I'm afraid I'm not done with this yet, so if you are tired of hearing about this, you might want to skip this post. Lots of outrage in the Big Blue Nation over the blatant and undeniable incompetence of the NCAA selection committee. We'll move on later today, but this morning, we will allow the rest of the blogosphere to take the committee to task. Now, for the rage:
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Video: Calipari discusses Kentucky’s seeding :: John Clay’s Sidelines
Anyone think Calipari wasn't confused and angry about this has not been paying attention. - Cal's reaction to NCAA seeding? 'They did it to us again' :: centralkynews.com
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From Great Day to Lots of Questions :: Chris Diggs - UK Fan Blog
Q. What do you mean that Kentucky slid a little bit? Are you saying the fact that they won the SEC tournament wasn’t a factor or it hurt them?
GENE SMITH: Keep in mind there’s 10 people in the room and everyone in the room has different a emphasis on different criteria. So when we go to vote, everyone selects the criteria they think is important to them and they ultimately vote.
That didn’t happen with just Kentucky, it happened with everyone else in the field. So when they came up on the board, everybody voted based upon their individual criteria. We study every single team, look at a lot of different factors. They ended up in the spot that they did, and we think it’s a good spot.
This is the most vapid nonsense that has ever before assailed my vision.
- SHOCKED: Cats Are Four Seed In Loaded East Region :: LEX18.com
- NCAA Basketball Tournament 2011 Thursday TV Schedule - SB Nation Bay Area
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Why It Matters That Mark Fox's Georgia Bulldogs Made the NCAA Basketball Tournament Field - Dawg Sports
Very glad to see Georgia made it in. - Mark Story: Formidable foes loom in UK's road to the Final Four :: Lexington Herald-Leader
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UK determined to prove No. 4 seed wrong :: Lexington Herald-Leader
Not long after they sat down in front of the TV, Florida was announced as a No. 2 seed. Calipari immediately got up and left the room. Maybe he was going to get pizza, but he didn't look happy.
What's not to be happy about? Your team is better than the the one that got picked two seed lines up, has one more loss, a tougher schedule, a better RPI, just as many quality wins and fewer bad losses?
Unhappy about that? How petty. < / sarcasm >.
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East Region analysis: Depth will be on display - NCAA Basketball - Sporting News
No. 4 Kentucky. The Wildcats ranked No. 7 in the RPI. They not only had nine top-50 wins, they owned three combined against teams on the 2-line (Florida, Notre Dame) and a road win against Southwest No. 4 Louisville. The profile that got Florida a No. 2 seed is full of empty-calorie wins. UK’s accomplishments were more concrete, including Sunday’s 70-54 drubbing of the Gators.
Says it even better than I did.
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Florida Gators fall to Kentucky Wildcats in SEC basketball tournament final - St. Petersburg Times
Maybe we should have just started our deep bench, come home, and let everyone heal. Better for the Gators. Better for us, especially if our 4 seed was already engraved in stone.
Time to have that discussion about moving the SEC Tournament Final to Saturday. It seemed to work well for the Big East.
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UK 'slid' into tournament? So says NCAA chair
"You know, a lot of people put a lot of emphasis on the one seed, two seed," Smith said on an NCAA teleconference. "At the end of the day, the top five lines are benefited in a great way. You benefit because you're protected from being in an environment where you are at a home-crowd disadvantage when you get into the bracketing process. You're protected as best as you can geographically, when we can put you in a geographic location that's closer or in proximity, if we can do that, but that's not always the case. Kentucky is a very good ballclub. But when it came to the votes, they slid a little bit.
How could they possibly slide, Mr. Smith? No fact, extrapolation of fact or theory supports such a claim. If they slid, it had to be for some reason other than basketball. Am I wrong to think that's what actually matters here?
The translation of this seems to be, "Shut up, you got a top five seed. Just be happy we gave you that."
- Kentucky claims another SEC Tournament crown :: The Commercial Appeal
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Calipari surprised by Kentucky's tourney seeding :: Ocala.com
Kentucky coach John Calipari wasted no time sharing his displeasure with his team's No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.
"They did it to us again," he quipped as he walked into his home with his team, assistant coaches and University of Kentucky President Dr. Lee Todd.Not quite sure what he meant by "again." I sure would like to know.
- Lamb Plays Through Pain, Comes Off The Bench In Final's Win :: LEX18.com
- Cats need to thank their elders for SEC Tournament title :: The Courier-Journal
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NCAA Selection Committee Ignores the SEC Tournament
In my opinion, there is no way for the NCAA Selection Committee to justify Florida as a 2-seed and Kentucky as a 4.
Can I get an "Amen?"
- SPORTSbyBROOKS :: Sources: Wyoming Wants Kent, BCG Talks To TTU
- Video: Kentucky Celebrates the SEC Championship :: Chris Diggs
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NCAA snubs Alabama :: TimesDaily.com
I feel for the Tide. I hoped they would get in, but they did have some serious issues. Still, I think they deserved to get in over VCU and UAB. -
UK notes: Lamb gives Kentucky an injection of toughness :: Lexington Herald-Leader
Lamb, who confessed to a fear of needles and the dark, refused. "I'm not doing that," he said he told the trainer. To which, the trainer said Lamb couldn't play without an injection.
That convinced Lamb, who said he needed his teammates to hold his hand and scream to keep him from thinking of the needle.
This is the big boy world, Doron. Good job overcoming your fears.
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ATLANTA: MVP Miller says he's found his comfort zone :: Kentucky.com
Miller has been terrific. - Ten Thoughts On The Morning After Selection Sunday - Rakes Of Mallow
- SEC Places Five Teams in March Madness - Team Speed Kills
- Pomeroy Bracketology: FInal Update - Blogger So Dear
- Bracket Impressions: Eamonn Brennan :: College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
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68-team field gives NCAA committee new challenges :: College basketball- NBC Sports
Gene Smith never expected selection weekend to be this tough. -
NCAA tournament: Committee chair Gene Smith defends selection of UAB, VCU - ESPN
• The committee waited on all four of the conference finals Sunday (Atlantic 10, SEC, ACC and Big Ten) before finishing the bracket. But there was no plan to automatically put the winner of the ACC tournament as a No. 1 seed. Duke did get a No. 1 while North Carolina received a No. 2. However, Kentucky was seeded at No. 4 after beating Florida in the SEC tournament title game Sunday and the Gators were seeded as a No. 2.
If this is to be believed, the Committee thought Florida deserved a 2 and Kentucky a 4 even after the SEC championship beat down. That should tell you all you need to know about the competence of this committee.
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SEC tourney obviously means nothing to NCAA selection committee :: Vaught's Views
You go, boy. -
Bracket Impressions: Pat Forde - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
The committee apparently saved all its mollycoddling for Florida, which drew a mystifying No. 2 seed in the Southeast. Apparently, friends, losing to Jacksonville and Central Florida will actually help your seeding as opposed to hurting it. Oh, and a home loss to South Carolina (last in the SEC East) must not hurt the profile either.
The Gators are a good team. The Gators are fully capable of winning that region. But the Gators should be doing it as a No. 4 or 5 seed, in my estimation.
In fact, I think three of the No. 4 seeds (Louisville, Kentucky and Texas) all are more accomplished to date than Florida.When Forde defends the perception that Kentucky got jobbed, you can pretty much engrave it in stone.
- East Regional breakdown, team capsules :: Beyond the Arc