March Madness: 5 things the NCAA Tournament bracket got totally wrong

March Madness promises to be awesome but the selection committee messed up a few things in the NCAA Tournament bracket.

March Madness is back and the NCAA Tournament bracket is finally in our hands, giving fans an opportunity to nitpick the hard work the selection committee has been doing for months. There were plenty of good decisions from the Selection Committee, including a long-overdue recognition of capable mid-majors as teams like Drake, Wichita State and Utah State all got their names called on Selection Sunday.

No committee is perfect, however, and there were certainly some mistakes made in this year’s bracket. Let’s break down the five most questionable choices that were made for the 2021 bracket, starting with the inclusion of the Syracuse Orange.

1. Why was Syracuse safely in the March Madness field?

A true bubble team entering Selection Sunday, few expected the Orange to do better than the First Four. It was quite a shock to see Syracuse not only in the field but safely outside of the First Four, landing an 11-seed matchup against San Diego State in the East Region.

A deep dive into the Orange’s team sheet shows that Syracuse went just 1-7 against Quadrant 1 competition and got swept by Pittsburgh, which was nowhere close to the field. Letting Syracuse avoid the First Four while making a team like Michigan State, which has wins over Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois on its resume play into the field makes no sense at all.

2. Michigan State shouldn’t have been in the First Four

Speaking of the Spartans, let’s discuss the fact that Tom Izzo’s team has to play an extra game in the First Four. Those wins that Michigan State racked up over Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio State came when all three programs were in the Top 5, an incredible accomplishment that should have merited a seed in the main draw.

Much ado will be made about the Spartans’ 12 losses but they also played the nation’s eighth-toughest schedule according to KenPom with its worst defeat being a Quadrant 2 loss to Northwestern. Comparing the Spartans to a team like UCLA, which faded badly down the stretch and beat no one of note all year long, is an insult to the work Michigan State did to get into the field.

3. The committee punished teams for COVID pauses

The selection committee won’t say it outright but quality teams who missed games due to COVID pauses got significantly hurt in their seeding. Virginia Tech, which missed a ton of games down the stretch due to a COVID pause, drew a 10-seed despite being the ACC’s third-best team while Louisville and Saint Louis missed the field altogether.

The latter two played only 20 games due to COVID issues within their program but looked like tournament teams when they took the floor. Penalizing worthy teams for factors beyond their control isn’t a just decision.

4. Loyola-Chicago got significantly underseeded

This year’s NCAA Tournament did a good job rewarding mid-majors that have achieved during the regular season, putting Wichita State and Drake in the field while slotting Utah State and BYU significantly higher in the bracket than most experts projected they would be. One team that did not get a bump in the respect column was Loyola-Chicago, which drew an eight-seed in the Midwest Region.

The Ramblers have outstanding metrics, ranking 10th in the NET and 9th in the KenPom rankings, while going 23-4 against Division I competition with three of their losses coming to Wisconsin, Drake and a Richmond team that was talented enough to make the field. The selection committee rewarded Porter Moser’s team with a tough 8-9 matchup against ACC champ Georgia Tech before a second-round showdown against Illinois, which is arguably the hottest team in the country this side of Gonzaga.

5. Oklahoma State wasn’t given enough respect for its finishing kick

There is no question that Cade Cunningham makes Oklahoma State one of the most dangerous teams in the country. The Cowboys beat six ranked teams in a 19-day span to end the season, a run that included an upset of Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament and two wins over West Virginia, one of which came without Cunningham.

The Selection Committee still put the Mountaineers ahead of Oklahoma State, putting West Virginia as the Midwest Region’s three-seed while the Cowboys got the four. That seeding difference means Oklahoma State could be forced to match up with Illinois in the Sweet 16, making their potential path to the Final Four that much more difficult.

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