Take a look at this year's NCAA tournament bracket for women's volleyball, and you might just wonder if somebody hacked into the organization and inserted a gag bracket as a prank.
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| USC's Mick Haley |
He's right. There's no way the committee could put the Trojans at the No. 7 seed unless: (1) the members don't really watch much volleyball, or (2) they're not qualified to evaluate what they do watch, or (3) they are fulfilling an agenda that has nothing to do with USC's actual talent or results. Or, again, a mix of all of that.
Voepel defends the entire Pac-12 (and West Coast volleyball in general):
Here's an idea for the committee members if they have such a problem with the West Coast's traditional dominance in volleyball. Why not make all West Coast (Hawaii, too) teams wear ankle weights during the NCAA tournament? Gee, maybe that will allow an ACC team or Big East team to make the Final Four for the first time ever. Or an SEC team to win the NCAA championship for the first time ever.
Since the NCAA tournament started in 1982, there have been only three years where the Final Four didn't have a team from a school now in the Pac-12. (Although technically, the Pac-10 didn't begin sponsoring women's sports until 1986-87.) And each of those three years, the Final Four still had a representative from the West Coast.
No doubt, the West Coast will be represented in San Antonio this year. Some team(s) just might have to go through an unjustly difficult path to get there.
See the full column at: 5 burning questions for NCAA tourney
Good quotes from a good article. And the comments are pretty good, too (despite it saying "be the first to comment" there are a bunch there, mostly well-informed).
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting it.
Ankle weights *are* the logical next step...
Jack, since this seeding "ignorance" has been an issue for at least a couple of years, now, what's the cure?
ReplyDeleteCan Jim M. or Scott Woodward simply call Mark Emmert and have Mark fix it?