St. Mary's got snubbed.

https://twitter.com/eapeedee/status/972971658112839683?s=21

I really, really hope Elton shows up at the Cleveland Caravan this year.

Deandre Ayton is a total monster in the paint. It will be interesting to see how Nate and the Bulls handle that. I went out on a limb though, and have Buffalo upsetting them in the first round.

GOod thoughts.

I have always wondered from the first years they brought Kenny Smith and Charles in how their disconnect from college hoops makes this better. I have more respect for the former and current coaches who are interviewed and break it down from a peer perspective.

I don't think geography has much to do with it past the top seeds. Butler and Xavier have gone west for example. Playing Midwest or South "pods" in LA or Seattle is just weird.

Doing it alpha reveals all the bubble results before the brackets reveal the seeds and match ups. A lot of people were upset even before they started in on the bracket

It was different. The studio audience was interesting.

Also hate to say it, but the last three years with Schaus on the committee the bracket has been screwed up at higher extremes than ever. Last year with Vanderbilt having a 9 seed, this year with Alabama and Oklahoma comfortably in and then Arizona State gets in despite finishing 8th in their conference and not letting the 2nd place team in their conference in. Hate to say it, might as well have declared the season over January 1st.

Arizona State went 8-12 over their last 20 games and lost five of their last six, including a first round exit in the PAC 12 Tourney to a just as bad Colorado team. They got in based on a 12-game winning streak in November in December. It's incredulous that the committee put them in.

I realize St. Mary's didn't have the OOC wins to put them in the dance, but I find it hard to grasp that a team ranked in the Top 20 at the end of the year that won 28 games can't make it.

It would have been nice to have a little honesty.

"We, and by we I mean the power schools, have finally perfected our system of getting all the teams in the bracket that we want in the bracket and made it nearly impossible for outsiders, and by outsiders I mean those pesky mids, to get more than one bid per conference. We decided to play no true road games unless it's truly necessary like in those conference challenges. And we will never, ever play road games against outsiders, because obviously we might lose. Syracuse, for example, has this down to an art form. Then we will use metrics like RPI and KenPom but completely devaluate the actual rankings and stress only portions of those rankings, like games by quadrant that greatly favor we big boys. Then we fill the selection committee with a bunch of guys that either rep the big boys or don't want to make waves because they want to join the big boys. It's practically foolproof and in the end what everybody wants. What made this tournament great wasn't watching those upstart mids pulling upset after upset. It's rewarding those 9th and 10th place ACC or PAC12 teams for those 8-10 conference records. What do you mean ratings and attendance are way down?"

Here's the news flash. All mids are now one bid leagues.

3). You play a tough out-of-conference schedule because a). it is more attractive to recruits (and fans) because they get to play against "XYZ" instead of "Directional XYZ," and b). it prepares you for the MAC season when the team needs to attain a high seed to improve the chances of winning the MAC Tournament - the only way we make the Dance.

I shut the interview of the committee chair off halfway through. Pretty sure I won't watch next year. I can just see where teams I'm interested in end up by following Twitter 30 minutes later and save myself from the 90 minutes of nonsense.

Something that has been suggested, and I agree with this, is that it's time to diversify the committee to be more than essentially AD's. Get a couple media people on there, a couple former coaches, and a couple former players -- i.e. people whose entire life has been college basketball day in and day out.

Exactly plus what cc said in number 3. Whatever team when 0 - 13 in the non-conference part of the season proved that point. Play the best, attract fans, and get yourself ready.