An NCAA Tournament without small schools?

Some officials worry changes could come to the 68-team event. Plus, the WAC adjusts its seeding approach, more Louisville scandal news and a Lamont Paris interview.

July 12, 2022

I’m a big believer in refinements. Tweak those routines and optimize your approach. Sometimes they’re big (see below: WAC) and sometimes they’re small (I’m saving the Wordle for later).

But some things don’t need adjustments. Especially big ones. Especially the NCAA Tournament.

Let’s get to the news.

STARTING FIVE

1. March, without the Madness?

No matter what happens with conference realignment, college basketball fans know the single greatest sporting event — the NCAA Tournament — will remain its remarkable, incredible showcase of Division I hoops across all conferences.

Probably.

At a recent DI Council meeting, Greg Sankey hinted that the tournament’s composition might not include the likes of Saint Peter’s or UMBC, per Jeff Goodman on Monday’s Field of 68 Podcast.

“Sankey made it look like the NCAA Tournament may not look like the NCAA Tournament in a couple years. Meaning, that the little guys might not be involved anymore,” Goodman said.

“All I’m saying is don’t be surprised if there’s a push … to not include the usual.”

Don’t hit that panic button. Yet. The message from Sankey, the co-chair of the NCAA Transformation Committee, SEC Commissioner, and one of the most influential people in college sports, didn’t come across that way to all the Council members, Goodman said. If Sankey’s suggestion is a floater to see how it’s received among fans, I’d assume the immediate blowback would tamper any enthusiasm for that kind of move. After all, perhaps the bigger schools don’t want to share their cut of NCAA Tournament revenue, but those TV dollars come from storylines like Saint Peter’s run to the Elite Eight — which also delivered big ratings.

Watch the full conversation about Sankey’s comments below.

2. Louisville reportedly retaliated against Gaudio whistleblower

Among the things Kenny Payne means for Louisville basketball — he’s a dynamic recruiter who can vie with Kentucky for prominent local and national prospects; he helped the Cardinals win a national title as a player, key for alumni — perhaps none are more important than the clearly defined end of the Chris Mack era.

But some of it is still lingering.

Amy Shoemaker, the school’s former deputy general counsel and associate athletic director, alleges she was demoted and shut out by the school because she told police about an extortion attempt by then-assistant coach Dino Gaudio. As reported by WDRB in Louisville, Shoemaker, now general counsel at Miami, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Louisville, where she worked starting in 2006.

The suit offers details about Mack’s decision to not renew the contracts of Gaudio and assistant Luke Murray in March of 2021. Against counsel’s advice, Mack held the meeting with Gaudio without anyone else present, secretly recorded their conversation, in which Gaudio threatened to expose what he claimed were NCAA violations if he wasn’t paid the equivalent of 18 months salary. Shoemaker reported Gaudio’s actions to campus police and shared copies of the recordings Mack had given her. Also, there’s this.

Later that day, the FBI came to campus to interview Mack. During that interview, Mack admitted to providing an incomplete recording to his bosses and the FBI, saying he had deleted a longer section out of fear “that the longer recording would reflect poorly on him.” He did assist the FBI in recovering the longer version.

There are significantly more details in the full story, which can be found here.

3. Tournament seeding based on metrics? That’s WAC

Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I actually think this is a smart move by the Western Athletic Conference to maximize its March exposure.

This story from Matt Norlander explains why the WAC is going to seed its men’s and women’s postseason basketball tournaments using advanced analytics, rather than just wins and losses. With the support of WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton and associate commissioner Drew Speraw, they’ll use a formula from Ken Pomeroy that will reflect team performance from early November until the conference tournament begins.

With 14 teams, WAC schools play an unbalanced league schedule, so this alleviates some of that issue. Using a formula also incentivizes WAC schools to play tougher opponents during the non-conference schedule, it will account for where games are played, and will be based on the NCAA’s NET ranking, which is used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

“Essentially, what we came up with was a way to utilize the NET in order to provide the reward/penalties for a particular game,” Speraw told CBS Sports. “It's weighted depending on where the game is at, just as the committee would look at it, and so it's a system where, essentially, we're trying to promote Quad 1, Quad 2 games. And so when you look at it, not every game is worth the same inside Quad 1, Quad 2, just as the committee would look at that. Obviously, a top-10 win is not the same as a top-30 win. Similar, but not the same.”

“The idea is to seed the conference tournament based on your full season play, not just your conference standings,” Pomeroy told CBS Sports.

As a one-bid league, the WAC is trying to maximize its chances at a better NCAA Tournament seed. Rewarding teams with a strong NCAA tourney profile makes sense when the difference could be a 12 seed (like New Mexico State this season) vs. a 15 seed (like Grand Canyon in 2021). The WAC wants those NCAA Tournament victories.

It’ll be interesting to see how other one-bid conferences view this approach. You can’t replicate success like Saint Peter’s had in 2022, but anything to optimize even one NCAA tourney win might be worth it.

4. Team USA golden yet again (but it got pushed)

Since the U17 World Cup began in 2010, Team USA is 44-0. But the latest win wasn’t without some drama.

The U.S. needed a 22-4 third-quarter run to pull away from Spain on Sunday night, 79-67. Part of that may have been playing in front of the Spanish home crowd in Malaga. And part of it could have been overconfidence. Team USA did average nearly 40-point victories in their seven games and were coming off an 89-62 win over Lithuania in the semis.

Future Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears (one of only two players who’s committed thus far) starred in the final two games, while Cooper Flagg (10 points, 17 rebounds, 8 steals, 4 blocks), Ronald Holland (13 points, 7 boards) and future Duke forward Sean Stewart (10 points, 10 rebounds) also thrived in the championship. Flagg and Team USA teammate Koa Peat were named to the All-tournament team.

5. TCU lands a local 2023 prospect

TCU’s poised for a breakout 2022-23 season. Four returning starters — including Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Mike Miles — from their 21-13 squad that *just* missed a spot in the Sweet 16 head what could be an elite defensive team. Makes it easy when coach Jamie Dixon can roll out a rotation filled with rangy, athletic wings.

Maybe TCU has a type.

It added another on Tuesday when Isaiah Manning announced his commitment. The 6-7, 200-pound forward from Mansfield (a Dallas-Ft. Worth suburb) is a 3-star prospect who told on3.com that TCU has “a lot of guys that have come up through the program that has been successful and play like me. Guys that are more perimeter-oriented, three-and-D guys that can get downhill, like Desmond Bane and those type of dudes. The program is a fit for me.”

Yup. Definitely a type.

OFF THE CAROUSEL

Lamont’s learning path

Before he took Chattanooga to the NCAA Tournament, Lamont Paris progressed through the assistant coaching ranks in Division III, D-II, then D-I at Akron and finally Wisconsin, where he learned under Hall of Famer Bo Ryan and then Greg Gard. Along the way, he learned a little of everything, including what it’s like coaching junior varsity.

That knowledge repository should come in handy at South Carolina, where Paris takes over for Frank Martin this season (and might have an elite player waiting in the wings). What’s ahead? He spoke to the Field of 68.

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