NCAA Selection Committee for 2008

[tornado]

The names of the D-I Basketball Selection Committee are revealed:
(most are athletic directors and conference officials)

Chairman -Tom O'Connor, George Mason
Dan Guerrero - UCLA
Jeff Hathaway - Connecticut
Lynn Hickey - UT-San Antonio
Chris Hill - Utah
Laing Kennedy - Kent State
Jon LeCrone - Horizon League
Stan Morrison - UC-Riverside
Mike Slive - SEC
Gene Smith - Ohio State

Not a whole lot of names that look like they'll be friendly to the Missouri Valley!

[Rusty 54]

This makes me really nervous. Even the guys representing mid-majors will be looking out for their conferences (Colonial, Horizon, MAC), and I figure that there are only so many at large mid-major bids to go around

[BradleyBrave]

This makes me really nervous. Even the guys representing mid-majors will be looking out for their conferences (Colonial, Horizon, MAC), and I figure that there are only so many at large mid-major bids to go around

I agree to an extent, but I think a George Mason (Colonial) guy as the committee chair, and the large national outcry there was last year for some very deserving mid-majors compared to some undeserving majors (Purdue, Stanford), we may see a better job done by the committee. Don't forget, we're playing the Colonial's preseason favorite, a team that may be ranked by the time we play them. The committee chairperson certainly isn't going to downplay BU, especially if we beat them soundly. To that end, BU plays half the Horizon League this year, so a good showing against those teams should certainly make an impression with their commissioner. It would only enhance his league's reputation to talk us up as much as possible.

Of course, it all comes back to winning games. If we win the games we're supposed to win, this will all take care of itself.

[SFP]

I agree to an extent, but I think a George Mason (Colonial) guy as the committee chair, and the large national outcry their was last year for some very deserving mid-majors compared for some undeserving majors (Purdue, Stanford), we may see a better job done by the committee. Don't forget, we're playing the Colonial's preseason favorite, a team that may be ranked by the time we play them. The committee chairperson certainly isn't going to downplay BU, especially if we beat them soundly. To that end, BU plays half the Horizon League this year, so a good showing against those teams should certainly make an impression with their commissioner. It would only enhance his league's reputation to talk us up as much as possible.

Of course, it all comes back to winning games. If we win the games we're supposed to win, this will all take care of itself.

I could not have said it better! So here it is again.

[ph]

Bradley needs to not just win the games they are supposed to win, but also win some of the games they are not supposed to win.
I think the committee, last year, took some inconsistant teams that at times got hot and beat some really good teams (top 10 teams) rather than taking a consistant top 30 team that never beat anyone ranked higher.

Other than being headed by Doug Elgin, I doubt the any committee makeup would ever appear favorable to the MVC. What BCS school wants the MVC to take away "their spots", or does any little league want to continue to be dominated by the MVC?

[MacabreMob]

The names of the D-I Basketball Selection Committee are revealed:
(most are athletic directors and conference officials)

Chairman -Tom O'Connor, George Mason
...
...
Lynn Hickey - UT-San Antonio
...
Laing Kennedy - Kent State
Jon LeCrone - Horizon League
Stan Morrison - UC-Riverside
...
...

Not a whole lot of names that look like they'll be friendly to the Missouri Valley!

If anyone is looking for friends in this group, I offer this info:

Tom O'Conner - 13 yrs with Geo Mason, previously AD at Loyola (Md), head coach at Dartmouth and Loyola.

Lynn Hickey - 8 yrs at UT-SA, previously associate AD at Tex A&M, head coach women's hoops at Tex A&M, and an inductee to Kansas St's Hall of Fame as a coach of their women's hoops.

Laing Kennedy - 14 years at Kent, previously 11 years at Cornell as AD, originally from Ontario, Canada and was an All-America goalie for the Cornell hockey team.

Jon LeCrone - 15 yrs as Horizon Commissioner, previously an ACC assistant Commissioner, assistant AD at Wake Forest, and a Wake Forest baseball grad.

Stan Morrison - didn't find a bio page at UC-Riverside's site but he was previously a coach at Pacific some time ago.

So IMO, of the 5 "Mid-Major Representatives", one's got B12 women's hoops roots, another's got hockey roots, and another has ACC roots - which really leaves only 2 'friends' for MVC to rely on for support.

