Conference tourneys hold key

INDIANAPOLIS – March could be more maddening than usual for teams on the NCAA tournament bubble this year.

Gary Walters, chairman of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, said in a conference call Tuesday that there’s little difference between many of the teams on the selection committee’s radar, so they’ll have to make last-minute impressions.

“As a result of the general compression and bunching at the conference level, conference tournaments could take on increasing significance this year in helping us to separate teams,” he said.

Walters said he expects the committee’s job to be more difficult this year, so he’s already braced himself for criticism.

“No good deed goes unpunished,” he said.

Walters fielded numerous questions about how midmajors will affect the draw. George Mason, a No. 11 seed, reached the Final Four last season and fellow midmajors Bradley and Wichita State from the Missouri Valley Conference made the Sweet 16.

Walters said that will have no bearing on this year’s brackets.

“I can assure you that past performance does not guarantee future results,” he said. “While one can look back last year and certainly acknowledge that a number of the midmajor teams performed well … this year presents us with a whole new slate. It’s a brand new year. Every year presents you with a different kaleidoscope of teams.”

Butler, the highest-ranked midmajor this season, had wins against Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, Gonzaga and Purdue early in the season. But the 13th-ranked Bulldogs play in the Horizon League, whose Ratings Percentage Index total ranks 13th out of the 32 conferences. The Bulldogs started the week with an RPI of 31, despite having just three losses.

Walters compared the Bulldogs to Bucknell from last season. Bucknell, another midmajor, went 26-4 before the NCAA tournament and was seeded ninth in the Oakland Regional.

“There are teams out there similar to Butler that have proven that they’re bona fide, and if they can continue to maintain their quality of play through the rest of the season, they certainly will be strongly in the hunt,” he said.

Walters said the strength of non-conference schedules will be weighed heavily because there were more exempt games this season, offering teams more opportunities to schedule outside their conferences.

Walters also said schools from big conferences no longer can depend on the traditional ways of ensuring their entries into the field.