| | NEW YORK -- If the NCAA Tournament selection committee follows procedure, Kenyon Martin's
season-ending injury -- coupled with Cincinnati's loss to Saint Louis on Thursday in the Conference
USA quarterfinals -- will prevent the Bearcats from earning a No. 1 seed, according to one
former committee member.
The former committee member, who asked to remain anonymous, told ESPN.com that the committee does take into account injuries in the last 10 games, and that the four No. 1 seeds are supposed to be the favorites to reach the Final Four.
The NCAA selection committee's principles and procedures for seeding the field, which was distributed to ESPN last week, said that all "seeds on each line (No. 1, 2, 3, etc.) should be as equal as possible."
Cincinnati without Martin, the favorite for national player-of-the-year honors, is no longer on the same level as potential No. 1 seeds Duke, Stanford, Temple, Michigan State or Ohio State.
"The best four teams in the nation are the No. 1 seeds, and if a team is without its best
player, it will be a factor," the former committee member said. "They were a shoe-in before but now they're likely a No. 2 with five or six schools in the hunt for No. 1 seeds. It will also be a factor that Saint Louis beat them. That becomes a bad loss for Cincinnati. Saint Louis isn't on the same level as Cincinnati."
The former committee member said the selection committee tries to think forward, not backward. Injuries that have affected a team earlier in the season are taken into account, such as Temple's record with and without Pepe Sanchez (who had an injured ankle earlier in the season). The selection committee, meeting in Indianapolis on Thursday, responded to ESPN.com's request for clarification by confirming what the former committee member told ESPN.com.
"If an injury or suspension occurs late in the season, the committee will evaluate that team
based on whether or not that player will be on the floor using the factual information the
committee knows to date," the NCAA's Jim Marchiony said on behalf of the committee in response to the request.
Marchiony said suspensions and injuries are treated the same, putting Auburn in a similar situation as Cincinnati. The Tigers must be judged on the season-ending suspension of Chris Porter, who admitted that he accepted money from an alleged agent or middleman of an agent.
The committee has four new members and lacks the basketball background of past committees, which included a majority of former coaches, led by Kentucky's C.M. Newton. That will likely mean the committee will stick to its rules, more so than look at a team in shades of gray. Basketball-savvy
members in the past would look at whether or not this was the same team on the court when determining if its seeding should change.
"You want the best four teams as No. 1 seeds and Cincinnati is very talented, but they become equal to a lot of other teams now," said the former committee member. "They can't stay at No. 1."
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
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