Reaction to Men's NCAA Tourney Seeds

This year George Mason, Georgetown, and Miami (OH) all missed the NCAA Tournament. It does dampen things a bit, but I still have some outrage about the seeding.

First, let me dust off my trusty Circumcised Penis Index (CPI). Ok, done.

The biggest travesty is the absence of St. Mary's from the field. They went 26-6. Doesn't winning games count for something. I also can't believe Creighton (26-7) and San Diego State (23-9) didn't make it in. But teams from so-called big conferences, with double-digit losses, did make it in. Something is not right when winning is not rewarded.

The argument against including schools from "mid-major" conferences is basically that they "haven't played anyone." But there is a glaring weakness to this argument. How do we decide what "playing someone" means? If no one has played a game, why is it assumed that a win over Iowa is better than a win over Bucknell? This is the great flaw in the system. If you are a big conference team, you are someone. If you are a mid-major, unless you've been consistently great for numerous years (i.e. Gonzaga, Butler), you are no one. Now, you're getting to see the CPI in action.

I agree that, for the most part, the teams at the top of the ACC, Big East, PAC 10, Big 10, Big 12, and SEC are better than the teams at the top of the Missouri Valley, Mountain West, WAC, WCC, MAC, Colonial, etc. But there is a lot more overlap than the powers that be would like to admit. The best teams from the mid-majors, in any given year, are at least as good as the middle of the road teams in the power conferences. My CPI tells me that. The committee needs to do a much better job discerning between mediocre power teams and excellent mid-majors. Right now, the system gives the mediocre power teams all the advantage. Only 4 mid-majors received at large bids this year. That is almost criminal.

As far as the seeding goes, at least the Big East finally got its due. Maryland is always overrated. It's amazing year after year. A friend was worried that they might not make it in, because Maryland fans are irrational. I told him, don't worry, they'll not only get in, they'll get a much better seed than you think. Sure, enough, they are a 10. But then again, the ACC is always overrated.

The only DC area team that made it was American. They get the pleasure of playing Villanova in Philadelphia. If VCU gets by UCLA (and Nova beats American), the Colonial champs then get that same honor.

My final thought is, imagine someone trying to learn American geography through the NCAA Tournament. I understand trying to put teams near their fan base, but there is something unique about traveling across the country to watch your favorite team play in the NCAA Tournament. There's also something about Philadelphia not hosting games in the West region.