I have been criticized on a couple of occasions for being too politically correct with my opinions on the air or in my articles. However there is a fine line between being politically correct and attempting to find something wrong with a subject matter just for the sake of argument. After having ample time to fully digest the selections by the NCAA Tournament Committee I have come to a resounding conclusion. They did a marvelous job with arguably a few exceptions.

I have made it clear on several occasions in the past week that I thought Arizona had to win at least 1 game in the PAC 10 Tournament in order to be worthy of an at large bid. They failed to accomplish that feat losing their first game of the conference tournament to Arizona St. This marked the 3rd time that the Sun Devils had beaten Arizona this season. It also marked the 5th loss in the last 6 games for the Wildcats. In addition Arizona won only 2 true road games this season both coming versus the Oregon schools which isn’t exactly a bullet point on any teams resume let alone one that is clearly on the bubble.

The committee in my unbiased opinion most definitely dropped the ball with this choice. Which brings me to the second part of this annoying decision. Not only were the Wildcats a benefactor of a very fortunate decision then they happen to draw Utah as a 1st round opponent. Utah is by far the weakest of the four #5 seeds. Please explain to me Mr. Chairman how Utah gets a #5 seed, the regular season Mountain West champion BYU drops to a #8 seed, and the team they barely defeated in the conference tournament championship game San Diego St. (one of the last teams left out of the tournament) gets snubbed for an at large berth? If I hear the answer of “the body of work” again I think that I will be sickened to my stomach. Why even use the RPI as a part of the equation in the selection process if you are going to allow a team into the tournament with a RPI of #62 that has 13 losses on the season.

In the committee’s defense every year you can make an argument of why some teams were snubbed and others are allowed in. It is just the nature of the beast whenever a group of human beings decides the fate of another group of human beings work for a prolonged period of time. However given the choice I strongly would prefer the human element be involved in the selection process than the alternative of a computer system. My case in point is to just look at the mess we have in college football on an annual basis because of the BCS system.

That brings us to who were the final teams left out of the field? The 3 most obvious choices being St. Mary’s, San Diego St., and Penn St. Any choice besides the 3 teams in my humble opinion would being coming from the mouth of someone who is lacking objectivity, is particularly biased, or is a bit delusional. Out of the 3 mentioned teams I do believe that Penn St. has the least of the claims. The Nittany Lions were a victim of a horrible early non-conference schedule. Yet if all the dominos fell perfectly they would have more than worthy in receiving the last at large berth.

As is the case every year there is always a slough of unexpected winners of conference tournaments. This year we saw Cleveland St, USC, and Mississippi St. win their respective conference tournaments and halt the hopes of 3 bubble teams on the cusp of at least having the opportunity of prolonging their dreams. However that is why it is called “March Madness” and what makes it so special.

When one is insinuated as expressing opinions that are deemed to be safe, non-controversial, or “politically correct” it is construed as being boring. The redundancy whether it be of the journalistic variety, on the radio, or aired on television results in a two-pronged result low ratings and eventually being unemployed for aspiring members of the media.

I am not supportive of any member of the media, in any capacity, always being, or the majority of the time, taking the stance of being politically correct. However the other extreme is always finding fault for just the sake of argument or controversy. That type of every day approach insults the intelligence of many in the general public not to mention the fact displays a lack of integrity. The use of such tactics to increase ratings and maintain interest also becomes redundant. Unfortunately the uncovering of such practices is condoned yet they are just as redundant. To display that happy median is not an exact science nor will it ever be.

In any event my hat goes off to the committee who in this writer’s opinion did a terrific job with the selection process. I have set a precedent for this opinion all week long if you have listened to my radio show on the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. In closing congratulations to all involved in the decision process. To coin a phrase that has been overused this weekend to say the least. “The body of work” in this process was the best that I can remember in recent years. Now let the madness begin!