Homing in on a better NCAA bracket

Sporting News, The, March 4, 2002 by Mike DeCourcy

No one can promise this year's NCAA Tournament will match the fabulous frenzy of last year's, when the first day of competition featured one overtime game, nine contests decided by 4 or fewer points and seven upsets of higher seeds, including the fourth first-round loss by a No. 2 seed in 17 years. But this tournament will be unlike any you've seen.

You've probably heard about the new procedures the NCAA men's basketball committee will employ when its members gather next week to construct the bracket for the 2002 tournament. However, if you haven't discerned how that will affect your spectating and office-pooling pleasure, you are not alone.

This may answer some of your questions:

Q: What is a pod?

A: As far as the committee is concerned, it has nothing to do with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In selection committee parlance, it is a four-team sub-bracket for the first two rounds. For instance, in one of the 16 pods, the West No. 1 seed opens against the No. 16, the No. 8 plays the No. 9, and the winners of those games meet to advance to the Sweet 16.

What is different this year is that each pod, despite its geographic label, can be placed at any tournament site for the purposes of limiting the first weekend of travel for the highest-seeded teams.

If the West No. 1 comes from the Midwest--which is possible given Cincinnati's success to date--it will not be forced to open the tournament in Sacramento, Calif., or Albuquerque, N.M. If the Bearcats hold their position and are designated a No. 1 seed, they are more likely to play their first- and second-round games in Chicago or Pittsburgh. If they were to win their two first-round games, then they would play the Sweet 16 round in San Jose, Calif.

Q: What does this mean to my tournament pool?

A: In most ways, the changes won't affect the bracket. It still will look precisely the same on a sheet of paper. The difference will be that the sites for the first- and second-round games will be left blank.

The West Region bracket will be lined up the same as it always is: the No. 1 seed playing 16, 8 playing 9, all the way down to No. 2 vs. 15. When the teams are revealed, the sites of the games will be announced as well. The sites can be penciled onto the brackets at that point, if it matters to the participants.

Q: Should it matter?

A: Consider the situations of Maryland and Pittsburgh, the two teams most likely to play the closest to their homes. As a likely No. 1 seed, the Terps probably will open the tournament at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.--a 15-minute drive from campus--but that would have been the case even if the bracket procedures had not been changed to emphasize geographic convenience. So don't see Maryland playing at the MCI Center and think that has anything to do with the new setup. Since the rules changed before the 1989 tournament to prevent teams from competing on their home courts, rewarding the tournament's top seeds with convenient first-round games has been common.

Presuming Maryland finishes as well as it has performed the past two months--during which sophomore forward Chris Wilcox averaged 12.9 points and 7.1 rebounds to lead a 12-1 surge--it will have earned the opportunity to play two games close to home.

However, that sort of accommodation rarely has been made for No. 2 or 3 seeds, which is where Pitt figures to be seeded.

Whereas No. 1 seeds were placed an average of 163 miles from home since 1995, No. 2s traveled 320 miles on average. None of last year's No. 2s traveled fewer than 700 miles. But this committee appears willing to give significant competitive breaks to those teams when possible.

Selection committee chair Lee Fowler says he will not rule out the idea of Pittsburgh playing its early-round games at Mellon Arena. If Parkway East traffic is light--OK, so that is exceedingly rare--the Panthers can make the drive in seven minutes. Committee member Judy Rose, Charlotte's athletic director, contends a team has earned that sort of advantage if it is seeded high enough.

If this develops, the Panthers should enjoy the roaring support of their fellow Pittsburghers. This was among the first tournament sites to sell out, and it's almost certain many buyers were Pitt basketball fans who saw no reason to expect their team would be in the field in the third year of coach Ben Howland's rebuilding program.

Because of the site changes, some of this year's tournament surprises may occur before the first shot.

Q: Will anyone besides the top four seeds benefit from the new emphasis on geography?

A: It's possible. The No. 5 seeds will get a break if the circumstances work out right. Also, when the committee met in early February and worked on mock brackets, there was an instance in which a No. 6 seed was bumped to a No. 7 to keep that team closer to home.

Q: Is that really a benefit?

A: Maybe not. It means a shorter trip, but perhaps a shorter stay in the tournament. Midwest No. 6 Kansas won the NCAA title in 1988; there never has been a No. 7 seed to win it all. No. 6 seeds own a 91-67 record since the 64-team tournament began in 1985. That's 37 more victories than No. 7 seeds and, surprisingly, 15 more than No. 5s.