Related
There will be no hypothetical brackets this year for fans to divulge. Is that a good decision?
NCAA Senior Vice President Dan Gavitt announced Sunday that the 2020 NCAA Tournament bracket will not be released for the now-canceled event.
"The important work of the basketball committees is to set up competitively-balanced brackets to determine national champions," Gavitt stated. "I don’t believe it’s responsible or fair to do that with incomplete seasons — especially for tournaments that unfortunately won’t be played. Therefore there will not be any NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball championship selection shows or tournament brackets released this year."
Gavitt's announcement comes on what was scheduled to be "Selection Sunday."
He explained further in the press release that the much-anticipated bracket would give coaches and players closure, despite the cancellation of the tournaments due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"I have heard from many coaches and athletics directors who are trusted colleagues and friends that would like to see brackets released to recognize the successful seasons of their teams and student-athletes and to see who and where they would have played. Players and coaches want to see their school name on the bracket. Members of the media want to dissect matchups. Bracketologists want to compare the work of the committees versus what they’ve predicted. Fans are curious for those same reasons. All of us want something to fill the void we’re feeling.
"However, anything less than a credible process is inconsistent with the tradition of the NCAA basketball championships. Brackets based on hypotheticals can’t substitute for a complete selection, seeding, and bracketing process. There will always be an asterisk next to the 2020 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball championships regardless if brackets are released. There is not an authentic way to produce tournament fields and brackets at this point without speculating and that isn’t fair to the teams that would be positively or negatively impacted by manufacturing March Madness."
The news of the decision of the brackets not being unveiled will draw different reactions.
Some will agree with the decision, claiming that with the conference tournaments not playing out, seeding the top 68 teams in the country wouldn't paint an accurate picture. With the tournament not happening, what use does giving false hope to different programs serve? There would have been programs that don't agree with the seeding, as well as those who did not make the final list, feeling that their season was undervalued.
On the opposite spectrum, others will feel that they deserved to find out how they placed amongst the best in college basketball. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (20-11, 11-9) put forth their best team effort in nearly 30 years and were expected to receive an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 1991. That never came.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi put forward his prediction if the NCAA would have allowed the top 16 seeds in the country to square off in a four-round tournament.
Lunardi predicted that the Maryland Terps would be ranked 13th in the revised bracket, facing off against a 4th-seeded Dayton squad.
Who would have won that matchup? We'll never know.
This season in the college basketball record books will have an asterisk. It will never be forgotten, but it will never stack up to others of the past. Teams should take pride in knowing how much they accomplished in 2019-20, and look to build on it for the future.