Butler men's basketball awaits NCAA Selection Committee bureaucracy

By Bob Herman

I debated about this post in my head: Do I wait until Sunday to comment about Butler's seeding in this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, or do I let it out now, especially since the thrashing of Wright State in the Horizon League championship is still fresh in my mind?

The fact that this has been posted proved that the latter idea won.

Now that the Bulldogs have clinched the automatic bid, it's a simple waiting game until Sunday rolls around, when all the other "big" conferences wrap up their individual tournaments and when the NCAA Selection Committee goes behind its closed doors to concoct its always debatable field of 65. (Thankfully, Matt, it still isn't 96 yet...).

Here's the cold hard facts, not brought to you by Coors Light: Butler is 28-4 (20-0 in conference...please look at that again), with an RPI of 14 and a SOS of 76. Qualities wins include an Evan Turner-less Ohio State, Xavier, and Siena (Northwestern is a borderline quality win, depending on its showing in the Big Ten Tourney). The Bulldogs have no "bad losses," as their four losses have come to Georgetown (20-9), UAB (23-7), Minnesota (18-12), and Clemson (21-9). Not too shabby, right?

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star made a case for Butler, too, after last night's win. Unfortunately, his article is pretty shoddy. Aside from the fact that the entire piece is Kravitz paying lip service to a productive college basketball school within the city that he normally otherwise could give a crap about, he indirectly sympathizes with Collegerpi.com's Jerry Palm that Butler won't score anything higher than a six-seed yet is hopeful that Butler does land something higher because they pass the "eye test."

The "eye test," my friends, is nothing more than the bureaucratic, subjective feeling of placing an NCAA team in a spot simply because it seems like it belongs there.

And now, Butler's fate rests on the NCAA Selection Committee's multiple eye tests. Yes, I understand it's a rigorous process for those poor individuals who have to compose the tournament bracket, but let's be honest. It's subjective results based on objective data. And it's all done the day tournament championships finish.

When Butler was striken with a seven-seed in 2008 after going 29-3 (I think that's the snubbing Kravitz referred to, by the way), that honestly could not have been based on the objective data surrounding Butler's 2007-08 regular season.

Things will be better this around because, frankly, Butler has garnered more national attention this year than any other year before. It all comes down to the dollar signs, though, as most things unfortunately do in life. March Madness is up there with the Super Bowl in terms ad rates, and it lasts two weeks instead of four hours. The NCAA wants the most viewer-friendly matchups; it's just too PC to say such.

So although the Selection Committee will put out its "finest" slab of a bracket this Sunday, I--along with others who are associated with mid major programs--have fallen to the mindset of "hope for the best, plan for the worst." A six-seed appears to be in store; pinch me if Butler gains a five-seed or higher; and sweet mother, hold me back if it's anything lower than a six. We can only wait with baited breath now.