probable player of the year Evan Turner, or Purdue, already missing one of its top players? The Big East is a better conference than the Big Ten; their regular season champ should be rewarded. And what about the Hoyas? They finally got over that Syracuse hump and reached the Big East final. What seed will result? Have the Hoyas turned a corner? Or was this just a good week? Did Maryland’s early ACC exit foreshadow anything?
Villanova appeared to be a team to reckon with, having reached the Final Four last season and ascending high in the rankings this season. The Wildcats have strong senior leadership — a tournament must. But they have lost five of their last seven games.
Who will be the Cinderella: St. Mary’s? Old Dominion? Murray State? And who is the team to beat? It’s easy to see Kansas and Kentucky going far, but what would you rather have? Kansas’ experience, with clutch player, and senior guard, Sherron Collins and big man Cole Aldrich? What about Kentucky’s youthful exuberance with John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins?
Kansas emerged from arguably the toughest conference, the Big 12, and won the title two years ago with some of these same players. That should result in the No. 1 overall seed. But if you like Kentucky, start the counter arguments. Just know that Sunday, the first answers are revealed.
