READY TO GO MAD
The day finally is here — Christmas morning for college basketball fans. It is Selection Sunday, the official start of March Madness. It was an unpredictable regular season and memorable Championship week. But now the real fun begins.
But before the Selection Show arrives, here is what to look for beginning at 5:30 p.m.:
Unsettled at the top
Much like the entire field, the No. 1 seeds can be argued. Big East and Big 12 regular season champions Villanova and Kansas are locks. So should North Carolina be, despite Friday night’s ACC Tournament semifinal setback against Duke. Kansas and Villanova have a combined seven losses and just one defeat to a team not in the tournament conversation, the Jayhawks’ season-opening loss to Indiana. North Carolina’s 10 top-50 RPI wins — three against top-12 teams — and ACC regular season crown, the best confer- ence in the country, will net them a No. 1.
The final top seed is the question, and there is no easy answer. While Gonzaga lost just a single game all year, winning the West Coast Conference regular season and postseason crowns, the Bulldogs’ schedule can’t compare to the power-conference title contenders. There is talk Duke, after winning the ACC Tournament, is deserving, too. The Blue Devils have 13 top-50 wins and just one sub-.500 loss. Oregon’s loss in the Pac-12 title game to Arizona on Saturday night ended the Ducks’ hopes of being the final No. 1 seed.
A Shocking decision
Wichita State’s résumé screams 10 or 11 seed. The eye test says 5 or 6. The Shockers will be this year’s Gonzaga — a mid-major in name only that is seeded too low, has tons of tournament experience and breaks into the second weekend with two non-upsets. With just three top 100 wins, Wichita State will be a 10 at best, and leave which- ever team opposite them in the bracket muttering curse words under its breath.
Hometown heroes
The offseason started early in most places locally. Just three teams in the area will get their name called — Seton Hall, Iona and Princeton, if the Tigers win Sunday’s Ivy League title game. The Pirates and Gaels are back in the dance for the second straight year, while the Tigers haven’t been here since 2011.
Look for Seton Hall to find itself in an 8-9 game, after a strong finish — eight wins in its last 11 games — and victories over tournament teams Xavier, Butler, Marquette and Creighton.
If it makes it, Princeton will be a popular un- derdog — a likely 13 seed, or even a 12, because of its strong RPI (51) and becoming the first team since Cornell in 2008 to go through the Ivy League regular season undefeated.
Iona will be asked to be a giant-killer after its surprising run to the MAAC title. The metrics — an RPI of 90, one top 100 win and six sub 150 losses — don’t favor Iona receiving anything better than a 14 seed.
Squeezing the Orange
All eyes are on Syracuse, the polarizing bubble team most felt wasn’t deserving a year ago, but made the Final Four after receiving a surprising bid. The Orange’s résumé should be a Selection Show case study, whether it’s more important to have big wins or avoid bad losses. Syracuse has plenty of both — a 33-point home setback St. John’s; losses to Georgetown, UConn and Boston College; but victories over Florida State, Duke and Virginia. It also has a dreadful RPI of 85. It says here Jim Boeheim and Co.
will be in Dayton for the First Four, getting the nod over fellow bubble teams Wake Forest, USC and Illinois State.
A Garden party
This week’s Big East Tournament was only a warmup for what should be a chaotic few days at the Garden when the East Regional comes to town. Barring the committee ignoring everything we’ve seen, Villanova will be the No. 1 seed in the East, and Duke, if it doesn’t get the final No. 1 seed, very well could be the second seed. Another possibility is Kentucky. Those teams alone would set the building on fire. Another option? UCLA being sent here as the three.
Big night for Big East
The Big East, not the ACC, will be the real stars Sunday night. The recently restructured conference will send 70 percent of its teams into the tournament. Xavier’s upset of Butler in the quarterfinals on Thursday wrapped it up.
The ACC, once thought to be able to get double-digit teams, will get nine. But the story will be of the oft-criticized Big East, which produced last year’s national champion, and can use the Selection Show as a recruiting pitch. Ironically, this happens the year the ACC and so many of the former Big East schools come to New York City and Barclays Center in Brooklyn for their tournament. Remember when this league was supposed to be dead?
No dragging it out
The Selection Show wasn’t just cut down to 90 minutes from last year’s two-hour telecast, but CBS has promised to roll out the brackets faster this time.
Whoever leaked the pairings last year should be given a medal. It took 77 minutes for the entire bracket to be shown last March, though by then it already was online thanks to the leak. Fortunately the wiseguy who got his or her hands on the bracket, and the criticism that came the show’s way, has restored some order.