NCAA Tournament Selection Show Reactions

Alabama should not be No. 4

Alabama's basketball season this year was a rollercoaster ride and not the fun kind. They just weren't living up to their potential, and it showed in their games against other teams in March Madness. It felt like every time they faced off against a strong opponent, they ended up on the losing side.

Even lower-ranked teams like Clemson managed to take them down early in the season. Even though the Florida Gators are in a different division, they still beat the Crimson Tide twice just in March.

Looking at their schedule, most of their matchups weren't even close to skill level. They just couldn't seem to establish themselves as a real threat on the court. And lately, their inconsistency with winning, especially against ranked teams, has been glaring.

I think Alabama deserves some credit, maybe around No. 7 in the rankings, but definitely not higher than that until they show more consistency and start taking down those top-tier opponents.

Cora Rodriguez is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email cir5381@psu.edu.

James Madison's Cinderella Story?

This year, 12th-seeded JMU is primed for a Cinderella run.

The Dukes went 31-3 this season, gaining an automatic bid by winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. JMU drew fifth-seeded Wisconsin, who flew up the rankings by upsetting Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals before losing in close fashion to Illinois in the finals.

This matchup has upset written all over it. Wisconsin’s incredible Big Ten Tournament run gave them a much higher seeding than deserved. On the flip side, the knock on James Madison is that they haven’t played many quad one or two teams, with the Dukes holding a 1-1 record versus Quad One teams and a 0-1 record versus Quad Two teams.

However, JMU comes into the tournament on a 13-game winning streak, and its 31-3 record speaks for itself. Plus, teams that haven’t played strong competition are always dangerous in March because no one knows how good they truly are. Look for JMU to upset the Badgers in round one and go into an interesting second-round matchup against either Duke or Vermont.

Owen Cameros is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ohc5024@psu.edu.

No. 8 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Texas A&M, this goes beyond basketball

This drama-filled matchup takes place in both the men's and women’s bracket this year.

Just this last week it was announced Nebraska's athletic director, Trev Alberts, would be leaving the Cornhuskers to become an official Aggie, so when it was announced the two schools would play each other in the first round, it was no mistake.

For the men, this is Nebraska's first time making the NCAA tournament in ten years, while Texas A&M made it last year seeing an early first-round exit as they lost to the Nittany Lions of Penn State, another Big Ten team.

With this one team is set to make history for their program.

The Aggies enter with a record of 20-14 and have won five of their last six, most recently falling to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC tournament.

Nebraska also lost in their conference semi-final round, as they fell to Illinois who made it into the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed.

The Cornhuskers hold a 12-8 advantage over the Aggies.

The last time the two teams played one another was in 2011 when Nebraska won 57-48 and ended a three-game losing streak.

Bronwyn Liber is a first-year student majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact her, email brl5354@psu.edu

No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Duquesne: It’s really a No. 5 vs. No. 12

After the selection show, CBS analyst Clark Kellogg said that the committee had BYU on the No. 5 seed line, but because of their inability to play on Sunday due to religious reasons, the committee dropped them to the No. 6 seed line.

The true seed list of teams ranked from No. 1 to No. 68 has the Cougars listed as the No. 17 team.

They sit one spot behind No. 4 seed Alabama and one spot above No. 5 seed San Diego State.

If you look at the structure and scheduling of this year’s bracket, all No. 5 seeds will end up playing on a Sunday on the first or second weekend if they advance.

So, Gonzaga gets the bump up to the No. 5 seed line while BYU drops down a seed.

However, BYU may actually still be playing against a No. 12 seed-caliber team.

The Atlantic 10 conference championship game finished as the second-to-last conference title matchup before the selection show.

No. 11 seed Duquesne won the conference in an upset victory over VCU.

The Dukes, widely regarded as a No. 12 seed or lower by most bracketologists, landed on the No. 11 seed line.

VCU, had they won the conference, sat around the projected No. 11 seed line.

Many think that the committee did not have a contingency bracket set up in case Duquesne won the tournament and the committee simply slotted them into VCU’s slot due to a lack of time before the selection show.

It is possible the committee just thinks Duquesne is better than the general public, but it looks like we may have an extra No. 5 seed versus No. 12 seed due to a weird scheduling quirk.

Rocco Pellegrino is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email rdp5387@psu.edu.