As the dust settles on Selection Sunday and we prepare ourselves for March Madness, it's time to take a look at some of the winners and losers of the day as we head into what is going to be an exciting and unpredictable NCAA Tournament.
Winner: Connecticut Huskies
The best team in the country only created more distance between themselves and the field this week. Connecticut handled their business in the Big East Tournament, cutting down the nets in Storrs South, while Houston, Purdue, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arizona — you know, all the other teams that entered the week in contention for a no. 1 seed — all came up short in their respective conference tournaments. Now the Huskies are the no. 1 overall seed and find themselves just six wins away from becoming the first team to repeat as National Champions since the Florida Gators did so in 2006 and 2007.
Loser: Connecticut Huskies
I'd never be one to accuse the NCAA and the Selection Committee of having some sort of nefarious agenda, however, if I were the type of individual who was prone to falling down the rabbit hole and subscribing to conspiracy theories, here's one that I might be interested in:
The major power players in the college basketball media rights game are ESPN, CBS/Turner, and FOX… in that order. Now as things stand right now, FOX's meal ticket in college basketball is the Big East Conference, while ESPN has the primary rights to the SEC, Big 12, and ACC, while the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the NCAA Tournament belong to CBS and Turner.
Now immediately after the Selection Show had revealed the field of 68, I got multiple text messages from acquaintances who know I'm a Connecticut fan who shared the same sentiment I was feeling: the East Region, which features no. 1 overall seed Connecticut, also features Big 12 Conference Tournament winner Iowa State, Big Ten Conference Tournament winner Illinois, SEC Tournament winner Auburn, and a pair of Final Four teams from last year in San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, and therefore appears to the naked eye to be the toughest of the four regions.
Again, I'm not gonna come right out and suggest that UConn's brutal road to a second consecutive National Title is a product of any sort of collusion between the NCAA and the other media partners that the NCAA is trying to keep happy. I'm also not going to suggest that the Big East getting only three teams in the field while the ACC and Pac-12 — two conferences that almost universally have been considered inferior to the Big East this season — each got four is a sign of foul play.
I'm definitely not saying that.
(Wink, wink)
Loser: The Big East Conference
See above, and also see Kim English and Rick Pitino going scorched earth on the Selection Committee for March Madness.
Loser: The Mountain West Conference
On one hand, the Mountain West Conference has six teams in the field of 68 for the upcoming March Madness. Only the Big 12 and SEC have more than that. But aside from San Diego State and Colorado State, who I too had as a 5 seed and 10 seed respectively in my final Bracketology projections, all four other teams were seeded significantly lower than I had them. Now I'm not the judge and jury of who should be seeded where or who will make extended tournament runs. But the immediate reaction seemed to be that the Mountain West was actually undervalued. Had New Mexico not defeated San Diego State in the Conference Tournament Final, we'd only have five Mountain West teams in the field, and Boise State and Colorado State each barely snuck in.
Winner: Purdue Boilermakers
The Boilermakers were placed in what appears to be by far the easiest region of the NCAA Tournament for March Madness. Kansas has been in a downward spiral for a month, and I've already covered how I feel about the Zags. Meanwhile, on the bottom of the bracket, Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers are just dying to get upset and are we sure Creighton can be trusted? Does South Carolina as a 6 seed really scare ya? How about Texas as a 7 seed?
Here's all I'm saying: if Zach Edey, Matt Painter and co. can't get to the Final Four this year, it's an unmitigated disaster. And if they get bounced early on by a significantly lower seed, I don't know where you even go from there.
Losers: Spero Dedes and Jim Spanarkel
On one hand, getting to call the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio is a pretty nice gig. But on the other hand, Dedes and Spanarkel have to sit through and call a Virginia game. How do you even begin to bring excitement to a game featuring the Cavaliers?
Winner: Dan Monson
Think about the roller coaster ride that Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson has been on this past week. Monson, who has coached at Long Beach State since 2007, was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the program on March 11th, only he and the school agreed he would continue to coach the team through the Big West Tournament. Here's the snafu that Monson and the school have since run into: The Beach went on an unexpected run through the Big West Tournament as the 4 seed to win the whole damn thing and secure a berth as a 15 seed in the Big Dance. I don't believe there is any historical precedent for a situation like this, but there is historical precedent for Arizona, a 2 seed in the West Region, losing in the opening round to a 15 seed.
(15) PRINCETON SHOCKS (2) ARIZONA 😱
The Tigers come up with a stunning upset over the Wildcats, winning 59-55 to move on to the second round! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/LycJB1pdJj
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2023
Only one year ago yesterday. Watch out, Wildcats.
Winner: McNeese State
The only way you could keep me from picking — and wagering on — a McNeese State upset over Gonzaga in Round One is if Adam Morrison somehow found access to a time machine and traveled from 2006 to 2024 in order to use his final year of eligibility to play for this year's Zags team.
I'm dead serious. That's the only way.
Losers: The 6 Seeds
For those of you who don't have a bracket in front of you, these four teams are BYU, Texas Tech, South Carolina, and Clemson. And their opponents in the 1st Round are Duquesne, NC State, Oregon, and New Mexico… four teams that needed to win their respective conference tournaments in order to even make the field of 68. Don't ignore who has momentum on their side, friends. It's not the end all, be all of determining who is going to make a deep run in March, but I wouldn't be surprised if 11 seeds swept the 6 seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Winner: All of Us
As is the case every year on Selection Sunday, we're the big winners of the day, because we have March Madness waiting for us.
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