Saturday, June 05, 2004
Working the lobby
Dated by three months, but a solid read nonetheless. Mike DeCourcy covers the work done by conference offices to advocate the candidacy of their teams before the NCAA Selection Committee. The gist:Just before selection weekend, the leagues present organized material that champions the strength of their teams. A lot of this information can be found on a Ratings Percentage Index breakdown page: overall record, conference record, record against various levels of RPI teams, etc. But there also is information about injuries and suspensions that might have affected results. The committee often talks about how teams will be given breaks if injuries affected results--so long as those players are back competing effectively.
I imagined lobbying was a part of the selection process. But until I read DeCourcy's piece I had little confirmation. No longer.
