NCAA Tournament

Every year on this weekend, the NCAA committees select and seed the teams for the men's and women's NCAA tournaments. We've come to expect a fair amount of controversy with both the final teams that are in and out, as well as with the seeding process.

Quite honestly I haven't followed college basketball closely enough to make any judgement on what the committee did this year. I do believe that we all should accept that if a team isn't obviously in -- by virtue of performance or winning its conference tournament -- it's at the mercy of the committee. And way too much energy goes into arguing who the 40th or so best team in the country is. Having had it happen to my team, I know how frustrating it is to miss. But the truth is that team had no shot to win anyway and wasn't likely to get past the second round. If you want to be in, don't leave any doubt in the committee's mind.

But one thing I've heard really bothers me. In her ESPN chat tonight and I'd read this last week as well, Judy Southard, chair of the women's committee, said, "We did an incredible amount of research and spent hundreds of hours watching game film." OK, but why and why call this out? If this is a completely objective process why watch the teams play? Isn't it about the numbers (wins, loses, strentgth of schedule, last ten games, RPI, etc.)? Which part of the seeding process is about how good a team looks on tape? No doubt the committee members are fans and enjoy watching basketball as recreation and I do see wanting people in the know making decisions. But having watched the teams play can only make one less objective, especially since if you only see a team once or twice AND you're watching them against top competition, you become negatively biased.

I'm not saying the committee shouldn't watch the teams play. But to go out of your way to watch -- watching film not live TV -- and bragging about it seems to be an admission of subjectively.

Enough whining. Vanderbilt's men's and women's teams are both in the tournament. The women have a #2 seed and a chance to go a long way in the tournament starting on Sunday against Delaware St. The men have a #6 seed and take on George Washington Thursday afternoon. If they win, they get matched with local favorite Washington State.

Go 'Dores!