Historically, conference tournaments have been considered by top teams to be something of a nuisance.
College basketball’s bluebloods viewed the conference postseason almost as an week-long exhibition – to make money for the league and perhaps produce a Cinderella story once in a while.
In fact, it was not unusual to hear a marquee coach say his team might be better off by losing early in its conference tournament rather than risk becoming worn out by playing three games in three days.
On Selection Sunday, the NCAA Division I men’s basketball selection committee sounded an alarm and told everybody they had been watching. All four No. 1 seeds – Florida, North Carolina, Ohio State and Kansas – won their conference tournament after having claimed at least a share of the regular-season crown.
In contrast, UCLA (26-5) had to settle for a No. 2 seed. The Bruins, undisputed Pac-10 regular- season champions and ranked second in the national polls just two weeks ago, were ousted by California in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament.
“The teams that have No. 1 seeds are quite worthy and (the four choices) were clear,” said Princeton athletic director Gary Walters, chairman of the tournament selection committee. “UCLA hurt itself.”
Then there’s the case of Air Force, which was left out of the bracket altogether.
During the nonconference schedule, the Falcons trounced two future NCAA Tournament at-large selections and an automatic berth: Stanford by 34 points, Texas Tech by 14 points and George Washington (automatic berth) by 14 points. The wins over Stanford and George Washington were on the road.
Air Force (23-8) was ranked in the national top-25 polls for much of the season and carried an even more impressive Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) national power ranking.
That’s before the Falcons crashed to the finish. Air Force lost five of its last nine regular-season games before falling to Wyoming in the Falcons’ opening Mountain West Conference Tournament game.
Walters was asked if Air Force might have clinched one of the 34 at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament’s field of 65 if the Falcons had won at least one game in the league tourney.
“I think it’s fair to say, had Air Force won their opening-round game, they would have certainly been in the at-large picture longer,” he said.
The Atlantic Coast Conference led with seven bids, with the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 getting six apiece. The Southeastern Conference received five invitations, and the Big 12 had to be disappointed with drawing just four.
The task of determining 34 at-large selections was more difficult than ever, Walters said. He pointed out that 104 NCAA Division I teams won 20 or more games. The previous high had been 78 teams with that level of success.
“I used to be 6-foot-4 with blond hair; now I’m 5-11 with brown hair,” Walters said jokingly.
“We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
* This story has been corrected. Because of a reporter’s error, George Washington was listed as an at-large entry into the NCAA basketball tournament. George Washington earned an automatic bid.
