Parity at top to make field tough to select
Five weeks until Selection Sunday. Twenty-five more days in college basketball’s regular season. The season is winding down, and that means constant bubble talk and discussions about seeding.
Th is NCAA Tourna-ment is setting up to be a good one. Just ask the man who’s running the show.
“We have had six No. 1 teams already. It is deeper at the top,” Oklahoma athletic director and selection committee chairman Joe Castiglione said Wednesday. “How exciting and unpredictable March is setting up to be.”
The committee is meeting in Indianapolis, kind of a refresher course for the veterans and a chance for new members — Ohio University athletic director Jim Schaus and Duke athletic director Kevin White — to get a chance to see the process in action.
“We have been meeting, and (Thursday) morning, after we have evaluated all 336 eligible schools, we will conduct a mock draft before we adjourn,” Castiglione said before adding reasons this won’t be just another NCAA Tournament.
“Usually, there are between nine and 11 conferences that could send multiple teams to the tournament,” Castiglione said. “This year, I could make a case for 14 leagues to get multiple bids if a team doesn’t win the automatic berth, and that’s going to make for an exciting stretch run.
“Last year it was very obvious, and at the start of the meeting, we had eight teams locked in the top two lines, and that was unprecedented. That may not happen again next month. It just hasn’t been that type of season, and I view it as a good thing for the fans.”
Thecommittee will meet in New York for the first time, and 32 conference champions will be joined by 36 at-large teams.
Louisville and SMU are two teams that otherwise would be considered locks for the Tournament had they not become ineligible because of NCAA rules violations.
Having played them won’t hurt another team’s chances.