Washingtonpost.com: Live Online

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Matt Rennie: Good afternoon, everyone. After a relatively non-eventful first two days of the tournament, last weekend was a true example of March Madness. Lots of great Sweet 16 matchups, so let's get on with the discussion.

Arlington, Va.: So how are your brackets?

Matt Rennie: probably about the same as most people's. only in vegas are hopes dashed as quickly as they are throughout the country during the first two days of the tournament. I did call Central Michigan over Creighton (but had the CHips beating Duke in at least one entry) and was a missed layup away from being correct on Wis.-Milwaukee over Notre Dame, but Butler beating Louisville? Uh, no.

Mt. Lebanon, Pa.: Georgetown beat sports-writer-darling North Carolina to advance to the NIT semis. Can you say: "Yep, The Big East was slighted again when the NCAA made their picks to the big dance." Four of the Sweet 16 are from... The Big East. Maybe it's time you and your colleagues adjust your sights and preferences at pick time. And I really hope all four end up as the Final Four. That would sink the point home perfectly. Go Pitt. Thanks much.

Matt Rennie: No question the Big East acquitted itself quite nicely during the first weekend of the tournament. But let's be fair: Boston College probably deserved to be in the tournament more than Alabama, but Seton Hall? The key to the Big East's performance is Notre Dame playing like the team that won the BB&T rather than the team that stumbled to the finish of the regular season.

Albany, N.Y.: At first, Syracuse was a trendy Final Four pick by a lot of the so-called 'experts.' Now, many are citing their youth as a reason they won't get to New Orleans. What's your take, especially considering they are playing in Albany?

Matt Rennie: playing in Albany will certainly help, as will playing in the bracket most ravaged by upsets (it's tough to see Auburn OR Butler winning twice and going to the Final Four). The problem will be Oklahoma in what could be a great regional final. The Sooners might not always be pretty, but they are a tough bunch that don't get rattled easily. But Gerry McNamara hitting three-pointers with blood dripping down his face last Sunday showed a little bit of toughness as well, I'd say. I can't pick against Hollis Price, so long as he's close to healthy, but I'd like to watch such a game.

Washington, D.C.: Despite the early round upsets from the likes of Butler and Auburn, I think this year all four #1 seeds are going to advance to the Final Four. You agree?

Matt Rennie: Texas is the weak link in the bunch, I'd say. And faces a tough road with Connecticut and the winner of Maryland-Michigan State.

Juneau, Alaska: Matt, everybody always talks about how important senior leadership is to make a deep tourney run. But what about coaching experience in the tournament? How important is it to have a coach who's been through the media-crazed tournament circus before?

Matt Rennie: well, look at who's left and you'll see a bunch of coaches who have been here before. I think having played during the second weekend of the tournament, in the bigger arenas with everyone watching your game is an important experience for players and coaches. But the coaches from the big conferences -- almost all of them at this point -- are experienced in dealing with media crushes. Rick Barnes is the only coach in the South region now who hasn't won a national title, but after being a top-five team most of the season and playing in a league like the Big 12, I don't think he's going to be rattled.

Washington, D.C.: Is it fair that teams like Marquette (a 3 seed) and Wisconsin (a 5 seed) get to play in the round of 16 so close to home in Minneapolis, while the two higher-seeded teams, Pitt and UK, have to travel further? How does the committe make these decisions?

Matt Rennie: the short answer: Not very well. I think it would be nearly impossible to avoid such situations. That said, this year's committee have Kentucky and Arizona headed toward a SEMIfinal matchup, had BYU in a situation where it could have played on a Sunday and put the best 2 seed and arguably the best 3 seed in the same bracket as one of the two top 1 seeds.
And its defense? "We don't project matchups."
So two Wisconsin schools playing in Minnesota is the least of its concerns.

Frederick, Md.: Matt, how do you feel the Terps match up against Michigan State? Have the Spartans overachieved so far this tournament?

Matt Rennie: similar teams in the sense that each seems to be playing its best basketball right now after losing a lot from last season. Have the Spartans overachieved? perhaps, but there's no reason to be believe that won't continue against Maryland. A team that has perhaps played beneath its potential all season can be dangerous when it begins to believe in itself and its goals are now clearly in sight.

washingtonpost.com: Should college athletes be paid? Even if they were to receive a modest stipend, would that keep them in school?

