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- The 2010 NCAA
Bracket: First Reactions
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The 2010 NCAA Bracket: First
Reactions
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 NCAA brackets came out on Sunday
with less controversy than I can remember in recent memory, however,
there’s always something to talk about. The team who most people think
had the biggest gripe was the Virginia Tech Hokies who finished the
season with a 23-8 record and 10-6 in conference, but had an
embarrassing loss to finish the season against the worst team in their
league, Miami. They also had a very weak strength of schedule,
devaluing their record.
There’s always a debate about seeding, and who should have been seeded
higher or lower. I personally thought that the mid-major teams got
snubbed across the board. I thought that San Diego State (11), UTEP
(12), Utah State (12), Northern Iowa (9), BYU (7), Cornell (12), St.
Mary’s (10) and Gonzaga (8) were all seeded lower than they should have
been. While teams like UNLV (7), Villanova (2), and Georgetown (3) were
seeded too high.
I was having trouble sleeping Sunday so I listened
to one of the early morning radio shows. They suggested that Villanova
was seeded too high, which I agreed with. They had a 24-7 record, but
finished the season horribly losing five of their last seven games.
Despite thinking they were seeded too high, the radio commentators
couldn’t find a team they felt could replace them on the 3-line. So I
started to think if I could find a team that could replace them. I went
to the 3-line and didn’t really think any of Georgetown, Pittsburgh,
Baylor, or New Mexico should be moved up. Then I moved down to the
4-line and one team jumped out to me, Purdue.
The Purdue Boilermakers finished the season 27-5 in the Big Ten.
Records like that in a conference as good as the Big Ten would usually
give them a 1-seed or 2-seed at the worst. However, towards the end of
the year Purdue lost their best player, Robbie Hummel, due to injury
for the season. In the past, the NCAA selection committee has set the
precedent that they will weigh how a team plays without the injured
player in how they seed them. (In a famous snubbing the University of
Cincinnati was (28-3) and ranked #1 in the country in 2000 and lost
their best player, Kenyon Martin, to injury in their
last game. Despite the fact that they were the presumed best team in
the country before the injury they fell to a 2-seed.) Purdue went 3-2
without Hummel, but got blasted in their last game 69-42 at the hands
of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Philosophically, I’m against lowering a team’s seed due to injury
because their achievements remain the same. The selection committee
bases their decisions off of quantifiable data and that data doesn’t
change with a player injury. Purdue earned their lofty position even
though if they likely won’t play up to it. Fair or unfair, you can at
least play your way out of a bad seed.
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