In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Thursday night in Denver, the Michigan Wolverines beat the U-C San Diego Tritons 68-65.
Michigan State will play their opening round game against Bryant University Friday night.
Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about college basketball, controversial choices by the NCAA tournament selection committee, and more.
Doug Tribou: One way to sum up last night’s game is to say Michigan won. Another way to say it would be Michigan escaped. After leading for essentially the whole game, Michigan fell behind in the last couple of minutes and then rallied. What stood out to you about the game?
John U. Bacon: Your first point. This time of year, Doug, trust me, style points don't count for anything. The phrase is "survive and advance." And you know, really, Doug, isn't that all of us today?
DT: [Laughs]
JUB: People out there, don't worry about style points today. Survive the day, advance to tomorrow. That's a victory.
DT: Up next, Michigan will face Texas A&M in the second round on Saturday. Michigan’s a five seed. Texas A&M is a four seed. Even by March Madness standards, there have been a lot of questions this year about the selection committee’s choices for seeding the bracket.
In the Big Ten tournament, Michigan beat Purdue and Maryland and then beat Wisconsin in the title game. Yet Michigan ended up behind all of those teams in the seedings.
The tournament, of course, would not be the tournament without some wiggle room and debates, but what else stood out to you about the choices this time?
JUB: Well, they've gotten more complaints than usual, including [about] Michigan, but not only Michigan. Texas getting in was a shocker. Here's my favorite, though. The chair of the selection committee is a guy named Bubba Cunningham. He is the athletic director of North Carolina and his UNC team that everyone said had no business being in. They're 1-12 against top teams.
Well, they did get in, and guess which athletic director got a $68,000 bonus for his team getting in? You might've guessed it, Doug: Bubba Cunningham. This is one of the rare cases I say, replace these buffoons with computers. Do it now. I'm game.
"This is one of the rare cases I say, replace these buffoons with computers. Do it now."John U. Bacon on the NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament selection committee
DT: Michigan State will take on Bryant University in Cleveland Friday night. MSU is a No. 2 seed. Bryant is a No. 15 seed. Tom Izzo and the Spartans are making their 27th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Izzo told WLNS-TV this week that his current team has less margin for error than he’s seen in other years.
John, so much comes down to peaking at the right time in the run up to the tournament — and then just being a little bit better…
JUB: By one point, it turns out, yes.
DT: [Laughs]
JUB: But one of the key things you just talked about is 27 straight NCAA appearances. That is a stunning stat. I mean, you've gone through two or three generations of players by then, all kinds of different rules. That is one of the most impressive stats in college basketball today.
Beyond that, Michigan State has got a pretty good draw. And I think they're pretty much clear through at least the Elite Eight if they play their game.
DT: Over in the women’s tournament, Kim Barnes Arico and the Michigan Wolverines are making their seventh straight appearance. They’ll play Iowa State in Indiana Friday at 11:30 a.m.. Michigan State plays Harvard Saturday in North Carolina.
In college hockey, the Big Ten hockey tournament championship game is Saturday. Michigan State is the top seed in the conference tournament. The Spartans will face third seed Ohio State. John, you’ve talked about how good MSU has been under coach Adam Nightingale. Regardless of the outcome Saturday, MSU will be in the NCAA national tournament — the Frozen Four. Does this seem like a team built for a deep tournament run?
JUB: Very much so. Look, they've got all the pieces. But the biggest piece they've got, in my opinion, is Nightingale, the coach. They do everything fundamentally right. They play great team defense. They stay out of the [penalty] box. They're just a very solid team, and you're gonna have to play extremely well to beat that squad.
They might not be dominant, but they're very good. And keep in mind, almost certainly, the Michigan Wolverines will not be in the tournament, and they might have better talent. So that's what coaching gets you.
DT: And John, very similar to basketball, you just need to win by one point. [Laughs].
JUB: [Laughs] They call them goals in hockey, but the principal holds.
DT: The NCAA will announce the Frozen Four tournament bracket on Sunday.
John, thanks a lot. Have a good weekend.
JUB: Doug, thank you.
Editor's notes: Some quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
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