KNOXVILLE — There is no precise mathematical formula for at-large bids into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Or at least not one that the selection committee discloses.
Tom O’Connor, athletic director of George Mason University and the chairman of this year’s 10-person committee, generically described the process Sunday night as “a complete, comprehensive look at the portfolio of every team’s entire season.”
Whatever the reason, the University of Tennessee’s quest for the first No. 1 regional seed in program history fell short.
Not only are the Volunteers a No. 2 seed, but they are essentially the lowest-ranked No. 2. They are opposite No. 1 overall seed North Carolina in nearby Charlotte’s East Regional.
UT coach Bruce Pearls and his players went inside their locker room after the bracket selection show, and they came out nearly 30 minutes later and said nearly all the right things.
While they were gone, though, their athletic director wasn’t shy about his opinion.
“I know several guys on the committee,” Mike Hamilton said. “I’m not every going to divulge those conversations, but after this is over, I want to get an understanding.
“We’ve been given every indication that going on the road and playing in tough nonleague games was important to the committee. You have different guys on the committee different years, but there’s some carryover. There weren’t many teams that went on the road and played the schedule we played.”
The Vols (29-4) played the toughest schedule in the country, according to RealTimeRPI.com. They were ranked No. 1 in RPI from December to Sunday, when they fell percentage points behind North Carolina.
Before Saturday’s last-second, SEC tournament semifinal loss to Arkansas, UT had the second highest RPI ranking of any team in the past 15 years, behind only 1999 Duke.
But the Vols lost this weekend, while Kansas — which took the last No. 1 seed — beat Texas on Sunday for the Big 12 tournament championship. Kansas’s win moved the Jayhawks up to No. 5 in the RPI, with the nation’s 50th-toughest schedule.
“We wanted to be a 1. We tried to be a 1,” Pearl said. “We certainly ... we just ... we lost the last game we played. I guess that left an impression on the committee. Who knows? I don’t know, but we’re not there.
“Our body of work didn’t weigh as heavily, perhaps, as the conference tournament.”
If bubble team Ohio State had slid into the tournament, half of UT’s games would have been against NCAA tournament teams.
“But 16 of 34 still isn’t bad,” Hamilton said. “And we won 12 of them.”
Senior Chris Lofton was one of the few Vols to admit “disappointment,” echoing his Saturday’s comments that UT’s complete resume was as strong as anyone’s.
“But the bottom line is that we took it out of our own hands,” Lofton said. “We’re disappointed that we lost (Saturday), and the seeding, but we can’t do anything about it. We’ve got to deal with it.
“Every team from here on out is going to be a great team, anyway, and that’s all we should be focused on.”
The Vols’ consolation prize wasn’t bad, though, as they received the shortest possible destinations each weekend — the Birmingham, Ala., pod, in the Charlotte Regional.
UT will play No. 15 seed American University of Washington, D.C., at 12:15 p.m., on Friday at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. The winner of that game will play No. 7 seed Butler or No. 10 seed South Alabama on Sunday.
American earned its first NCAA tournament berth on Friday, beating Colgate 52-56 to win the Patriot League tournament. The Eagles lost 63-56 at Dayton and won 67-59 at Maryland in one four-day December stretch, but they also have some eyesore setbacks — at Loyola (Md.), at Morgan State, at Maryland-Baltimore County, at Brown, and at home to Holy Cross. They were swept by Navy and lost 78-51 at Georgetown, too.
Asked what he knew about American, Tennessee’s Tyler Smith said “not much yet other than they’re in the NCAA tournament.
“So they must be pretty good,” Tyler Smith added. “I’m sure they’re tough.”
Tyler Smith wasn’t on Pearl’s first UT team two years ago. Those Vols jumped in joy when they were shockingly announced a No. 2 NCAA tournament seed. Sunday was only slightly less shocking, as few thought of Tennessee as the eighth-best team in the tournament — “and that’s basically what they’re calling us,” Pearl said.
“I can remember barely being able to hold the tears back two years ago, and the joy of being a 2 seed,” Pearl continued. “Now, some of us are (ticked) off that we didn’t get a 1 seed. It’s fine.
“But let’s not let it allow us to not enjoy this, still. I’m going to ask the questions, like you, but I’m not going to complain,” he said. “I’m going to celebrate it. I’ll ask you guys (in the media) to talk about it. I’m not going to go there, because we’ve got to prove ourselves in the tournament.
“If we are able to, then, well, maybe we’ll talk about it later. But right now, we’ve got American, South Alabama and Butler. That’s all we can focus on. No complaints right now, really. No complaints.”
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