Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993 TAG: 9303070019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
A RACKET BEHIND THE BRACKET? NO DARN WAY
It was before last Sunday's Duke-UCLA basketball game.On one side of the debate was the formidable group of Dick Vitale, John Feinstein of The Washington Post, Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register and Lenox Rawlings of the Winston-Salem Journal.
On the other side was your rotund correspondent.
It was, as Vitale might say, a no-brainer, an M&Mer.
They might disagree, of course - in fact, they did disagree vigorously. But I am sorry, they are wrong.
We were talking about the NCAA Tournament - at the time it was only 10 hours until it was officially March Madness, so what else would be the subject of conversation?
I do not apologize for the fact that I know more about the NCAA Tournament than this quartet of scholars combined. No need for false modesty here. This is the NCAAs we're talking about.
Nothing bothers me more than when I here some guy on national TV or radio make a statement about the NCAAs and be wrong. That happens all the time. Usually it's because they don't know the rules, or, as basketball chairman Tom Butters calls them, the principles.
The difference in this discussion is that everybody understood the principles. It's just that the famed quartet believes politics is involved.
In other words, they think when the committee can arrange good theatre for sponsoring CBS, it will.
I am here to tell you that opponents are not matched up for television. I tell you that because I believe the people on the committee, and the NCAA officials who work with them.
That, say my critics, shows a distinct weakness of my part. I am accused of being naive, if not downright stupid.
I tried to prove my point this year. I asked Butters if I could sit in on the three-day meeting in Kansas City, Mo., and report on what happened. I said if the committee really did what it said it did, the story would prove the point and remove them from annual criticism.
Anybody who knows me understands this was my initial attempt at the Red Badge of Courage. Brill silent for three days on the subject of basketball? Unthinkable!
I have not been granted my request, which is unfortunate, because I believe it would be incredibly interesting.
I realize I stand alone. I have yet to meet a sainted soul who agrees with me. Maybe Americans have no trust any more, and certainly not of a committee of nine males granted the power to make, and apply, their own rules (principles).
But I will tell you why I know I'm right. It is true I am a trusting type. I tend to believe what I am told. I am a sucker for sincerity. I once shelled out $500 to a guy who said he could improve my golf game. Now that is big-time dumb, and as impossible as it is to stay slim and trim and still sip a cool one.
Still, I understand the principles the committee will have to deal with when it meets this week in Kansas City.
Simply put, I am convinced the committee couldn't stack the field if it tried, or make CBS smile if it asked (it doesn't).
Why? Consider these points. Brigham Young will not play on Sunday, and therefore must be scheduled in a region where the final is on Saturday. This year, that happens in the Southeast and Midwest. The Cougars must play in Orlando, Fla., and Chicago.
No conference team can be bracketed with another from its own league among the top 16 seeds. North Carolina, Duke, Florida State and Wake Forest will be in separate regions.
Teams from the same league can't play before the regional finals. Repeats of regular-season matchups are discouraged. Schools that play host to first- and second-round games get to play on the opposite day from when there are contests at their arenas. The field must be balanced - admittedly subjective, but the committee truly tries.
Now if you take all these items, and add in a bundle of others, you will discover that it is virtually impossible to do what the cynics claim happens.
Let's take Duke, the two-time defending champion. Here's what can happen:
Duke in a position to play Kentucky in a rematch of last year's "greatest game ever played."
Duke in position to meet Indiana again - Krzyzewski versus Knight.
Duke in position to meet Vanderbilt in the round of 16. Bobby Hurley against Billy McCaffrey.
Or, Duke against Seton Hall, the agonizing rematch of the Hurley brothers that so devastated Bobby last year.
No question, any of the above would be good theatre. The point is, one of them is bound to be possible, because Duke isn't going to be in the East (North Carolina is) and neither will Kentucky, Indiana, Vandy or Seton Hall.
If you peruse the brackets when they finally are announced next Sunday at 6:30, you will discover any number of attractive matchups that would intrigue CBS. But that doesn't mean it's politics. It means the committee just did its job.