[BradleyBrave]

If anyone is looking for friends in this group, I offer this info:

Tom O'Conner - 13 yrs with Geo Mason, previously AD at Loyola (Md), head coach at Dartmouth and Loyola.

Lynn Hickey - 8 yrs at UT-SA, previously associate AD at Tex A&M, head coach women's hoops at Tex A&M, and an inductee to Kansas St's Hall of Fame as a coach of their women's hoops.

Laing Kennedy - 14 years at Kent, previously 11 years at Cornell as AD, originally from Ontario, Canada and was an All-America goalie for the Cornell hockey team.

Jon LeCrone - 15 yrs as Horizon Commissioner, previously an ACC assistant Commissioner, assistant AD at Wake Forest, and a Wake Forest baseball grad.

Stan Morrison - didn't find a bio page at UC-Riverside's site but he was previously a coach at Pacific some time ago.

So IMO, of the 5 "Mid-Major Representatives", one's got B12 women's hoops roots, another's got hockey roots, and another has ACC roots - which really leaves only 2 'friends' for MVC to rely on for support.

Ok...but how does that compare to the committee in '05-'06, when 4 MVC teams received bids, and 2 made the Sweet 16? Honestly, I don't know the answer. I do know that the chairperson in '05-'06 was from the ACC, which, if it was that way this year, would have people saying we had no 'friends' as well.

[MacabreMob]

I don't have an answer either BB. I just offered some background info so others can make a judgement on their own.

I don't think the MVC has ANY friends AT ALL. The BCS doesn't like us. The rest wanna be better than us.

So when anyone wants to mention a list of people on the committee with a few potential 'friends', I just roll me eyes and mumble 'whatever' under my breath.

[chitownBUB]

I think the NCAA selection committee does a pretty good job overall
They will never make everyone happy, but two years ago they took four from the MVC and one of them was BU, then last year they only took 2 from the MVC.
In retrospect, they probably made the right decisions, as 2 of those in 2006 went to the Sweet 16, while none of the ones left out either year proved conclusively they missed the boat.The fact that they left out Maryland in 2006 and Syracuse last year shows they aren't afraid to offend the heavyweights.

[squirrel]

The committee looks good to me. Quite diverse really.

The committee should not be favorable to anybody if they do their job well.

[Fetz86]

The committee should not be favorable to anybody if they do their job well.

Isn't that the case every year though?

[tornado]

Isn't that the case every year though?

We can either stick our heads in the sand or we can be realistic and admit that everyone....I mean EVERYONE is swayed and biased by multiple factors.
Every choice we make is affected by our biases, sometimes fairly and sometimes unfairly.

I suspect the NCAA chose the members of that committee with the idea in mind that those representatives should and WILL do what is best for the NCAA and college basketball as a whole. So I believe most of what they will do will be fair and relatively unbiased, but they still want the BEST NCAA Tournament possible, and that also means it is JUST A LITTLE BIT possible there could be factors waltzing through the minds of those representatives such as what teams could make for a good matchup and a good draw, TV revenue, etc....

There probably is no such thing as a guaranteed, TRULY unbiased selection committee as long as people are involved. I just hope the biases that exist are minimal, are countered with a sense of fair play, and in the end, I hope the NCAA has a little pro-MVC and pro-BU bias because of how exciting Bradley is to watch and how well the have done recently in the postseason.

[MacabreMob]

T - I think you are absolutely right. I don't care how hard the committee says they try to be unbiased and fair... blah-blah-blah. It is the way the world is. It is human nature. WE ALL PLAY FAVORITES.

At the same time... I don't see ANY potential "friends" ever to the MVC unless they are from the MVC - PERIOD.

That's the way it is.

[bert notorius]

But, ultimately, is the process corrupt? I'm talking Olympics selection committee type corrupt...

[tornado]

I sure don't think it is corrupt, but I think there have been some unfair biases.
....and if any school can lay claim to being hurt by the selection committee's biases, I think Bradley can.
If some don't agree, fine, but in 1982 BU got ripped and left out altogether.
In the few other times BU made the NCAA they were either sent way out to the coasts to play or they were given a terrible matchup (such as 8-9 seed vs. a hot Auburn team in 1988, or having to play eventual champion Louisville in 1986, or having to beat two top 15 teams in 2006).