Now that we are at the Elite 8 of the USA Tournament, we can reflect on how the NCBBA Selection Committee seeded the teams in this season's national cup**:
http://i.imgur.com/OoFpE.pngAs you can see, the tournament selection committee had some difficulty balancing the power in the four different regions, with the South heavily weighted with tough NBBA squads. The committee may also take some media criticism for the Bruins and Quakers seeding in that region. Perhaps they weren't that impressed with the big clubs' RPI.
Some of the other notable happenings in this season's tournament:
- A traditional #12 v #5 upset occurred in the first round matchup between the Barbarian Marauders and the Tai'shan Crimson Eagles.
- A trio of teams had their shot at Cinderella stardom (East 11-seed Hunterkirualeorio, Midwest 15-seed Eugene Register-Guard, and South 15-seed Droids) each winning two matches before bowing out in the Sweet 16.
- The West held the closest to form, with the top two seeds advancing to the Elite 8. In the remaining matchups, we have a #2 v #4, #1 v #3, and #3 v #8.
Let the discussion begin...who got snubbed? What 'on the bubble' teams didn't make it, while some smaller mid-majors got a chance at the Big Dance? What team had the toughest route to the Final Four?
**Yes, I know there really isn't a selection committee, you ninny. You can't even figure out what this tournament "looks" like until this point in the competition. Relax.