I was skeptical when the bracket came out. But after the first couple of rounds, you have to admit that the NCAA men's basketball selection committee knew what they were doing then they put together this year's field of 65 contenders.
It came as a shock to most when Arizona's name appeared in the Midwest regional, only having a .500 conference record, a 19-13 overall record and a 1-5 record in the last six games leading up to the tournament. By most people's standards, that does not warrant a ticket into the big dance. To be fair, Wisconsin and Michigan really did not have much of a case to plead either, losing eight and nine conference games respectively and doing minimal damage during the home stretch of their seasons. There were plenty of arguments for why Penn State, Creighton, San Diego State and a handful of other teams deserved to get a slot in the tournament instead.
But the games that Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan played in the first round had to silence the doubters.
If we rewind back to pre-tournament time and enter the minds of the men and women on the selection committee, you have to take into consideration that though these three teams had less-than-stellar records, they had a number of other factors in their favor. Arizona, you might say, had 24 reasons on their side: their streak of 24 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances is the second longest run in history, which means the program is consistently good and deserves some leniency when it is on the bubble. A similar argument can be made for Wisconsin, which has never missed a NCAA tournament under head coach Bo Ryan. This year's tournament marks the eighth time the Badgers have made it in under his tutelage.
Michigan does not have such a history to lean on. The Wolverines' NCAA tournament draught has surpassed the decade mark, and the results from their last appearance were vacated because of their recruiting scandal back in the '90s. But they were able to lean on a highly-respectable turnaround season—they were 10-22 overall with five conference wins last year—and snatched up two wins over No. 4 teams early on. Creighton and San Diego State cannot compare in those departments.
Nor can they boast the kind of intense conference play that Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan had to struggle through. In both the Pac-10 and the Big Ten, any team seemed to be able to take a win from anyone else at any time. Collectively, the mediocre record that the bulk of the teams in each conference accumulated bolstered each conference's respectability. The same was true of the Big East and the ACC.
Based more on these factors and much less on their records, the selection committee seemed to be justified in their choices. But it was the play of Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan that validated the use of these extraneous factors as respectable credentials for entry into the national tournament. Wisconsin's win over Florida State after being down by 12 at the half is further proof that you can never count out a Bo Ryan team. Michigan's win over Clemson was evidence middle-of-the-road teams from solid conferences are not necessarily average.
Most importantly, Arizona demonstrates what kind of advantage years and years of post-season experience can give a program. The last team in is now the lowest seed in the Sweet 16 and stands the best chance of any team in the tournament so far to knock off Louisville.
We can never know whether the handful of bubble teams that had their postseason dreams burst at the last minute would have gone farther than the Badgers, Wolverines or the surprising and surging Wildcats, but one thing is for sure: handing the last few spots in the tournament to those last few squads was certainly a sound decision.
Does Arizona have what it takes to pull past Louisville and advance into the Elite Eight? Tell Andy what you think by e-mailing him at avansistine@wisc.edu.
