I, for one, would have been really thrilled with Cornell’s first victory in the Big Dance in 50 years provided, of course, it hadn’t come at the hands of my beloved Temple Owls. The fact that the Big Red went on to beat that other Big Red, Wisconsin, sort of made it better, but not by much.
The Temple-Cornell matchup, as pointed out by ESPN’s Chris Low, was the result of poor seeding by the selection committee, and he’s right. The Owls, who spent much of this season in the top 15, were a fifth seed. Based on their record, RPI and all the other stuff the NCAA committee considers, Temple should have been no worse than a four seed, and in many pre-tournament brackets were a three seed. While you can certainly make a case for three seeds Pitt and Baylor, it’s harder to make the case for offering a three seed to Georgetown or New Mexico. Harder still is making a case for either Maryland or Vanderbilt as four seeds. While both teams had nice seasons, neither spent much time in the top 20, let alone the top 15. In a stretch you might argue that Vandy got there based on the strength of conference. You can’t say the same of Maryland, who didn’t even make it to the finals of a weak ACC this year.
This, of course, brings us to Duke. The Blue Devils started the season on the lower end of the top 25, and steadily made their way up the rankings ladder to number five . . . which means for the better part of the season there were at least four teams better than Duke. So, why, then, do the Blue Devils not only get such a cushy seeding, but, arguably, top seeding in the weakest bracket (seriously, Villanova a number two seed?)? That spot is usually reserved for the overall number one seed, in this case Kansas, who has actually played their way into it. If I lived in Lawrence, Kan., I would be planning now for an all-out assault on the NCAA offices, not to mention Raleigh-Durham.
There are theories on why this happened, and count me among the conspirators who have come to firmly believe that CBS, ESPN and the national college basketball media have simply become Duke’s volunteer assistant coach in charge of recruiting, with Dick Vitale leading the pack.
No need to take my word for it, of course. Here’s a great column from Jason Whitlock of the Sacramento Bee that pretty much sums up the whole sleazy plot.
