Sunday, March 13, 2011

Bracketology

Wow, there's plenty of material here as we digest the work of the NCAA Mens Tournament Selection Committee along with the indignation of Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale over teams like VCU and UAB making it while Colorado and Harvard stay home.

Here are some immediate thoughts about all things March Madness:

- Shouldn't "Bracketology" be granted its rightful place in the dictionary?

- The work of the Selection Committee was inconsistent, just like the officiating in last night's Kansas-Texas game. For example, in some cases, the Committee rewarded body of work. In other cases, the Committee placed greater emphasis (e.g., Connecticut) on performance during the post-season tournament.

- Conspiracy theorists will opine--perhaps rightly--that the epicenter of the college athletics universe is in the Big Ten. Conference commissioner Jim Delaney was the puppetmaster last summer during the conference realignment discussions. And, Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith is the guy who chaired the decisions made by the Mens Tournament Selection Committee.

- Seriously, how did VCU and UAB make it into the tournament? Those teams weren't even in the "bubble" discussions of the past week or two.

- Charles Barkley needs to step up his game once the tournament begins. His analysis was beyond weak tonight on CBS' Selection Show.

- Jay Bilas showed why he is the best college basketball analyst tonight given his factual, insightful and indignant undressing of the tournament committee on ESPN's Bracketology show.

- Not surprisingly, the app world is capitalizing on our infatuation with March Madness. The Apple market and Android marketplace both offer apps devoted to filling out brackets and following the tournament.

Stay tuned to this space for further tournament analysis which, hopefully, will provide a bit of a different spin on what you'll get through your usual sports media outlets.

Let the madness begin!

1 comment:

  1. Agree 100% about Jay Bilas. If it was Sunday morning, I would have been saying "Amen!" or "Preach it Brother!" about every 30 seconds...the guy was on point, on fire, and completely right.

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