So today was the selection show for the NCAA tournaments. My team is the Stanford women, we've had season tickets for the past six years and even traveled to Eugene and Boise to root them on. I don't care too much about the men. I'll be rooting for Stanford and other west coast teams, but that's about it.
One thing I've learned over the past few years is that the selection committee has a mental block where west coast teams are concerned. It might even be more than that. I'm continually reminded of the east coast bias in all things sports and today was no different.
Today, the committee delivered an unequivocal "fuck you" to a number of teams. Most of them just happened to be west coast teams. After ending the season as the number one ranked team in the country, number one team in the Pac-10 in the regular season, winner of the conference tournament, and unbeaten at home this year Stanford received a #2 seed in the St. Louis bracket. No team in the country had fewer losses than Stanford. Apparently, the eyes of the selection committee glazed over and their brains stopped working as soon as they thought about anything west of the Rockies.
Only one positive note in all this, and even that is tinged with more of that "fuck you" magic that the selection committee doled out. Stanford will play their first game in Fresno. Great news! Less than two hours from home. What's not to like about that? The screwed up part is their first round opponent. Out of the sixty-three teams that the committee had to work with they selected the one twenty minutes down the road: Santa Clara. And the match-up is even more disappointing when you realize that there is a Kimyacioglu on each team. Sebnem is one of our seniors and her younger sister, Yasemin, is a sophomore at Santa Clara.
I'm too irritated to type more. At this point I am rarely surprised when quality west coast teams are overlooked on the national scene. Disappointed, yes. Surprised, no. I blame it on regional jealousy.
And don't even get me started on how the Gonzaga women got screwed.
