The NCAA Tournament Select Committee tried to deflect us by providing front row seats to the Absurd Theatre. And the tricks barely worked.
The committee showed the world’s biggest warts when the 68-team field was revealed and the final large spot went to North Carolina.
However, when CBS brought committee chairman Bubba Cunningham onto the screen and answered questions about the decision, the comedy went to the next level. Of course, Cunningham couldn’t answer because his employer is nothing more than North Carolina.
Yes, people. The committee chair could not discuss the most controversial choices, as he is the athletic superintendent of the above choices.
In principle, Cunningham rejected himself from all committee discussions (and votes), including Tar Heel. There he was joined to the CBS screen by vice-chairman Keith Gill. Keith Gill explained the committee’s decision to include Tar Heal.
Certainly, the NCAA spends quite a bit of time avoiding conflicts of interest. However, human nature wins 12 recusal policies twice on Sunday, any time on Sunday.
The optics were terrible. Brutal. And it’s completely predictable.
This was not the first time the hotline had problems with the nature of the university’s sports select committee. Each week, the Big Ten benefited from doubt from the College Football Playoffs committee.
It has long been a while since the CFP and the NCAA Tournament have ended the tradition of sitting athletic directors running a select committee with so many powers for events of monumental importance.
Yet, all Cunningham’s fiasco was a shift from the biggest narrative of the selection process: the dominance of the two meetings.
The SEC received 13 large bids, records, and the Big Ten took home seven.
This is 20 of 37 large spots to the richest and most influential league. 29 other meetings in Division I (and 364 schools) were combined for 17 bids.
Established in college football, the SEC and the Big Ten hegemony are creeping up to basketball. Also, when the age of revenue sharing arrives (this summer), meetings with the deepest pockets will only expand to build the best roster.
The SEC and the Big Ten have administrative bodies to make CFPs more likable from 2026. On the basketball side, their power is somewhat limited as the ACC and Big 12 own leverage and the NCAA runs the event.
However, the same motivation that drives decisions for the SEC and Big Ten in the football postseason can drive two heavyweights and ultimately change March madness in a way that suits your purpose.
And if their team continues to gobble tournament bids at the current rating, their total control case will only be stronger.
Take your eyes off the Cunningham controversy and focus on what really matters to March Madness’s future.
The meeting, representing 9.3% of Division I membership, collected 54.1% of large bids.
Other winners and losers of Sunday’s selection…
Winner: CBS. A great homage to Greg Gumbel opens a selection show. The best time voice of television throughout the year passed away from cancer at the age of 78 in December. Well done, CBS. Well done.
Loser: ACC. Although the basketball tradition is not rich in conferences, the ACC’s recent competitive struggle was fully on display when four bids were received on Sunday. And it was awfully close to claiming only three. If Memphis lost the title game for the American Conference, the Tigers would have received a massive bid and knocked out the tar heels off the field.
Winner: Mountain West. Just ten days ago, it was easy to imagine the meeting sending two teams to the NCAAS, New Mexico and Utah. However, while Colorado blasted into conference tournament titles (and automatic bidding), San Diego surrounded one of the final large spots, quadrupleting the total.
Loser: SEC. As mentioned above, the meeting experienced an unprecedented Sunday success with 14 bids, easily breaking previous records of 11 bids set by Big East in 2011. With below full control over the next three weeks, the SEC postseason will fail. The downside risks far exceed the upside potential.
Winner: Rick Pitino. St. John’s is the sixth school to lead to the NCAAS, following Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona. If he’s not the greatest coach in the history of sports, he’s on the list.
Loser: Gonzaga. The hotline mistakenly believed that Zags had moved towards the No. 7 seed by winning the West Coast Conference Tournament. Instead, they were placed on the 8th line and combined with Houston, number one in the second round (Wichita). Again, the Cougars can’t be excited to see their teams achieve like Gonzaga’s in a four-team pod.
Winner: Brigham Young. The cougars were sown fairly (as Eastern No. 6) and placed favorably in beatable No. 3 seed (Wisconsin) and wobble No. 2 (Alabama). Don’t be surprised if the cougar is still standing when the Elite 8 rolls.
Loser: UCLA. The Bruins spent most of this week in the Eastern Time Zone for the Big Ten Tournament – they were wiped out by Wisconsin in the quarterfinals – and now they need to return nationwide in their first round game in Lexington, Kentucky (against Utah). The seventh seeded Bruins are even worse: they painted a tip-off on Thursday.
Winner: Seattle. Climate Pledge Arena has the joy of hosting two Pac-12 legacy schools, Arizona and Oregon. Arizona and Oregon will meet in two rounds if they survive the opener. It’s not difficult to guess which team locals will cheer.
Loser: Kansas. (AP) Preseason No. 1 skied the Big 12 schedule and was handed the No. 7 seed on Sunday. It’s the lowest since 2000.
Winner: Providence. The Amica Mutual Pavilion crowd will be treated to a heavyweight coaching matchup between Kansas State and Bill Cel Cell Arkansas and John Calipari in the first round. And if the pigs move forward, they will face St. John’s in the second round, with his longtime rivals Pitino and Calipari matching their wisdom.
Loser: Michigan. The poor sap of No. 5 seed was trying to attract UC San Diego, the Big West champion and Cinderella’s potential team. The sap is Wolverine, so you should never overlook the Denver Triton.
Winner: Todd Golden. Florida’s third-year coach has the hottest team on the land, number one seed in the West. As the Gators proceed to the west area of Chase Center in San Francisco, Golden can spend several minutes on old friends. He was a USF coach for three years before moving to Gainesville.
Loser: Case of NCAA Tournament Expansion. If the preferred bubble treatment given to Texas and North Carolina is any indication, the extra spot on the 76-team field is sent to the mediocre finishers of the Power Conference, rather than the good teams in the larger league. That is an immeasurable shame.
