Selection Sunday is normally a time of bracket-filling anticipation and great joy for college basketball fans. For obvious reasons, the gateway into March Madness was closed off this year, causing a premature ending to the 2019-20 hoops season.
Nothing can bring it back.
In the meantime, assuming something resembling normalcy returns by the beginning of the 2020-21 season, here are a few ideas on how the NCAA could turn a terrible situation into an uplifting experience in early November for those teams that were denied a trip to March Madness:
-Sometime this summer, the NCAA selection committee reveals what the field (at-large and conference champions) would have looked like, complete with seeding and first-round matchups. Yes, some of the berths were still being decided, but champions have been declared as a result of the cancelations. And the committee knew 99.9 percent of the at-large berths before the conference tournaments ever began.
NKU won the Horizon League championship on Tuesday and was projected as a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Jeff McCurry)
If the bracketology experts were correct, 15 seed Northern Kentucky would have faced either Florida State or Creighton (both 2 seeds) in the opening round. Only the NCAA selection committee would know for sure. In this case, NKU hits the road for whichever 2 seed it would have been paired against. Same with the matchups for 3-14, 4-13, 5-12, etc., games.
Yes, I realize the First Four games will provide a slight complication with this idea. But virtually every Division I program plays at least 29 or 30 games, so it should not be hard to solve the problem.
-Donate the ticket money raised from these season-opening games to charities helping those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
-The networks that were supposed to show the NCAA Tournament first-round games will nationally televise each of these contests. They could even begin the week by having those teams in the First Four contests play at the University of Dayton if the facility is available.
I originally thought playing all the first-round games (32 total) at one neutral site would be a great idea, but that would be a logistical problem. Plus, I’m not sure all the higher seeds would be willing to participate in such an event if you move it to, say, eight neutral sites. Remember, it’s just one game for each team.
-Grant every senior basketball player whose team was bound for the 2019-20 postseason (NCAA or NIT) another year of eligibility.
In the meantime, no brackets this year. No office pools. No Cinderellas. No first-round stunners. No controversy about which teams didn’t get selected. Nothing can bring it back.
But there is always next season.
Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport
