Monmouth, Oregon, and the weak Selection Committee
Since the completion of the college football playoff, the sports world has looked forward to Selection Sunday. In an interesting buffer period with no college football, sparatic college basketball, and a completely one-sided NBA season, the average man has been itching for the month of March. March Madness has finally begun... on a confusing, unexpected note. Not only was the entire bracket leaked two hours before it was supposed to be released, the field of competition is highlighted by some un-deserving programs. While this may not be the year of the 16-seed upset, there are many arguments circulating the selection committee's decisions regarding some of the teams in the 68-team championship.
The biggest snub of the year is, without a doubt, the exclusion of the Monmouth Hawks. The 27-7 MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Runner-ups were left out of the championship discussion. ONe may argue that the mid-major organization may not have even been noticed if it weren't for their over-dramatic celebrations from teammates on the bench, but, that's not necessarily the case. The Hawks kicked off their season in early November with an OT win over the UCLA bruins, adding to their resume with victories over #17 Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, Rutgers and Cornell. While their in-conference losses were nothing to feel proud of, the W's on their schedule far outweigh the L's.
The worst part about the snubbing of Monmouth, is that a 14-19 Holy Cross team sealed a "First Four" spot in the Big Dance. Like many have argued during College Football Bowl season, a team with a losing record has absolutely no reason to be a contender for the NCAA national title over a club with the success that Monmouth has this year. Point blank. Period.
Although the situation sucks, Monmouth is optomistic about their post-season as they head into the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) as the projected winner and 1-seed. Monmouth's Justin Robinson took to twitter:
Bold Prediction: Cincinnati knocks off Oregon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
But where do these conversations come into play in the boardroom with the Selection committee? This committee, might I add, is chaired by Joseph Castiglione, whose collegiate athletic experience stems solely from gaining a walk-on spot for a mediocre MIZZOU football team in the late 80s. Is there really credible discussion for every team in consideration in a room with only ten people? One of which having ZERO college basketball experience? Hmmm.
Leaving Castiglione out of the discussion, the NCAA is completely underrepresented as a whole. Of the 30 conferences that compete for spots in the Championship bracket, only 9 conferences are represented on the committee. But, of course, every one of the "Power 5" conferences are included, along with a few small conferences that consistently place an underdog in the big dance.
If a fair discussion for all potential contenders is the ultimate goal, there is no question that the committee should be compiled of representatives from all conferences.
If the committee will make it a priority to become a larger body of professionals that represent the ENTIRETY of Division One basketball, the NCAA tournament is sure to rid itself of the problems that plague the process - and allowing the deserving teams in much smaller conferences to have a shot to play on College Basketball's biggest stage.
