Selection Sunday winners and losers as college basketball gears up for the 2021 NCAA tournament, according to Joey Brackets:
WINNERS: 68 teams, about 1,000 college basketball players and millions of March Madness fans around the world. My co-author David Smale calls Selection Sunday “the biggest non-sporting sporting event” in America. He’s not wrong.
LOSERS: None in the grand scheme of things. The world kept turning because we didn’t have a basketball tournament. And, tragically, we cannot bring back those we lost in the pandemic just because the Big Dance has returned. But we can all smile a little and hope this NCAA tournament somehow helps put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror.
WINNERS: The top four seeds – Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois and Michigan – were selected and placed correctly. It’s rare that the line between the elite and very well falls right after four teams, but that’s the case this year and the selection committee was right.
Losers: Alabama was good enough to be a No. 1 seed in most years, but we ran out of regions. The Crimson Tide will have to settle for number 2 in Michigan’s bracket and the possibility that the Wolverines will not be at full strength in the later rounds.
WINNERS: The committee also nailed the top 16 teams, which can be a subtle element that often determines the entire flow of the tournament. Just as there was a convenient dividing point between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, the same can be said for the top four lines compared to the rest of the field.
LOSERS: Did the commission lose the cable signal while Oklahoma State was playing? The Cowboys were much closer to a 2 seed than the No. 4 they received. West Virginia, which has beaten the Cowboys twice in the past two weeks, got a No. 3 seed despite trailing Oklahoma State by 14 places in the NET. This is a clear seeding error.
WINNERS: Non-Power 5 bubble teams Utah State, Wichita State and especially Drake were treated fairly by the committee. And both Colorado State and Saint Louis made the list of four replacement teams. Every time these conferences, which should never be called mid-major, the next-level teams are selected is to be commended.
LOSERS: I thought Louisville would make it to the state of Wichita, but the cardinals really have no argument. Pandemic or not, the cardinals were of the classic “medium size” type commonly used. Kudos to the committee for recognizing that our planet is doing well with only seven ACC teams in the field (and for not counting Duke anywhere).
WINNERS: Hartford’s reluctant coach, John Gallagher, was confident his Hawks would make their first NCAA tournament in an opening round. I told him Hartford would play Baylor of Illinois. It’s Baylor. And John, don’t mess with the Bracketologist.
LOSERS: I thought my hometown Drexel Dragons was getting a little stiff from falling below the 16 line. The dragons get Illinois instead of a slightly easier number 2 seed. Either way, it’s hard to be a loser when you enter the tournament for the first time in a quarter century.
WINNERS: UConn, Clemson and especially Villanova. Each may have been overseeded based on the strength of the conference or recent achievements. In the case of the Wildcats, while we predict their number 5 seed correctly, it’s hard to see them play that without senior star Collin Gillespie.
Losers: LSU, North Carolina, Missouri, Michigan State, UCLA and especially Wisconsin. All those teams join Oklahoma State in the “notably substandard” club. Statistics are a big part of the equation, but they shouldn’t be the whole story.
WINNERS: All of us who are overjoyed that we have the greatest sporting event in the world back.
Losers: Everyone else …
Happy Hoops!