The debate continues over Final Four seeding

Sporting News, The, May 6, 1996 by Mike DeCourcy

It can be hard to ignore the distinct, resonant voice of Billy Packer, especially when it's on the other end of the phone line.

Apparently, Packer noticed when this column declared his suggestion that teams be reseeded after reaching the Final Four the "Worst Idea by a CBS Type." So he called to make a couple of points. Thankfully, none was to call the author of the piece an idiot.

The first thing Packer wants you to understand is that "reseeding" is a term that inaccurately describes his idea. What he wants is for the NCAA selection committee to reveal the 1 through 64 seeding done at the start of the tournament, then match the Final Four teams according to those numbers. That would be more like "repairing," which is how Packer looks at this, anyway.

Using this season's field, we know Massachusetts was the No. 1 overall seed and Kentucky was No. 2. We can assume Syracuse, as fourth seed in the West, was somewhere around No. 14 and that Mississippi State, clearly tops among the fifth seeds, was No. 17. So Packer's approach would have matched UMass against Mississippi State and Kentucky against Syracuse in the semifinals.

"I'm wanting to make sure that the team that earns the right through three and a half months of effort is given the best shot to win the championship," Packer says. "There have been a lot of things about the tournament that have changed over the years."

Packer correctly points out that one of the factors that made the NCAA Tournament this nation's greatest sporting event was "tinkering." He remembers arguing with Hall of Famer John Wooden in the 1970s that conferences should be allowed to send more than one representative. Would the tournament be as entertaining without 64 teams, without seeding, without geographically balanced regions? The answer to all those questions is no, because the tournament once lacked all those elements and has improved as they were added.

But tinkering with a product that already is special has diminished the college game in recent years. A lot of rules changes since the late 1980s--the 35--second clock in particular--failed to improve the game. You've got to know when the masterpiece is finished.

As picayune as this sounds, one problem with Packer's idea is that it spoils the symmetrical beauty of the tournament bracket. Another is that it would require more effort to run an office pool, because no one would be able to merely fill in a bracket, turn it in at the start of the tournament and watch how the games turn out. No matter what your view of gambling may be, the office pool has helped increase interest in the tournament.

Packer isn't intractable about his suggestion. He is open to the idea this column proposed to abandon the rotating regional pairings (East vs. West in one year, East vs. Southeast the next) and set the regions when the tournament bracket is established. The East (UMass) and Midwest (Kentucky) could have been placed on opposite sides this year, so that their meeting would not have occurred until the title game.

"All I'm saying is it's something to think about," Packer says. "I'm thinking about the game for 20 years from now."

Parting shots

After having their requests to transfer denied by California coach Todd Bozeman, forward Tremaine Fowlkes and center Michael Stewart appealed to have their cases for release reviewed by a university panel. That step is permitted by NCAA rules but is rarely employed by athletes. . . . With Tulsa leaving to join the Western Athletic Conference, the Missouri Valley Conference has chosen not to add any new members this season. That leaves the MVC with 10 schools. There had been talk of Western Kentucky as a candidate. . . . Syracuse hired former Orangemen star Louis Orr as an assistant, which means the entire staff is composed of alumni. Orr who has recruited well in the New York area for Pete Gillen at Xavier and Providence, takes over for Wayne Morgan, the new coach at Long Beach State. . . . It may not appear so at first glance, but Massachusetts coach John Calipari is well prepared for the loss of center Marcus Camby to the NBA. In waiting is gifted post man Lari Ketner, a Philadelphia product who was academically ineligible as a freshman. . . . The Detroit connection that brought All-Conference USA forward Carlos Williams to Alabama-Birmingham has new coach Murry Bartow involved with Michigan transfer Willie Mitchell and Pershing High star Winfred Walton, one of the top seven talents in the senior class. The Blazers could regain prominence--and Bartow could establish himself as a recruiter--by landing either or both. . . . NCAA sanctions helped cause Georgia Southern to slip from an NCAA Tournament team in 1987 and ,92 to 3-23 under first-year coach Gregg Polinsky, but his rebuilding program took a nice step forward when 6-8 forward Doug Beaty of New Mexico Junior College ignored big-time offers to play close to his Union, S.C., home.

Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.