Real Games Begin After NCAA Dinner

They had a casual dinner last night--eight men and two women--but soon the 10 members of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Committee will be sequestered on the top floor of the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis--like jurors on a high-profile case.

They mean business. Basketball business.

The committee’s charter is to select and seed the 65-team NCAA tournament, to be announced Sunday.

This week, IRS agents are more beloved.

Many think it would be an easier task if the NCAA expanded the tournament field.

Others disagree.

“I don’t care if you go to 70, 80 or 90,” Mike Tranghese, chair of the committee, said. “People are still going to be unhappy with the selection process.”

A few ground rules for the public:

* Do not phone the Westin and try to sweet-talk your way past the hotel operator on behalf of your UC Irvine Anteaters.

* Do not think for a minute you can pose as a bellhop and slip University of Georgia leaflets under the door.

* Do not leave word for Tranghese that there’s a package at the front desk, hoping he’ll go down and find the box of Cuban cigars you left with the Temple press packet.

“You truly can’t get to us,” Tranghese said. “The top floor is blocked off.”

Candygram? Security? Turn-down service?

“I’ve never heard of a committee member being bothered,” he said.

No, all the bothering comes after Selection Sunday.

Mid-major conference members squeal that major conferences get preferential treatment. The majors say the mid-majors get too many bids.

“That’s the beauty of this tournament,” Tranghese said. “There are a lot of people who think they ought to be in it, but there are only 65 at the end of the day.”

At the end of Sunday, 31 automatic bids will have been earned and 34 at-large schools chosen.

This year’s bracket already has a “loose” feel, which is good for so-called “bubble” teams.

Gonzaga winning the West Coast Conference bid and Butler the Midwestern Collegiate took the committee off the hook in otherwise having to consider both schools as at-large picks.

That frees up two potential spots elsewhere.

There is also more wiggle room at the bottom because two major conferences, the Mountain West and Conference USA, are having down seasons and can expect to receive fewer bids.

That doesn’t mean there are not issues facing the committee members.

Here are 10:

1. What will they eat?

Relax. The Westin is a full-service hotel. All meals will be sent up from room service. There are sampler trays available, entrees, various appetizers and an assortment of beverages.

2. Which schools will get top regional placements?

Stanford has pretty much locked up No. 1 in the West Regional and will open play next Thursday in San Diego.

But six schools--Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, Illinois, Florida and Iowa State--have a shot at three other top spots. The problem is five of the schools may be concluding conference tournament play Sunday afternoon, leaving the committee little time to set the final field.

“It’s an issue, I can tell you that,” Tranghese said of the time constraint.

3. The injury factor.

The committee is very sensitive on this matter in the wake of last year’s controversy, when it dropped Cincinnati from a No. 1 to a No. 2 seeding after center Kenyon Martin broke his leg in the Conference USA tournament, but seeded Arizona No. 1 even though center Loren Woods was out because of a back injury.

The difference: The committee had no way to assess Cincinnati without Martin, while Arizona defeated Stanford without Woods.

This year, Iowa is the wild card. The Hawkeyes started 14-2 but are 18-11 now and have been reeling since Luke Recker broke his kneecap Jan. 27.

Recker will be on the bench and in uniform for this weekend’s Big Ten tournament. Coach Steve Alford says Recker will not play but may be available for the NCAA tournament.

What does the committee do?

Gonzaga is another case. The school is 19-2 since guard Dan Dickau returned to the lineup after missing nine games because of a broken finger. Gonzaga’s overall record of 23-6 and mediocre RPI of 75 probably warrants a lower seeding, but everyone knows Gonzaga is more dangerous than that.

“There’s never a good time to lose a quality player,” Tranghese said.

It is important to show the committee how well you perform without a star.

Duke proved it Sunday, playing without the injured Carlos Boozer.

“They played North Carolina at North Carolina and they won,” Tranghese said. “That’s the only thing we will factor in.”

4. Emotional issues.

Oklahoma State had to endure the trauma of the Jan. 27 plane crash that killed 10 members of the team’s traveling party, including two players. Arizona struggled early in part because Lute Olson’s wife, Bobbi, was dying of cancer.

Oklahoma suffered a blow last week when Coach Kelvin Sampson kicked star guard J.R. Raymond off the team.

How do these events affect selection and seeding?

“Our job is not to judge emotion,” Tranghese said. “We’re just supposed to go by facts.”

The Oklahoma State issue is probably moot because the Cowboys (18-8, 10-6 in the Big 12) are likely in on merit.

The Olson situation may be unique. Tranghese said he would ask his staff to research the effect a coach’s personal crisis has had on performance.

Raymond’s dismissal will be factored in like a season-ending injury.

5. Richmond.

The Spiders (21-6) took the Colonial Conference regular-season championship but were ineligible for this week’s conference tournament--

won by George Mason--because they’re leaving to join the Atlantic 10 Conference next year.

Normally, the Colonial would have a tough time getting two teams in the field, but Richmond is a unique case.

“We’ll have the conference rated,” Tranghese said. “We’ll evaluate their schedule and determine if they have enough good things to be put in the tournament.”

Richmond has a good shot. The Spiders have a 47 RPI rating and the Colonial Conference is rated 16th out of 31.

6. Hot and cold teams.

Do you reward Maryland for being bad a month ago but hot now? Do you penalize streaky Tennessee for its 16-1 start because it has lost six of its last 10 games?

Tranghese says you have to look at the season in total, yet downgrading Maryland for its nine losses may not be fair to its second- or third-round NCAA opponent.

“I guess it’s somewhere in between,” Tranghese said of trying to assess streaky teams. “We’ve got to evaluate the full body of work. And whether you lose on Dec. 1 or Jan. 1, a loss is a loss.”

7. The mid-major question.

How do you judge quality programs from outside the realm of the 10 major conferences? Is it fair to look only at power rating if schools from power conferences won’t play the mid-majors?

Should Hofstra (25-4) be denied an at-large berth if it doesn’t win the America East tournament? What about UC Irvine if it doesn’t win the Big West tournament?

Is a major-conference school with borderline credentials, Georgia Tech for example, more deserving than a regular-season champion in a lesser conference?

“It’s probably the most difficult thing we have to do,” Tranghese said.

Bottom line: The committee pays attention to how hard you try to schedule quality nonconference opponents.

Irvine appears on solid ground, with a victory over California and loss by five points to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

8. Georgia on their minds.

Very intriguing. Unless the Bulldogs (16-13) win the Southeastern Conference tournament, they are going to make a strong case to become the first at-large team to make the field with 14 losses. Georgia has the nation’s top-rated schedule and has scored huge road victories at Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.

9. Temple.

Last week, Big East Commissioner Tranghese led the charge to kick Temple’s football program out of the conference. This week, Tranghese sits in judgment on Temple’s NCAA chances. The Owls (18-12) had best go deep in the Atlantic 10 tournament if they want to remove doubt.

“We’ll treat Temple just as we treat everyone else,” Tranghese said.

10. Penn State.

The committee considers strongly how a team finishes, so Penn State’s loss to Northwestern last week has to hurt. The Nittany Lions are 17-10 overall, 7-9 in conference, have scored significant wins against Kentucky and Illinois, and play in the nation’s top-rated conference, but we strongly suggest they dispose of Michigan in today’s opening round of the Big Ten tournament.

LOOSE ENDS

Iowa State star guard Jamaal Tinsley’s name was conspicuously missing from the list of 20 John R. Wooden Award finalists, but it was not an oversight by the Wooden Award advisory board. Iowa State could not certify that Tinsley met the award criteria, which mandates players maintain a 2.0 grade-point average.