March 14--Not even half way through the NCAA tournament selection reveal, there were clear hits and misses. Like every season, the selections sparked criticism, debate and controversy. But this year even had college basketball fans miffed at the selection show as much as the picks.
Top seeds and favorable early-round location assignments left a few teams pleased.
Here are the winners and losers from Selection Sunday.
Winner: Syracuse
The Orange went 4-5 in Jim Boeheim's absence while he served an NCAA-sanctioned nine-game ban. But Syracuse wasn't that impressive with him, losing five of their last six games. The Orange's record is a paltry 19-13. But the selection committee gave them a nod and slotted them as a No. 10 seed.
Loser: Kentucky
The Wildcats owns a 26-8 record. They won the SEC tournament championship. They have arguably the nation's best point guard in Tyler Ulis. Yes, they played in a weak SEC. But a No. 4 seed? As a salty -- and kind of incoherent, to be honest -- coach John Calipari said on ESPN, that just doesn't make sense. The team they beat to win the conference tourney crowd -- Texas A -- earned a No. 3 seed.
Winner: Oregon
The debate heading into the NCAA selection committee was whether Michigan State would earn a No. 1 seed over Virginia. Nope, that went to the Ducks. To Oregon's credit, it played a tough schedule and succeeded, winning the Pac-12 title. Before the Ducks' celebrate their first-ever No. 1 seed too much, a little warning: the West Region includes tough No. 2 Oklahoma, rugged No. 3 Texas A, trusted blueblood No. 4 Duke and imposing No. 5 Baylor.
Loser: Virginia
The Cavaliers must have celebrated as they learned they earned a No. 1 seed before their eyes widened when the rest of the bracket was revealed. They share the Midwest Region with -- gasp! -- Michigan State. The Spartans have knocked out Virginia in the previous two tournaments.
Winner: Oklahoma
The Sooners have what it takes to get by top-seed Oregon in the West and they open as a No. 2 seed in friendly Oklahoma City. Potential meetings against Texas and Baylor bode well as the Sooners have defeated both this season, splitting with the Longhorns and sweeping the Bears.
Loser: Monmouth
The Hawks did everything the selection committee has laid out as must-dos for mid-major teams. Their RPI is 53. They went 2-1 against the top 50 RPI teams, beating Notre Dame and USC, while also taking down UCLA and Georgetown on the road. They won the regular-season MAAC title as well. Compared to some bubble teams, especially Tulsa, Monmouth deserved in. What more could they have done?
Winner: Seton Hall
If it wasn't for the victories against Xavier and Villanova, the Pirates would be considered the perfect Cinderella team. Earning a No. 6 seed is more than they could have ever imagined in the preseason.
Loser: The leaker
I mean, this did spice up a dull selection show. But the person who leaked the bracket before the CBS crew had a chance to reveal it will be found and likely be out of a job before the first tournament game tips off. And if the NCAA has anything to do with it, the leaker will probably never be allowed inside a college basketball arena again.
Winner: Tulsa
Just one prognosticator out of 144 correctly picked Tulsa to make the field, according to Bracketmix.com (ESPN's Joe Lunardi called their invitation "indefensible"). But the selection committee saw something in this bunch. Not sure what that was considering they lost to No. 6 seed Memphis in the AAC quarterfinals. Their only notable wins were victories in November to Wichita State and SMU, but they also lost to SMU and Cincinnati. Alas, here they are.
Loser: St. Bonaventure
The snub of the Bonnies prompted a strongly worded reprimand from the Atlantic-10 commission to the NCAA selection committee. "Every measuring point has been successfully met. In short they met the 'eye test' and the fact test. I am shocked that the committee did not select this team. It's a tremendous disservice and disappointment to these student-athletes, the SBU nation and the A-10."
