Bubble teams that got in include 18-11 Seton Hall who was upset by Rutgers in the opening round of the Big East tournament. Alabama was only 17-12 on the year, and they lost to Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament, but their 10-6 conference mark in the regular season ensured their entry. Utah State (23-8) also got in from the WAC.
On the flipside, Creighton and Missouri State did not get in, but four of their counterparts from the Missouri Valley Conference did. That was as many teams as from the ACC, PAC 10 and Big12. Florida State and Maryland were both left out from the ACC, the former really hurt by an opening loss to Wake Forest in their post-season tourney.
Surprisingly High
UCLA (24-6) as a two seed. The Bruins were hot down the stretch winning seven straight games including winning the PAC 10 tournament. The selection committee likes to reward big conferences schools that win the post-season tourneys, but I still thought that Gonzaga was more deserving.
Syracuse as a 5th seed (23-11). This is a team that was below .500 (7-9) in the Big East before the conference tournament. Yes, they had a great four game run to win the conference tournament, but how does that jump you up to a number 5? This team should have been happy with a seven seed.
Surprisingly Low
Gonzaga (27-3) as a three seed. The Zags haven’t lost a game in 2006, as they are currently on an 18 game winning streak Granted they play in the weak West Coast Conference, but they have name recognition with player of the year candidate, Adam Morrison. One issue for them in the tournamnet could be the long layoff as they will have had 10 days between games.
George Washington (26-2) as an 8th seed. When this was first announced, the initial thought was that it must be a mistake. The Colonials were undefeated in the A-10 at 16-0, and were ranked 6th in the country in last week’s rankings. They did lose to Temple in the A-10 tournament quarterfinals, but they were playing without Pops Mensah-Bonsu. An 8th seed is a travesty.
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