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Selection Sunday

 
Well, here's a mathematical argument:

http://bustersports.com/blog/buster...ommittee-screwed-mid-majors-yeah-not-so-much/

While it's not a formal proof, as a mathematician, the logic used in the article is sound.

To put it in my terms:

You have 15 mid majors and 17 majors between seeds 5-12. Let's round off to 16 and 16 for simplicity's sake. Each mid-major then has a 50% chance of drawing another mid-major (approx., of course). So half of the mid-majors, on average, will draw a fellow mid major in the bracket.

And that's what we have. 4 matchups of mid-majors, 8 teams, half of 16.

Mathematical proof the distribution of teams and matchups were actually fair.
 
No doubt there is bias but NOT conspiracy. This is simply a case of smart marketing. Everyone wants to create an exciting "show" and make money. The NCAA is no different. They simply work within the framework of the ratings and slightly push certain teams in the direction that creates better ratings, excitement, drama, or money. As one who watches "the show" I have no problem with that. I don't think anyone gets intentionally screwed.
 
It's not even bias.

We're assuming the selection committee, incapable of coming up with selections and seeds that make sense, is capable of rigging the bracket for matchups? Are they that smart and that stupid at the same time? It's a hypocritical assumption.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
It's not even bias.

We're assuming the selection committee, incapable of coming up with selections and seeds that make sense, is capable of rigging the bracket for matchups? Are they that smart and that stupid at the same time? It's a hypocritical assumption.
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but I see evidence that they DO make sense from the viewpoint of wanting as few non-BCS advance to the higher rounds to split the payoff...
 
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tornado said:
but I see evidence that they DO make sense from the viewpoint of wanting as few non-BCS advance to the higher rounds to spit the payoff...
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And I just provided mathematical evidence that the matchups are split most fairly for mid-majors. Having 4 such matchups, given the number of mid-majors involved, is actually mathematically proven to provide the greatest expected value for them.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
And I just provided mathematical evidence that the matchups are split most fairly for mid-majors. Having 4 such matchups, given the number of mid-majors involved, is actually mathematically proven to provide the greatest expected value for them.
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Yes!

http://deadspin.com/5493977/the-best-in-ncaa-conspiracy-theories

???Conspiracy Theory: The selection committee made sure that BCS and non-BCS school don't play each other, to avoid embarrassing the BCS programs.

Tinfoil Hatter: Joe Sheehan, Basketball Prospectus

You can't keep playing off the non-BCS schools one another every year and pretend it's not a strategy. It very clearly is one, and it's designed to prevent the possibility of the schools from smaller conferences showing that the main difference between them and the middle of the BCS leagues is home games. The committee and the NCAA should be embarrassed.

There are 15 non-BCS schools on seed lines 5-12 in this bracket. Eight of them are playing each other. Thanks, NCAA. Just what the fans want.

Likelihood Of A Conspiracy: Medium-low. With 15 non-BCS schools among 32 5-12 seeds, we should mathematically expect pretty much what we got. Still, never discount nefarious means to placate the BCS.
 
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