Regional breakdowns: East | South | Midwest | West

The grimace on Mark Few's face told the story. With a 29-3 record, a first-team All-America guard in Dan Dickau and a recent tournament history of being just one of three teams (with Duke and Michigan State) to reach at least the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons, the Gonzaga coach entered Selection Sunday with high hopes.

Gonzaga's Mark Few was no fan of the selection committee's choice of seeding.(Allsport)

Around the program, everyone figured the Bulldogs would get at least a No. 3 seed. Maybe as high as a No. 2.

They wound up with a No. 6 in the West and a date with Pac-10 Tournament champion Arizona if both teams reach the second round.

When the seeding was announced, CBS cameras captured Few wearing a frown as a stunned crowd of players, family and fans in Spokane, Wash., began booing.

Once again, Gonzaga is going to have play Cinderella to reach the Sweet 16. It was a stunning and insulting shot at the perceived strength of the program by the NCAA selection committee.

"Gonzaga had 12 wins over teams with a 200 or worse RPI," said committee chair Lee Fowler, the athletic director at North Carolina State, who seemed perturbed by repeated media questions about the subject. "It was the strength of schedule a little bit."

For the Bulldogs and teams outside the six major conferences, it was the confirmation of its worst fears. As long as the NCAA uses the Rating's Percentage Index, there seems to be a cap on how respected a great team from a bad conference can get.

It extended to other good teams from non-major football playing conferences, such as Western Kentucky, Hawaii and Kent State.

Gonzaga did indeed beat 12 teams with RPIs of 200 or above. But nine of them were West Coast Conference teams over which it had no choice. The Bulldogs won those games by an average of 22.1 points, and only four of them were played in Spokane.

Not helping the cause was nearby Pac-10 rival Washington State, who the Bulldogs whipped by 23 but with an RPI of 234.

There were cries about mistakes by the committee, especially from Oklahoma fans, who believed they deserved a top seed after defeating Kansas in the Big 12 championship game. Instead, it's the No. 2 seed in the West.

Fowler admitted that the committee made its decision on OU before the title game.

"We didn't believe that should take (Cincinnati) off the No. 1 line," said Fowler. "Before the game, I asked the committee, 'OK, what if Oklahoma wins its game against Kansas?' We had a 30-minute discussion and decided to look at the total season."

Although OU coach Kelvin Sampson expressed some puzzlement -- "I'd rather be a two seed in Dallas than a one seed in Siberia or wherever" -- there was only so much outcry. In fact, there was sympathy for Gonzaga.

"Man, they got played worse than us," said OU guard Hollis Price.

What played them was the RPI, the NCAA computer formula that is used to select and seed teams. It's controversial because it's three times more important who you play than whether you actually win or lose.

It's computed by weighing 25 percent of your record, 50 percent of your opponent's record and 25 percent of your opponent's opponents' record.

As a result, teams stuck in mid- or low-major conferences, where three or four bottom dwelling teams might only win only a few games, are significantly weighed down no matter how successful they are against those teams.

The three worst teams in the WCC -- Portland, St. Mary's and Loyola Marymount -- averaged 7.3 victories. In better-funded -- generally major football playing -- conferences, the worst teams have much better records because they can pay non-conference opponents to play them at home. In the SEC, the three worst teams -- Louisiana State, Arkansas and Tennessee -- averaged 13.7 victories.

So despite the gaudy record, a No. 6 national ranking and the three losses to NCAA Tournament teams Marquette, Illinois and Pepperdine, Gonzaga had an RPI of 21 Sunday. Its No. 6 seed was slightly below that. In comparison, 19-11 Indiana had an RPI of 20 and was seeded fifth in the South.

Other highly successful teams from outside the football playing conferences fared similarly. Western Kentucky went 28-3 and captured both the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships and was ranked in the top 20 in the polls but wound up with a 28 RPI and a No. 9 seed.

Hawaii, which finished 27-5 and won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, ended up with a 27 RPI but a No. 10 seed, just one spot ahead of a 20-11 Boston College club that was just 8-10 since New Year's.

Also receiving a 10 seed was Mid-American Conference champion Kent State (27-5), which upset Oklahoma last year in the first round and is riding an 18-game winning streak. It didn't help that much.

All of this is better than the fate of Butler, who lost in the Horizon League quarterfinals and was left out despite a 25-5 record.

The RPI has been under constant criticism for a number of years, with many looking to tweak the formula so victories over poor teams no longer punish clubs. While a formula is needed, and clearly the majority of the best teams come from major conferences, the RPI is not an accurate portrayal of team strength.

Designed and unchanged since 1981 -- a couple of eras ago in this sport, before the 64-team tournament, ESPN in every home and Final Fours in domes -- it seems hopelessly outdated.

Because NCAA revenue is divided by conferences based on the number of tournament games played by conference teams, it is also open to charges of corruption. The more teams a conference places in the tournament, the better chance at earning revenue shares. The better the seed, the easier to advance.

Making things more intriguing is the fact that the same six conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-10) who benefit from the RPI also control huge voting blocks on the two critical rule-making NCAA governing bodies. That means changing the formula is a major political challenge.

The way the RPI is figured, a great team can only come out of a good conference. If you play in a conference that is not strong top to bottom or doesn't play high-major football, there is only so good you can be.

As ridiculous as that theory is, it's apparent the committee believes it -- no matter how many times it says it doesn't.

If 28-3 Gonzaga is a No. 6 seed, there can be no other conclusion.