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NCAA Basketball: Mid-season selection show a positive for the sport

By Carmine Carcieri

Mar 19, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; General view of NCAA logo before the Iowa Hawkeyes practice before the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; General view of NCAA logo before the Iowa Hawkeyes practice before the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
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On Tuesday, the NCAA announced their plans for a mid-season selection show in February that will reveal the current top 16 teams by seed.

There is just one more week of January, which means Selection Sunday will be here before we know it.

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But before the field of 68 is unveiled, the NCAA has opted to have a College Football-like rankings show in mid-February.

On Tuesday, the NCAA announced their plans for a first-ever in-season look at the NCAA Tournament bracket. The Selection Committee will unveil the current top 16 teams by seed on February 11 at 12:30 p.m. ET.

“We are excited about giving the fans a glimpse into what the men’s basketball committee is thinking at this point of the season, and creating a buzz as we look towards Selection Sunday,” Mark Hollis, the director of athletics at Michigan State University and chair of this year’s committee, said. “It’s important to recognize after this list has been released, there is still a significant portion of the regular season to be played and every league must stage its conference tournament. There’s potential for quite a bit of movement until we do it for real March 12, but this early peek will give everyone insight as to where the committee stands as we hit the stretch run of the regular season.”

I don’t love this idea — what makes the NCAA Tournament so unique is the shocking results that are announced on Selection Sunday — but it certainly can’t hurt a sport that is striving for more attention before March.

And let’s be honest: this is going to create real buzz. College football fans are intrigued by their weekly rankings and this show is no different for the college hoops landscape. This is an inside look at the field before the actual field is released on March 12.

However, because this show is in February and there will still be plenty of time for teams to make noise and separate themselves, this doesn’t even come close to ruining the NCAA Tournament process. The top 16 teams are not likely to change all that much, but squads like Villanova, Kentucky, Gonzaga and others could drop from the one line to the two line or so forth.

Also, none of the bubble teams will be mentioned and none of the match-ups will be revealed. And that’s what creates the most debate on Selection Sunday. Fans want to see if their school or team made it, and of course, fans want to see who their team is playing and where the game will take place.

Next: Conference battles shake up the top 25

So while everyone in the country will get an idea of how the committee is thinking in mid-February that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it may give casual fans even more of a reason to watch college hoops. Like always, it comes down to generating interest, and that’s what this show is all about.

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