As the powerhouses prepare to dance in the Final Four in Atlanta, there’s one group whose invitation seemed to have been left out of the mail. This year, Cinderella didn’t make the ball, and if this year’s tournament is any indication, she might be stuck washing floors for a long time. It seems as if the NCAA Selection Committee is taking a page from the BCS playbook by keeping mid-majors out of the post-season party.
Just as the BCS kept an 11-0 Utah team out of the national championship game two years ago, the NCAA committee is trying its hardest to make the road for the mid-majors a rough one.
This year’s field of 64 only included six mid-major teams, down from eight last year and nine two years ago.
And while yes, I, like everyone else wanted to see North Carolina vs. Georgetown in the regional final, a North Carolina-Oral Roberts matchup would have been just fine.
When thinking of what makes the tournament great, upsets and buzzer beaters come to mind, normally provided by a mid-major. In this year’s field though, the mid-majors are being forced to cannibalize themselves.
Fifth-seeded Butler was forced to take out Old Dominion of the Colonial Athletic Association. Southern Illinois, which has been to the tournament for six straight years, beat Holy Cross, which during its last time in the tournament in 2003 went toe-to-toe with a Dewayne Wade-led Marquette team.
Many people, including myself, think this glass ceiling may have been put there consciously.
I mean who brings in more money: Butler or Maryland?
Who’s going to travel in larger numbers, and who’s going to bring in higher TV ratings?
To bad money can’t buy your way into the Sweet 16 – well, unless you’re a member of the Fab 5.
Missouri Valley Conference commissioner and former selection committee member Doug Elgin told ESPN that the committee does not have time to think about those types of things.
Obviously they don’t have time to think about a lot of things.
I mean, Stanford over Air Force or Drexel – really?
It seems as if a mid-major is going to have to go 32-0, with road wins over Florida and UCLA, just to receive favorable treatment, and it probably still wouldn’t be good enough.
While the clock has seemingly struck 12 on this year’s Cinderella, mid-majors should leave this year’s tournament knowing they were well represented.
As the NCAA Tournament continues to down the slippery slope of the BCS conundrum, I wonder how many Boise States – I mean George Masons – are going to have to crash the party before things change.