Figuring out NCAA Tournament field no simple chore

INDIANAPOLIS - Rejoice, UNLV fans. Your basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament.

You, too, UNR and Brigham Young.

Wait a second. Selection Sunday is a month away. Is this some sort of weird pre-April Fool's Day joke?

Weird? Yes. Joke? Not really, unless you're Arizona State, George Mason or Syracuse.

A year ago, the NCAA men's basketball committee decided it needed to do a better job of informing the public on its tournament selection, seeding and bracketing process. What better way than by inviting college basketball writers and letting them experience what the committee goes through?

Working with the United States Basketball Writers Association, the NCAA Selection Committee developed the mock selection seminar.

The NCAA knew the writers didn't have five days to leave their beats. So they consolidated the experience into one day in a meeting room at the NCAA's office.

On Feb. 6, 20 members of the USBWA experienced the process of picking the field of 65.

There are 10 members on the actual committee, which is chaired by Tom O'Connor, the athletic director at George Mason. The 20 writers were paired with a partner to represent each member of the committee. I was paired with the Denver Post's John Henderson, who covered UNLV basketball for 10 years, including the Rebels' 1990 national championship run. I covered the team from 1990 to 2006.

We would represent Chris Hill, the committee member who is the athletic director at Utah.

Hill's advice: "Be prepared. Do your homework and don't be swayed by the moment. You have to listen to what's being said in the room, and, remember, it's a whole season. You have to analyze everything."

Boy, would he be right.

The room was set up virtually identical to the one the real committee uses. Everyone had a laptop. There were three large computer screens, which provided updated information such as "Team Sheets" -- the program's entire resume.

After an orientation it was time to go to work. Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's senior vice president for basketball and business, and the man responsible for overseeing the operation of the tournament advised us: "Don't worry about tracking the process details. Concentrate on selecting, seeding and bracketing."

Then comes the news everyone is dreading.

"We'll stay until we get the puppy done," Shaheen said. "It will be a very amusing adventure that will change your perspective on a lot of things."

Henderson looked at me and said, "What did we get ourselves into?"

SELECTION TIME

The actual committee spends its time sequestered on the 15th floor of the Indianapolis Westin Hotel. It begins Wednesday and doesn't end until Sunday when the field is announced on CBS.

Shaheen said a few myths would be dispelled, and here's one right off the bat. Everyone assumes CBS is in the room monitoring the proceedings and has input as to where the field is seeded and bracketed.

The truth is CBS has access to the room but only to check on how things are coming along or to have the chairman go on camera in an adjacent room to be interviewed during the weekend.

The first task was to get the at-large field put in place. We began at 3:15 p.m. by voting for 34 teams that we thought absolutely belonged in the tournament.

Henderson and I had spent part of Super Bowl Sunday going over our list of "locks." We had met again over coffee at our hotel the morning of the meeting to double-check and make sure we didn't overlook anyone.

We based our picks on games through Feb. 5. The voting is secret and done by computer.

Two lists are created: The no-brainers and the "Under Consideration" list. For the next six hours, with a break built in for dinner, we slogged it out, debating the merits of Rhode Island, Purdue and Arkansas. We whittle away, or, as Shaheen called the process, peeling back an onion.

While we are trying to put the 34-team at-large field together, the NCAA decides to have a little fun. There are conference tournaments being played while we are in session, and those winners receive automatic bids.

Throughout the night, we would get curveballs tossed at us by David Worlock, the NCAA's media coordinator, who determined who "won" the conference tournaments.

THE "NITTY GRITTY"

RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index, a statistical formula used to help figure out a team's strength. Its primary goal is to provide supplemental data for the committee.

There are several different RPIs, the most popular public one being Jerry Palm's. We use the NCAA's official RPI, in which the formula is comprised of a team's Division I winning percentage (25 percent), its opponents' winning percentage (50 percent) and its opponents' opponents' winning percentage (25 percent).

Myth No. 2: The field is determined by RPI. Not one team is selected because of its RPI. The information within the RPI can make or break a team, but not the actual number itself.

UNLV's RPI for our mock exercise was 30. UNR's was 81. Henderson puts emphasis on RPI. Me? I'm more about how teams played down the stretch.

That brings us to the statistical bank of numbers within the RPI the NCAA calls "The Nitty Gritty." We are given a binder that lists all 341 Division I teams with their RPI, their opponents' RPI, their average rank, their road records, how they competed in their last 12 games, and their record versus the top 100 and against teams ranked 151st and beyond.

As we discuss the merits of various teams, Henderson is hung up on RPI and I keep stressing the last 12 games. The real Chris Hill wouldn't do either. Remember what he said earlier: "It's a whole season. You have to analyze everything."

There's a debate over Louisville, Marquette and Gonzaga. Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com stumps for Louisville, saying Rick Pitino had to go without David Padgett and Juan Palacios earlier in the season.

Marlen Garcia of USA Today makes a case for Rhode Island, saying the Rams should be considered stronger than the Cardinals because they're 2-1 against the top 50 and Louisville is 4-5. O'Neil, who knows the Atlantic 10 from her days at the Philadelphia Daily News, says, "Yeah, but the two wins were against the same team (Dayton)."

Touché! Rhode Island will have to wait.

The more teams that make the big board, the fewer open spots remain, the harder the task becomes. By dinner, there's still 11 at-large spots up for grabs. At this point, UNLV is on the outside looking in.

