NCAA Selection Sunday Press Conference // Kansas Basketball // 3.13.16
College basketball"s regular season was among the most unpredictable in history. Top-ranked teams dropped like flies on a weekly basisto the point it was almost impossible to keep up with the standings from one week to the next.
Now, we"ll get to see if that unpredictability carries over when it counts.
The NCAA selection committee had the unenviable task of sorting through the regular season Sunday, picking the 68 teams that will vie for a national championship. Some of the committee"s picks were obvious. Kansas clearly established itself as the No. 1 overall seed after finishing on a 14-game winning streak, while North Carolina"s run through the ACC tournament gave it an advantage over Virginia.
"Sometimes when you play at a place like Kansas you have to win and that"s their mindset," Kansas coach Bill Self said, per Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com. "As opposed to, "Let"s just go have fun and play." I think those guys are doing a better job of just going and playing.Pleasure should exceed pressure. A lot of time that doesn"t happen in sports."
Oregon and Virginiaround out the four No. 1 seeds. Villanova"s surprising loss to Seton Hall in the Big East tournament dropped the Wildcats to a second seed, and Oklahoma"s recent string of losses made Lon Kruger"s team a clear No. 2. Michigan Stateand Xavierround out the second seeds.
Michigan State, which many had pegged as a No. 1 seed, was perhaps the biggest surprise at No. 2. Mike Sullivan of 97.1 The Ticket posted a solid meme:
Those decisions, for the most part, were pretty easy. The more difficult ones came at the bottom of the bracket, where the committee had to sort through a drove of teams with similar resumes. Wichita State, Vanderbilt, Michigan and Tulsawere the last four teams in and will play in opening games Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tony Reali of ESPN isn"t enamored with play-in games:
Heading into Selection Sunday, Monmouth and Wichita State presented particularly interesting resumes. Both were clearly the best teams in their respective conferences during the regular season. Monmouth blitzed through the MAAC with a 17-3 record and advanced to the conference final before losing by three points to Iona.
The Hawks didn"t just beat up on a weak schedule, either. They took down Notre Dame and USC in a three-day span during their nonconference slate and posted a solid 13-4 road record. At issue is whether Monmouth deserved to get into the Big Dance over major-conference bubble teams that played stonger schedules overall.
"Thirteen road wins, 17 road/neutral? No brainer," ESPN"s Jay Bilas said, per Josh Newman of theAsburyPark Press. "If they don"t get in, it"s a really bad message in a year SMU and Louisville can"t go. Really bad."
Seth Davis ofSports Illustratedpointed out two more wins on the Monmouth slate:
Wichita State, meanwhile, recovered from a miserable start to the season to put together a solid resume. The Shockers began the season 2-4 in nonconference play, which included a road loss against Tulsa. But they turned things around to go 22-4 the rest of the way, winning a home game against Utah and then posting a 16-2 mark in the MVC.
Unfortunately for coach Gregg Marshall and Co., they put themselves on the bubble with a loss to Northern Iowa in their semifinal matchup. The Shockers were held to 31.7 percent shooting, including 2-of-24 from beyond the arc. It was the second straight year they had to sweat things out on Selection Sunday after a surprising loss in the conference tournament.
Mike Mazzeo of ESPN sympathized with Monmouth"s disappointment:
While in most years it"d be unwise to focus so heavily on the middle of the bracket, the regular season proved nearly every team is beatable. Kansas is peaking at the right time, but this is the same team that took a 19-point road loss to Oklahoma State. North Carolina seems to be finally realizing its talent, but the Tar Heels can"t shoot from three-point range and have a loss to Northern Iowa on their resume.
Two years ago, Connecticut won the national championship from a No. 7 spot. Thirty-one years ago, Villanova set the record by winning as a No. 8 seed. If the regular season is any indication, that record could be in jeopardy.
A number of tweets featured teams reacting to their seeding:
While Kansas is considered by most the best team in the country, it didn"t necessarily get the best draw. Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead offered his thought on the South Region:
ESPN Stats & Info also provided a solid representation of the Jayhawks" excellence:
It also offered insight into Duke being a No. 4 seed:
From an outside perspective, the biggest surprise was the committee favoring the Pac-12 over the Big Ten. Conference tournament champion Oregon landed the No. 1 seed that most expected to go to Michigan, while many other Big Ten seeds were below predictions.
Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com commented from the Pac-12 perspective:
Nicole Auerbach ofUSA Todaydiscussed the Big Ten:
Jemele Hill of ESPN, a noted Michigan State fan, was unhappy:
Bleacher Report provided an appropriate GIF:
Of the teams not selected, Monmouth drew perhaps the loudest chorus of boos. The Hawks went 27-7 during the regular season and had a win over Notre Dame. d**k Vitale of ESPN wasn"t pleased:
Among the at-larges, Tulsa was the most surprising toUSA Today"sDan Wolken:
Still, many were pleased with how the First Four shook out:
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Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2624310-selection-sunday-2016-results-printable-ncaa-bracket-seeds-twitter-reaction
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