Matt Rennie: I don't think college athletes could ever be paid enough to keep the best ones in school. This is a tough issue because it goes to the heart of what college sports should be. I think we're past the point of thinking football and men's basketball players are all in school purely for education purposes. But when you cross the threshhold of openly paying them, where do you stop? Do women's volleyball players get an equal stipend? If not, why not? If you pay everyone, you're creating a financial crisis for athletic departments, many of which are not solvent to begin with.
Let's not forget that scholarship athletes do receive an education that would cost anyone else thousands of dollars a year.

washingtonpost.com: There was some talk about the women moving their tournament so that they get more media attention. What's become of that plan?

Matt Rennie: in some ways, this question touches on similar issues as the previous one. We hear a lot of talk about how TV money and shoe contracts and overexposure are the evils that corrupted men's basketball. And yet the women's game tinkers with its schedule to increase TV exposure.
The NCAA fencing championships receive little, if any, TV exposure. Does that make the experience for the student-athlete competitors any less satisfying than those of men's and women's basketball players.
It goes back to what is a college sport? something for the students or something for the broader public?

Herndon, Va.: Mr. Rennie: With Wilbon following you up in an hour, please tell us why you know more than he does about college hoops.

Matt Rennie: I'm not taking the bait on that one. Mike has the benefit of actually getting to go to games, while I'm usually stuck in the office watching them on a 10-inch television. But I'll pardon your interruption.

Washington, D.C.: Please settle a dispute between friends. Who is the better rioting school? University of Maryland or Michigan State?

Matt Rennie: plenty of couches have been set on fire on both campuses. but I would hope, especially in the current world environment, that people would enjoy the games for what they are and stop there.

Herndon, Va.: What's your opinion of the often-stated "solution" to the annual screaming about who doesn't get in, by expanding the tournament to 128 teams? Sure, there'd still be screams, but no school with any pretensions to "big-league" status would be able to complain.

Matt Rennie: I mentioned earlier that this committee seemed to struggle enough with just 65 teams. Honestly, with all due respect to the bubble teams, none of them were going to win it all, and none likely were going to the Final Four. The more egregious errors in my opinion were with regards to seeding and the failure to observe the so-called S-curve that would have the top-rated No. 1 seed scheduled to face the weakest No. 2 seed. You have two games tonight involving 2 and 3 seeds -- Duke vs. Kansas and Marquette vs. Pitt? Conventional wisdom would seem to indicate that Kansas is the stronger of the No. 2 seeds and should play the weaker of the 3s, which most would say is Marquette.
Past selection committees have attempted to anticipate such games. This one chose to not "project matchups."

Washington, D.C.: I've got Arizona to win it all. Am I insane? Did Gonzaga come so close because they're so strong, or because 'Zona can't handle tourney play?

Matt Rennie: Well, from those three sentences, I can't pass conclusive judgment on your sanity. But if you're worried about the 'Cats merely because of the Gonzaga scare, consider this: Very rarely do national champions, or really any of the Final Four teams, get there without getting any kind of close game along the way. Two years ago, Maryland was losing to George Mason in the final minute of the first round game in Boise. People wanted Gary Williams fired. Three wins after that escape, they were cheering his contract extension. Ah, the stable life of a coach.

Silver Spring, Md.: I thought the best game of the weekend this week will be UConn-Texas. As much as I like to watch T.J. Ford, I'm not ready to crown him Allen Iverson, Kenny Anderson or Chris Jackson just yet. Can you imagine how good the Huskies would be if Caron Butler weren't in the NBA? How good would a Maryland-UConn rematch look with Butler playing for the Huskies and Wilcox staying around College Park for one more season?

Matt Rennie: You don't like Duke-Kansas tonight? Texas-U-Conn. is also a great paper matchup, but the magic of the tournament are the games that you don't expect to be great. Who would have said that last Saturday's Arizona-Gonzaga game would have been the best of the first weekend? A lot of folks didn't have the Zags getting past Cincinnati.
As for the second part of your question, you can play that game forever. Duke would be a fairly different team with JJ Redick as a seventh-man three-point specialist rather than a starter. Michigan State's lineup would look fairly different as well, but who knows if the Spartans would have gotten past the Kwame Brown-led FLorida Gators in the last round? You get the idea.

