Men's printable bracket

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	T O P   N E W S

For the first time, the NCAA Tournament might be decided by who didn't play.

The NCAA selection committee put itself in a curious position Sunday by dealing with injuries to top players at Cincinnati and Arizona in two different ways. Cincinnati, minus superstar Kenyon Martin, was penalized by dropping to a No. 2 seed. But then it was revealed that Arizona will be without forward Loren Woods for the remainder of the season because to a back injury.

That revelation was surprising enough until Arizona -- a Pac-10 co-champion -- leapt above the Bearcats and secured a No. 1 seed. The Wildcats got there with six losses, tying for the second-most ever by a top seed. Cincinnati went 28-2 until that fateful Thursday when Martin was injured against St. Louis.

In fact, the committee liked the Pac-10 so much it gave the league two top seeds. Stanford was the other, joining Duke and Michigan State.

It was the sixth time in history two teams from the same league landed on the top line. But it was the first time for the Pac-10, and you've got to wonder why. This was no banner year for the league. Until UCLA's JaRon Rush came back from a suspension last week, the Bruins were bubble meat. Oregon State and Oregon beat Arizona in consecutive games.

Clearly, the Cardinal and Wildcats were the class of the league, not of the nation.

Their chances for a No. 1, it seemed, were doomed. One Pac-10 team on top -- probably Stanford -- was a given, but two? The committee -- featuring four rookies new to the complicated process -- either copped out or got it wrong.

Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood, one of the most respected men in the profession, was one of those four rookie committee members. Bracketing rules required him to leave the room when Arizona was considered by the committee.

But this situation has arisen two years in a row. New Mexico had the lowest RPI (75) of any at-large team in history last season. New Mexico athletic director Rudy Davalos was on that committee.

It would be easy to go for the cheap shot, so we won't. Just consider this for informational purposes only: The NCAA wanted the Final Four in its hometown this year, Indianapolis. It's the first championship to be decided there since the NCAA moved from Kansas City.

During its zeal for ultimate fairness, the committee unwittingly selected six teams from the state of Indiana. Never mind the revenue realized by those schools; if any combination of Indiana, Ball State, Indiana State, Purdue, Valparaiso or Butler get to the Final Four, it could be the biggest home-court advantage since the lions played host to the Christians.

Putting another deserving team on the top line Sunday, like Atlantic 10 champion Temple or Big 12 champ Iowa State, would have made perfect sense. But apparently those two teams had no chance heading into Sunday.

Temple is 16-1 since Jan. 18 after winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Saturday. The Owls raced through their conference and defeated Maryland and Cincinnati along the way. When asked if there was anything teams playing Sunday could have done to challenge for that No. 1 seed, selection committee chairman Craig Thompson said, "probably not."

That's cheery news for Iowa State, which extended so much sweat beating Oklahoma for the Big 12 Tournament title Sunday. Marcus Fizer, the best player in the tournament now that Martin is out, was the MVP. All the Cyclones did was win 29 of 33 games, including 17 of 19 in the league.

Arizona, though, apparently had made its case. It finished well, knocking off Stanford Thursday to get a share of the conference title.

"When we were able to see Arizona play without Loren Woods, it was a test there," said Thompson.

Woods was injured in late February. His status was dealt with cryptically by coach Lute Olson until the committee asked Arizona Friday specifically about Woods.

"Arizona did let us know that Loren Woods would not participate in the tournament," Thompson said.

Voila. It took the committee to put its foot down for Olson to finally break the code of silence -- and then the Wildcats still got a No. 1 seed. Break it down like this: Arizona was rewarded because Woods got injured earlier and is less of a player than Martin. The Wildcats had the luxury of showing the committee it could win without its big guy.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson heads the committee which made the NCAA Tournament selections.(AP)

Cincinnati got less than one game to prove the same. Martin was injured three minutes into an upset loss to Saint Louis. To say the Bearcats were psychologically battered after losing the nation's best player would be an understatement.

"It was difficult to assess Cincinnati," Thompson said. "They were clearly a different team without Kenyon Martin. The question was how different?"

The committee decided early. Way too early. Why not see how Iowa State did on Sunday? To be fair, Iowa State athletic director Gene Smith was also on the committee. But the Cyclones were healthy, vibrant with no questions and no injuries. No one would have blinked if Iowa State, the nation's seventh ranked team, bagged a No. 1.

Or why not give Temple its due? It beat a fully loaded Cincinnati, at Cincinnati, with Martin.

A No. 1 seed should be treated as a sacrament. Seven of the past 10 national champions have been No. 1 seeds. At least one No. 1 seed has reached the Final Four each year since the bracket expanded in 1985. Since 1988 when No. 6 Kansas won it all, the national champion has been seeded no lower than fourth.

In its foresight, the committee has left an opening to settle the argument. If No. 2 Cincinnati and No. 1 Arizona fight their way through the bracket, the only way they could meet would be in the national championship game.

May the next-best team win. That would be the only seed justice for the Bearcats.