Many college basketball fans are not happy with the NCAA Tournament selection committee, but that’s nothing new. What is new is how the field of 68 has 14 teams from one particular conference.
The SEC set a record on Sunday, earning more men’s NCAA tournament bids than any other conference in history. The total number of SEC teams in the tournament is 14. The previous record, set by the Big East 14 years ago, was 11.
Financially, this is already a big win for the SEC. The conference will earn at least $26 million right off the bat.
Each conference earns a distribution from the “Equal Conference Fund” for participating in the tournament and sending their conference champion (automatic qualifier), which in the case of the SEC if Florida. The pool is between $50 million and $60 million.
From the Men’s Basketball Performance Fund, conferences earn a “unit,” about $2 million, for each additional team they send to the Big Dance. Teams continue to earn units every time they win and advance, all the way up to the national championship game. The fund is worth over $170 million. Because conference champions aren’t part of the units calculation, the SEC will wind up with $26 million.
Other conferences, and some basketball pundits, are screaming foul. It wasn’t that long ago that the SEC was only sending three teams to the NCAA tournament each year. However, in the past ten years or so, the conference has built some powerhouse programs that have surpassed those of other universities.
Only time will tell if all of these SEC truly deserved a spot in the 68-team field. An SEC team has not cut down the nets as the National Champions since Kentucky did in 2012.
OILERS LOOKING TO MAKE
PLAYOFFS
As of right now, the Tulsa Oilers hockey team is in sixth place in the ECHL Western Conference standings and if the season ended today, they would be headed for the playoffs.
It could be the second consecutive year the Oilers have made the playoffs and the third time in four years under head coach Rob Murray. Last season, the Oilers lost in the division semifinals to the Kansas City Mavericks, 4-0.
The Oilers still have 11 remaining games in the regular season, so dropping out of playoff contention is possible, although not likely. Tulsa has a pair of games at home this weekend. The Oilers will host Tahoe on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the BOK Center.
Tulsa will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Allen on April 9, 11 and 12.
TULSA BEACON RADIO
Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national level guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. My guests this week will be Safari Sarah Menard with Dinosaur Quest, and local political commentator Michael Bates. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO