Selection committee is finally getting it right

Selecting the 65 teams to compete in the NCAA Tournament is a difficult job.

That’s why the… Selecting the 65 teams to compete in the NCAA Tournament is a difficult job.

That’s why the newest chairman of the famed – or is it infamous? – NCAA Tournament selection committee, Tom O’Connor, made a great decision Tuesday when he announced that committee members must come to Indianapolis, Ind., one day earlier to start the selection process.

The move is intended to create more debate and discussion for the process.

“First, we’re doing it so we can have more discussion on the selections,” O’Connor told the Associated Press. “That’s the most important part of the process, because you can’t be seeded or bracketed if you’re not selected.”

Another key change will be the expansion of the committee’s use of the last 10 games. O’Connor has extended that criterion to include the last 12 games.

What it all boils down to is this: The committee will have more time to work, meaning they’ll avoid catastrophes like placing Brigham Young in a regional that played on Sundays.

BYU can’t play on Sundays – it’s a school rule.

Maybe an extra day of work will also help the committee avoid leaving teams like Syracuse, which finished 10-6 in the best conference in the nation last year, out of the field.

“The second point of all this is that we’ve been a little rushed in the bracketing process, and it gives us a little more time to really go through the nuances,” O’Connor told the AP.

It’s like a light turned on in Indianapolis, or at least in O’Connor’s head.

This is a careful process. More goes into selecting the NCAA Tournament field than one can ever imagine.

There are hours upon hours of work in a conference room no bigger than a Nationality Room in the Cathedral of Learning. There are people from all over the country on the 10-person panel.

And the decisions and selections the committee makes have a major impact on schools and student-athletes around the nation.

The selection committee sifts through endless information to make its picks. In the past, when the brackets came out, it didn’t always look like the committee had seen every part of each resume.

There were rushed decisions of thrusting teams probably not worthy of the field into the tournament. Those teams – like the 18-12 Stanford Cardinal in last year’s tournament – were promptly shuttled from the field. Stanford lost, 78-58, to Louisville in the first round.

So maybe this year will be different. Maybe the committee will get each and every pairing and team right.

Then again, if they did, we wouldn’t have anything to argue about on the Monday following the bracket’s release.

Let’s get to the rapid fire.

– Akon’s full name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam. Assuming Lu Lu Lu is one name, that’s 10 names for Akon, which begs the question, is it a rule that Akon, to match his name count, must release 10 songs every 12 months? Seriously, have you heard any of his 87 singles out right now?

– TRIVIA: I’ll give you a hearty pat on the back, Roc, if you can tell me Pitt’s record at the Petersen Events Center against regular season non-conference opponents.

– The Pittsburgh wind is like John McCain, it changes direction whenever you do.

– The Steelers are 3-3 at home in the playoffs since moving to Heinz Field.

A headline on ESPN.com read, “Twins fill [Johan] Santana’s slot with Livan Hernandez.” I highly doubt signing Hernandez is “filling” Santana’s role.

-Paris Hilton has a little brother. His name is Barron. That’s hot.

-Thank God the writers’ strike is over. I can only handle so much of “My Dad is Better than Your Dad.”-

– TRIVIA ANSWER: Pitt is a whopping 77-1 against regular season, non-conference opponents at the Petersen Events Center. The only loss came against Bucknell in 2005.