The West Coast Bias

[GIGAFAN99]

Since everyone to the left of Pittsburgh essentially talks about an "East Coast Bias," is anyone else more than a little ticked off at the selection committees obvious attempt to prop up lousy West Coast basketball?

It starts when you give Gonzaga a bogus #3 seed for beating nobody.

Then they send them to Salt Lake and give Indiana an inexplicable #6 seed. The topper: they make the overseeded Hoosiers play a west coast team in an attempt to further stack the deck for a UCLA-Gonzaga meeting.

And poor BC goes to Salt Lake as #4 seed and gets...Pacific, Montana, and Nevada?

Oh yeah, and Illinois so you want to be a #4 seed too? No big deal, go to San Diego and play...Utah St.(questionable from the jump), Air Force(shouldn't be in), and Washington?

If you want to make this thing truly regional go ahead. But I can't understand why they had to stack the deck in an attempt to shoehorn west coast teams into the Sweet 16. Reward #1 and #2 seeds with games close to home, sure. But #3s and #5s? That's pretty outrageous.

[Just Cos]

reach

[geedell]

This is just another one of those things the committee got wrong...I'm positive Air Force and Utah St got in just to put fans in the seats in San Diego...

I'm still gonna stick with Gonzaga should've been no better than a 5. What other top 4 seed is gonna get taken to OT, at home, by San Diego and then come out the next night and need a missed layup from Loyola Marymount, a team below .500 to win


They put UCLA and Gonzaga in the Oakland region reasons unknown...If the committee tries to tell me UCLA was the first #2, I tell them they're lying. UCLA should be in Duke or UCONN's region but you can't do anything about it now.


I have no problem with what happened to Illinois and BC...it was going to happen to somebody...It was whoever the odd teams out were

[Just Cos]

geedell said:

This is just another one of those things the committee got wrong...I'm positive Air Force and Utah St got in just to put fans in the seats in San Diego...

Why would they do this when the first and second round games in SD were sold out before Selection Sunday? This logic may work for some other locations, but not San Diego.

As for Air Force and Utah St., there is no reasoning as to why they are in the tournament. Maybe it has to do with the large percentage of mid-major ADs on the selection committee.

[geedell]

cosgravm said:

geedell said:

This is just another one of those things the committee got wrong...I'm positive Air Force and Utah St got in just to put fans in the seats in San Diego...

Why would they do this when the first and second round games in SD were sold out before Selection Sunday? This logic may work for some other locations, but not San Diego.

As for Air Force and Utah St., there is no reasoning as to why they are in the tournament. Maybe it has to do with the large percentage of mid-major ADs on the selection committee.

It was sold out to the general public, but do you think fans from Hofstra or Missouri St would've been able to fill their ticket allotment had they been sent to San Diego?

[Just Cos]

YES, well at least as much as Air Force and Utah St. I like how you did not include Cincy, the school that would have had the biggest turnout of them all.

Also, do you really think the selection committee would sacrifice a school's post-season appearance over a couple dozen seats? Enough with the conspiracy theories.

[geedell]

cosgravm said:

YES, well at least as much as Air Force and Utah St. I like how you did not include Cincy, the school that would have had the biggest turnout of them all.

Also, do you really think the selection committee would sacrifice a school's post-season appearance over a couple dozen seats? Enough with the conspiracy theories.

Well I don't know how you explain putting Utah St and Air Force in

[GIGAFAN99]

Come on geedell, the Pac-10 deserved to be the only 4-bid conference where all participants were top 8 seeds. The questionable mid-majors just happened not to be Hofstra, Creighton, or Missouri St which all had higher RPIs than USU or Air Force.

And yes, it doesn't matter anyway. It's not like a Pac-10 team playing in Pac-10 country just shot 28 more free throws than a top defensive Big Ten team to come back and win by 3.

Totally unreasonable to think the committee would ever play politics with the draw.

[geedell]

gigafan99 said:

Come on geedell, the Pac-10 deserved to be the only 4-bid conference where all participants were top 8 seeds. The questionable mid-majors just happened not to be Hofstra, Creighton, or Missouri St which all had higher RPIs than USU or Air Force.

And yes, it doesn't matter anyway. It's not like a Pac-10 team playing in Pac-10 country just shot 28 more free throws than a top defensive Big Ten team to come back and win by 3.

Totally unreasonable to think the committee would ever play politics with the draw.

West Coast teams did get a break this year, but I don't think there's some intentional West Coast bias.

I will agree that the committee was generous with Cal and Arizona's(although it's now validated) seeding, but I dont think all this was done to get more west coast teams into the sweet 16. I don't know why the committee would have THAT agenda.

I agree with you on Utah St and Air Force...I would like a clear explanation on why they were in.

[SaxaCD]

I thought Gonzaga should have been a 2. I chalk up their seeding to "anti-Catholic" bias.

[BurleithBeast]

hate to say it, but the west showed up today. man, i thought i would always be able to count on gonzaga to blow their high seeds.

[GIGAFAN99]

Seriously, Gonzaga-UCLA in Oakland (totally coincidental of course) is good for college basketball in some ways. It's good to have the west coast involved in March Madness.

But let's not get confused about whether or not West Coast basketball is good. They have one really good team (UCLA) and one really good player on a decent team (Adam Morrison). It will be nice to pull ratings on the West Coast so there's something good about this marquee matchup I guess.

I just hope UCLA wins. If the Zags use their "America's Team" gift seed to make a regional final by beating their second ranked team all season, I'll be sick.

[Nevada Hoya]

I thought Tennessee's #2 was a worse seed. Barely get by a 15 seed and then get beaten by a mid-major. #7 beating a #2; let's hope history repeats tomorrow in our game.

[SaxaCD]

Agree 100%, Nevada.

[GIGAFAN99]

nevadahoya3 said:

I thought Tennessee's #2 was a worse seed. Barely get by a 15 seed and then get beaten by a mid-major. #7 beating a #2; let's hope history repeats tomorrow in our game.

Oh without question. I just think this was one of the odd choices made by this committee. Pitt with the same seed as 'Cuse, BC beating UNC twice but getting a lower seed, etc.

There are just so many inconsistencies. You don't know what got a team its seed.

[SirSaxa]

gigafan99 said:

nevadahoya3 said:

I thought Tennessee's #2 was a worse seed. Barely get by a 15 seed and then get beaten by a mid-major. #7 beating a #2; let's hope history repeats tomorrow in our game.

Oh without question. I just think this was one of the odd choices made by this committee. Pitt with the same seed as 'Cuse, BC beating UNC twice but getting a lower seed, etc.

There are just so many inconsistencies. You don't know what got a team its seed.

I agree with the above, but I would add there are a lot of additional priorities that come into play in seeding that are not factors in selecting. For example, the BE had 8 teams. These were split up in the four regions which each region getting 2 BE teams. Taking it a step further, they were placed in such a way that they could not meet up before the regional finals.

I think that was a great way to do it, but what impact did it have on seedings?

Seedings are sometimes difficult to decipher, and they can influence how far a team advances. But if a team is to win a National title... or even get to the Final Four, it is going to have to beat some really good teams. Ultimately, each team's fate is in its own hands regardless of where it is seeded.