FUELING THE BEAST

Supposedly, we get to eat the same food as the real committee. On this night, it's chicken and fish, salad, vegetables and cheesy potatoes, all served buffet style.

Later, there would be a sundae bar -- vanilla ice cream and you create your own concoction. This is supposed to be one of the highlights of the evening for the committee members.

Not this committee. Not this night. The hot fudge isn't hot. There's only one flavor of ice cream. The whipped cream is Cool Whip. But the M&Ms are good.

FIELD IS SET

By 9:50 p.m., we have our field of 65.

UNLV came back into play toward the end of the selection process. The Rebels' 39-point win over BYU helped, as did the team's last-12 record (10-2).

BYU also would get in when it was "learned" the Cougars won the Mountain West Conference Tournament by beating UNLV.

But as we crept closer to the 34 at-large mark, anxiety set in. The room was quiet as the deliberations began over the final three teams. O'Connor, who was getting ready to call it a night, left us with these parting words, "Ask yourself, 'Who would you not want to play?' You need to reflect on who you think deserves to get in."

Tension was high as the committee pored over the glut of information.

"This is like splitting hairs!" Henderson said as he tried to differentiate between George Mason and Massachusetts.

The final vote: UMass and Florida are in. When word comes that Duke, a team already on the board, had won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, another spot opens up and it goes to Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are the last team in. For Arizona State, Syracuse, George Mason, North Carolina State and South Alabama, the five teams left on the at-large board, it's Heartbreak Hotel. The bubble has burst.

Someone said to Shaheen he can expect a call from an irate Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. Shaheen said: "He won't be calling me. He'll be calling them," as he points to Andy Katz of ESPN and Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News, the writers who are serving as the chairman of the committee.

It was the first time in two hours anyone in the room laughed.

PLANTING SEEDS

The seeding exercise began earlier in the evening as the committee began to fill in the top four lines. We went back and forth, seeding teams while adding others to the field. It wouldn't normally be done that way, but we had a limited amount of time.

Memphis was selected as the No. 1 overall seed.

UCLA, Kansas and Duke rounded out the No. 1 seeds. There seemed to be more angst over the seeding than the selection. Washington State was not selected as a top-four seed and Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News was in disbelief.

"We are totally undervaluing Washington State," said DeCourcy, who was convincing in his argument that the Cougars play in a top-notch conference. He motioned that Washington State replace Connecticut on the four line.

The committee agreed. One more reason for Huskies coach Jim Calhoun to hate the media.

Shaheen had cut us a break. He had the bottom quadrant, lines 13 through 16, seeded by his "subcommittee" so we didn't have to haggle over Belmont and Cornell.

UNLV, the Mountain West's regular-season winner, is seeded higher than BYU, the conference tournament champ, with the Rebels a 10 seed and the Cougars a 12.

UNR, which got in with a victory over Utah State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament title game, also is on the 12th line.

SEND THEM WHERE?

It's 11 p.m. Shaheen can tell we're getting tired. He gives us a pep talk, trying to coax what little energy we have left.

"Let's bracket!" he proclaims enthusiastically.

But there's a little tweaking of the seeds left, and we switch Vanderbilt and Massachusetts because the Minutemen lost to Vandy head-to-head. David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press also thinks that given Ohio State was the last team in, they should not be seeded ahead of Dayton.

Someone wonders why UNR is seeded higher than Creighton? The Bluejays move up at Davidson's expense. The Wolf Pack stays on the 12 line. UNR coach Mark Fox probably couldn't care less. He's just glad his team is going to the tournament for the fifth consecutive time.

Wednesday is about to turn into Thursday. The bracketing process begins. Shaheen reminds us of the many built-in principles that apply to the process. Teams from the same conference can't be in the same region if they're in the top three. In other words, UCLA, Stanford and Arizona, the three teams from the Pac-10, have to be placed in different regions.

Shaheen said the committee likes to keep the distance to sites as close to campus as possible to allow fans to get there. And the first five lines will receive protection in the first round. After that, all bets are off.

During the entire process, conference affiliation never came up.

Surprisingly, the process goes quickly, and it has to. Remember, we have to be finished in time for CBS' Greg Gumbel and Seth Davis to reveal the tournament teams from their New York studio.

Shaheen rides us like a jockey would a racehorse, asking us to pick it up.

UNLV catches a big break. The Rebels, a No. 10 seed, are placed in the Houston Region and sent to Anaheim, Calif., for a first-round game against Saint Mary's, which is a No. 7 seed. Should Lon Kruger's team win, it would face the winner of the game between No. 2 Stanford and No. 15 Pacific.

Now it's BYU's turn. Leave it to me, the "Utahn" in the group, to remind my fellow committee members of the fiasco from 2003 when the Cougars were placed in a region that had a Friday-Sunday schedule for the regional final in San Antonio. Remember, BYU does not compete on Sundays for religious purposes, and had the Cougars made the regional final, there would have been all sorts of problems.

The other committee members agree. As it turns out, the Charlotte Region is a Thursday-Saturday setup, and BYU gets to go to Denver for its first-round game Thursday against No. 5 Kansas State. UNR is put in the Detroit Region and also shipped to Denver, where it will face Connecticut.

Finally, it's 1:26 a.m. Thursday. The field is bracketed. There are no major issues.

Everyone is ready to bolt into the cold Indiana night. The skies are overcast, but no snow is falling.

The selection process is hard work, but not a single member of our media contingent was sorry they came to Indianapolis.

But there was one final myth that was destroyed -- the ice cream sundaes aren't what the NCAA says they are.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.