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Selection committee makes right choices atop the bracket

Portland v Gonzaga

SPOKANE, WA - MARCH 02: Guards Gary Bell Jr. (l), Kevin Pangos (c) and Kyle Dranginis (r) of the Gonzaga Bulldogs celebrate their status as 2013 WCC Champions after the game against the Portland Pilots at McCarthey Athletic Center on March 2, 2013 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)

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One of the biggest points of conversation in the days and hours leading up to the selection show was which teams would receive the top seeds in each region. The answer the selection committee provided: Louisville, Kansas, Indiana and Gonzaga.

But did the committee get it right?

Obviously the first team questioned by many will be Gonzaga, due in large part to the fact that they ran the table in a conference considered by many to be inferior to “power” leagues. According to realtimerpi.com the WCC ranks tenth in conference RPI, while the other leagues represented on the one line rank no worse than fifth (Big 12).

With a record of 31-2 (19-0 against WCC opposition including the conference tournament) the Bulldogs have an overall strength of schedule of 75, but their non-conference strength of schedule is ranked 33rd according to warrennolan.com. In total 17 of their wins came against teams outside of the Top 100, and the Bulldogs have 13 Top 100 victories, which is actually one more than fellow one-seed Indiana.

But as the fourth one-seed the question is whether or not a team such as Miami or Duke has a better case than the Bulldogs when it comes to landing on the top line.

As regular season and tournament champions of the ACC the Hurricanes rank in the top five nationally in both overall and non-conference strength of schedule, and they have 15 Top 100 wins to their credit. But Miami also has two losses to teams outside of the Top 100, and it could be argued that their home loss to Georgia Tech is the line of the Hurricanes’ resume that resulted in them receiving a two-seed.

The Blue Devils have an interesting argument as well, as they’ve lost just one game with their full rotation intact. With the top strength of schedule, both overall and non-conference, as well as being number one in the RPI Duke can make a solid argument as well. But they finished second in the ACC, and losing their first ACC tournament game also didn’t help matters.

As for the other three top seeds Louisville and Kansas entered the weekend with a share of their respective regular season titles and went on to win their respective conference tournaments. Both won 15 games against Top 100 opponents, with the biggest blemish on either resume being Kansas’ stunning loss at TCU.

As for Indiana, with just 12 Top 100 victories some may argue that their spot on the top line shouldn’t have essentially been a lock following a loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten semifinals. But as outright champions of the Big Ten and with a 7-2 record away from home (wins at Michigan and Michigan State being two of those), it’s difficult to find much to be upset about there.

Essentially the committee got it right, giving the final one-seed to a program that steamrolled many of the opponents placed in front of them. Gonzaga put together a solid non-conference schedule and didn’t slip up in conference play against teams they’re expected to beat.

RPI figures from warrennolan.com

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej