Greer: Selection Committee misses boat on ‘Cuse, others

The Selection Committee did it again. Another group of unqualified teams received NCAA… The Selection Committee did it again. Another group of unqualified teams received NCAA Tournament invitations, and another group of worthy teams didn’t.

This is how it seemingly goes every year, yet every tournament shapes out wonderfully. But this year is different. I don’t see things shaking down as nicely.

This year, there were no Big East representatives on the Selection Committee, the group of college basketball brass assigned with the task of handing out seeds and at-large invitations for the NCAA Tournament. And how could it go unnoticed?

Two of the semifinalists in the Big East Tournament received six seeds, while one of the two teams to challenge Georgetown en route to its Big East title was slapped with a No. 9 seed.

To top it all off, one of the Big East’s top six teams, Syracuse, did not receive an at-large bid. Nope, the Orange finished 10-6 in the Big East, won 22 games and beat Georgetown and Marquette in the regular season but were left out of the Big Dance.

I guess the Gerry McNamara honeymoon is over.

West Virginia, Pitt’s archrival, was also left out. The Mountaineers won 23 games, had a 9-7 Big East record and defeated Villanova and UCLA.

John Beilein’s crew pushed Louisville to two overtimes Thursday in the Big East Tournament, and arguably should’ve won if Edgar Sosa’s 10-step drive to the basket, which he capped off with the game-tying layup in regulation, was whistled for the travel that it was.

But no, the Selection Committee traveled the same old route – picking overrated, “Eh” teams from the glamorous power conferences. The knock-down, drag-out style of the Big East isn’t pretty enough to go dancing.

Let’s stick to the facts. The Selection Committee said it weighed the conference tournaments and RPI heavily. Therefore, Louisville and Notre Dame, the Big East’s losing semifinalists, should’ve probably been pushed into the No. 4 and No. 5 seed categories, right?

Wrong – the Selection Committee placed Virginia and Maryland ahead of Rick Pitino’s Louisville and Big East Coach of the Year Mike Brey’s Notre Dame.

Maryland lost to RPI No. 147 Miami (Fla.) in the ACC quarterfinals, while RPI No. 89 North Carolina State bested Virginia in another quarterfinal game. If we’re weighing conference tournament heavily, shouldn’t those embarrassing losses cost Maryland and Virginia?

And to top it all off, the Selection Committee put Duke, a team that went 4-7 in its last 11 games and hasn’t won a meaningful game since it beat George Washington in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, on the same seeding line as Louisville and Notre Dame.

Did I mention Duke finished 8-8 in the ACC and lost to North Carolina State in the preliminary round of the ACC Tournament?

Meanwhile, Stanford is sitting pretty, with its fancy dancing shoes and tournament gown. But the Cardinal choked on the Pac-10 Tournament punch, losing to Southern Cal in the quarterfinals, and should’ve paid for it if the Selection Committee stuck to its word.

Needless to say, Stanford’s RPI is 63, 13 spots below Syracuse and six below West Virginia.

And let’s measure tournament success while we’re at it. West Virginia, as long as its resume is anything decent, should make most tournaments because Beilein has his kids ready to play. The Selection Committee honestly thinks Stanford could put up a better fight as an underdog than the Mountaineers?

But the point is this: The Selection Committee didn’t have fair representation of the major conferences this year, and it showed.

Louisville owns a better RPI (37) and strength of schedule (36) than Virginia, while Stanford leaves us scratching our heads. What about the ‘Cuse?

I bellyache every year over nods and snubs. But this year, I’m screaming.