Selection committee hopes early start will provide more time to pick teams

"We just thought this year that it would give a clearer picture of what's happening," O'Connor said. "It's a fair point to look at because you're looking at teams that are getting hot or jelling at the right time and might be playing their best basketball of the season. If you're losing, that will tell you something as well."

One element that remains unchanged is how the committee views conference tournaments.

O'Connor acknowledged he wants to avoid the temptation of "impulse-buying" based on those results while the committee debates who gets in and who is left out.

"It's not a change at all," O'Connor said. "If two teams played during the regular season and split and then play again, my rule from the playground days say if you win then you continue to play. It could affect your seed, but you'd still have to go back and look at the whole picture because you'd be putting more emphasis on that one game."

Otherwise, the committee will be looking at all the usual barometers to fill those precious few final spots.

And adding a few hours to the process, O'Connor believes, could make a big difference.

"We think if we pick up a half hour here or an hour there, we can come up with a better product," he said. "Our goal is to select the 34 best teams, and it is of the utmost importance to get that right for the student-athletes."