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| | Sunday, March 12 | |||||
| Bernadette V. McGlade has a tough job.
As the Women's NCAA Tournament Selection Committee Chairwoman, McGlade has to pour over dozens of teams who deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. But as is the case every year, there just aren't enough at large bids to include everyone. On Sunday, following the announcement of the women's brackets, McGlade chatted with ESPN.com users about who made it, who didn't and why. The resounding theme was strength of schedule and the amount of non-conference games a team did or didn't play. McGlade also talked about possibly expanding the tournament, playing on neutral sites and why the Gators didn't make the Big Dance. In case you missed McGlade's March 12 chat, the following is an edited transcript. Hokie 4 Life: How serious was Virginia Tech considered? Were we a real "bubble team"? Bernadette V. McGlade: They were considered up until the final moments. They are a very good team but with the parity, there were some very good teams left out of the at-large pool. Doris: How close was Florida to getting in the tournament, considering its high RPI and strength of schedule? Bernadette V. McGlade: Florida was also a bubble team. It was exactly that, their high RPI and strength of schedule that kept them on the table. Their 17 wins were just not enough. Quito_Ms: What went into deciding La. Tech as No. 1 over Penn State? Bernadette V. McGlade: They maintained a top 4 presence the entire year. Their record was great and they played a combination of all the top teams in the country. They won their conference tournament and the other teams that were vying for the tourney had weaknesses. Lisa Gordon: How big a role was Maine's overtime game with Georgia in them getting an at-large berth? Bernadette V. McGlade: That was a good game for Maine but the criteria was that they had an outstanding record, a good conference showing and they also scheduled a number of teams in the 1-25 category. They played a lot of competitive non-conference teams. Bill: Pepperdine's RPI of 70+ makes it puzzling as to how they were able to get in the tournament. Comments please? Bernadette V. McGlade: They were 21-9. Their RPI is not the only tool we use. Their overall record and what they have done in the West Coast Conference, the 11th-ranked conference, was a factor. Pepperdine played well enough all year long to be represented. JTM: How can you justify North Carolina getting a 5 seed with a losing conference record and only 15 regular season wins? Bernadette V. McGlade: They actually had a .500 record in the ACC. They went into the conference tournament ranked 5th and lost to Duke. A lot of their losses were with their top player out of action. A month ago they weren't a tournament team but in the last month they have positioned themselves to be a strong tournament team. Big12fan: Why did Oregon get the six in the West, and get to host, instead of Texas? Bernadette V. McGlade: We do cross-country scoring so we have 10 individuals voting on seeding the teams in the proper order. When we do that, the teams that come out in the sixth seed would keep those positions. That is the beauty of seeding 64 teams in the tournament. Oregon came out as a sixth seed with Texas seventh. tuse: First off, let me say, you were great in the hot seat. Georgia Tech 15 wins and strength of schedule and 4 wins from top 20 teams, would they have been a consideration with 17 wins? Bernadette V. McGlade: It's hard to look into a crystal ball. They were on the table with teams with 15, 16, 17 wins but those teams had wins against significant teams. That amount of wins just didn't get teams into the tournament this year. Michael: Why is Colorado State not there? Was it the post-season slump (without Ashley Augspurger)? Bernadette V. McGlade: They were on the bubble till late in the evening last night. Not getting into the championship game in their tournament was a factor. 6-4 in the last 10 games doesn't help. Also, they didn't have on their schedule anybody in the 1-25 rank. They will have to take a closer look at their scheduling.Bill: Tough job. Why not make it easier by expanding the tournament? Bernadette V. McGlade: We would love to. We needed 68 spaces this year. That is an NCAA decision but I would love to see the bracket expanded. Thanks for the comment. You should write to the NCAA! Chong: With a 20-8 record, and an RPI consistently in the 50's, how was Hawaii left out of the tournament? They came in second in the WAC and lost to the eventual tournament champion Rice in the conference tournament. Bernadette V. McGlade: Hawaii got beat in the quarterfinals of their tournament. They did have two games in the 1-25 category and lost both. Somebody loses a slot when somebody gets an automatic that wasn't expected to. That is what happened here with Rice winning the tournament. DLL: When will the first and second round games be played on a neutral court like the men's? Bernadette V. McGlade: I think we are several years away. We have a proposal to play on a predetermined site decided in September. We feel that this would be a good in-between step leading to neutral sites. We are a little worried about the attendance at games but we hope to be there in 5-7 years. Eric VanSickle: How about Iowa State's seeding? Were the Cyclones considered for a 2 seed ever, like the men were? Bernadette V. McGlade: Everyone is considered for the highest seed available. Iowa St. came out of the balloting as a No. 3 seed and it was determined that was a good seed for them, therefore they stayed at No. 3. Michael: Was Stanford's lack of experience (translate lack of consistency) a reason for such a low seeding? Bernadette V. McGlade: No. They have a lot of experience. They played very good basketball. They had a 19-7 record and in their last 10 games they were 8-2. They finished second in the Pac-10. Basically, they scheduled Tennessee out of conference but that was it. We felt that with a 19-7 record they were probably seeded well. Ricardo Malbrew: Grambling State University Lady Tigers were 25-5 overall and 18-2 in the conference with the highest scoring offense in the nation at 89.0 Why were they not invited to the tournament? Bernadette V. McGlade: They would have gotten in by earning their automatic bid but they were upset in their tournament. They needed to schedule more out of conference games. Their competition and quality of wins didn't stand up to other programs. UEboy: Were the Lady Aces of Evansville even close to getting a bid? Bernadette V. McGlade: Yes they were. They were extremely close. They were a team we discussed extensively. They played very well throughout the season. They had a strong showing in their tournament. We just didn't have enough at-large bids. That happens when we have big upsets in the automatic bids. They are very close to being tournament ready.
Bernadette V. McGlade: Thank you for logging on and I want to tell everybody to get excited about watching the
tournament this year. Thanks!
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