It’s only been a little while since the brackets were released.  Here are our initial Quick n’ Dirty thoughts before we’ve had too much time to over-analyze it and talk ourselves out of things.

1. UAB & VCU over Colorado & Virginia Tech? Jay Bilas nailed it in the post-selection analysis when he said that the Committee not only failed the “eye test,” but they failed the “laugh test.” Hey, we’re all for more mid-majors in the Tourney as a matter of principle.  But they should be qualified, and UAB and VCU simply were not as accomplished as Colorado or Virginia Tech this season.  As a matter of fact, VCU was so sure that they weren’t going to make the field of 68 that they didn’t even gather to watch the Selection Show — can you imagine?  Colorado defeated K-State three times, Texas once and Missouri once; Virginia Tech defeated Duke, Penn State and a host of mid-level teams — UAB beat… um, nobody?  VCU beat… UCLA?  It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
2. How Does This Happen? The NCAA Selection Committee went against its stated principles in selecting UAB and VCU over other, more qualified teams, which is something we think is a direct result of the Committee changing members every year.  A lot of the talking heads on television have suggested adding more “basketball people” to the Committee, but where we think the system fails is because there’s a rotating group of folks picking the teams every year.  This results in RPI being valued extremely high one year, and generally ignored in another year; or playing a tough nonconference schedule is preferred one season, and lightly considered in another.  This results in a completely different interpretation of the stated criteria every single March, which causes a series of perplexed looks among all the bracketologists and fans this time of year who are generally basing their analyses on previous years.
3. Gene Smith Interview Fail.  The CBS interview with the Chair of the NCAA Selection Committee, Gene Smith, was epic in its complete and utter failure.  This shows yet another reason that the Committee should not rotate people through it so frequently.  His vague platitudes were generally incomprehensible, but he actually managed to make mention of “style of play” as a consideration that the Committee considers when looking at whether to select teams.  Surely he’s joking, right?  When asked specifically about Colorado’s resume, he answered by stating that the Buffs simply “did not have the votes to get in.”  In other news, neither did John McCain two years ago.  For such a multi-billion dollar event that captures the imaginations of a national sporting public, we HAVE to do better than this, don’t we?

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