College Park, Md.: Although improbable, how about a Duke-Maryland final? (drooling)

Anyway, I read in ESPN/CNN sports pages of recent stories on the poor grad rates of players. Are these stats calculated any differently than before? I think that one critique was that these grad rates didn't take into consideration transfers or walk-ons (i.e., Juan Dixon, who graduated, wouldn't be in the pool of players that were considered as a graduate).

Thanks, GO TERPS!

Matt Rennie: There's been a couple of inquiries about grad rates. Yes, the grad rates are, like most statistics, open to interpretation. But you hear a lot of coaches spend a lot of time talking about why the statistics are flawed, rather than why their players don't seem to make education a priority, like a .186 baseball hitter who says "But I draw a lot of walks."
Yes, a player that transfers in good standing and goes on to graduate from another institution counts as a non-grad against the first school.
Yes, the athletes that go pro early often make more money than they could on the basis of a bachelor's degree.
No, education is not a high enough priority in revenue college sports and the grad rates, to one degree or another, reflect that.

Durham, N.C.: How do you see the Duke-Kansas matchup materializing Thursday night? I know Kansas is better inside, but if Jones and Redick are hitting their treys, this could be a track meet.

Matt Rennie: To me, the key to Duke's resurgence is the play of Shelden Williams, who gives the Blue Devils the kind of game-changing athleticism they lacked through January. Kansas has withstood more than its share of injuries this season and still won the regular season title in what arguably was the nation's toughest conference (SEC fans, send your letters here). When Duke has to rely on threes, it's usually not a good sign: In five of their six losses, they hoisted 22 or more three-pointers.

washingtopost.com: So, who will survive the weekend? Your predictions, please.

Matt Rennie: I hate making predictions, most because I'm usually wrong. But my original Final Four are still alive (one of the few positive things I can say about my brackets), so I won't change course now: Kentucky, Arizona, Oklahoma and U-Conn.
((I will say this: My original assessment of Pittsburgh was off-base a bit. The Panthers' poor free-throw shooting is still a concern, but their defense will keep them in games. A Kentucky-Pittsburgh final would be something to see, with all due respect to Marquette grads like my brother.))

Washington, D.C.: MSU and UMd. Which one would you pick now? MSU has had two amazing games, but the guard play for Maryland has been great.

Matt Rennie: The guards aren't the barometer for Maryland, in my opinion. Blake and a Nicholas are a consistent commodity. The key is Ryan Randle, who has been soft in the Terps' losses and near-dominant in their best performances. If Randle can assert himself early against MSU's Aloysius Anagonye (I just wanted to type that name), the Terps could win handily. If Randle is disinterested, the Terps will be running uphill.

College Park, Md.:
What is seeding? Isn't that projecting matchups?

Matt Rennie: exactly. it should be. But when asked why Kentucky and Arizona, clearly the nation's top two teams since Jan. 1, were put in the same side of the bracket, selection committee chair Jim Livengood said, "We don't project matchups."
If true, that would save a lot of time. Just throw 65 teams in a hat and pull them out. Maybe have Duke-Maryland in the play-in game?
It was a ludicrous response to a poorly handled situation.

Silver Spring, Md.: Matt,
Part of Maryland's advantage over Duke in terms of senior leadership is that whenever Duke loses sophomores and juniors, it forces them to stockpile McDonald's all-Americans every two years rather than every four. There's no way Jason Williams even goes to Duke to split time with Will Avery. Will Avery goes pro and bada bing, Coach K reloads with another uber-baller.

On another note, I thinks it's sad that a Danny Miller transfers from Maryland and as far as graduation rates are concerned, they are penalized because he gets his degree from Notre Dame. Athletes should be getting something to fall back on, for sure and the education is just that in case the NBA career doesn't pan out. The sad part is that people think that Maryland is bad school because of this and that's just not the case.

Matt Rennie: To the second part of your question: The transfer rule with grad rates is dumb, no question. People do judge universities on the performances of their athletes but of course that's silly. That would be like predicting the outcome of games on the athelticism of schools' chemistry departments.

On second though, maybe I'll try that next year. Can't do any worse.
I've got to run, everyone. Thanks for the discussion. Enjoy the games.

| |



	<img SRC="washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/redesign/adv_discusssion.htm" width=125 height=110 border=0>