NATIONAL COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 16, 2003

Cheryl Marra

CHERYL MARRA: Absolutely. One of the things that we are trying to do is be able to keep teams as close to home as possible. Not only for the teams but also for their fans.

CHERYL MARRA: I think that certainly put them in good position. There's no two ways about it. In addition, they had three very good wins against some of the top teams. And that was something that was very important when we were looking at those teams under consideration for some of those spots we had to see how did they do not only throughout the season but against some of the top teams. And Miami was able to have three very good wins.

CHERYL MARRA: We certainly talked about Sienna. There's no two ways about it. I think one thing that we did note with Sienna was that they had no wins against anybody that was in the tournament. And while they did have a good season and they finished well, they also lost to Manhattan twice. And so I think that was one of the things we did discuss and they were certainly a team that we looked at.

CHERYL MARRA: Well I think certainly the Big East Conference was the number three conference. And when you're taking a look at that, it obviously provides a great deal of tough competition week in and week out when you're playing against some of those teams in the Big East. So obviously that certainly helped give them the edge when you're looking at that. But also, like I say, they were able to get it done. Not only did they compete against some of those teams but they also won against some of those teams. So I think that was an important factor, as well as how far they advanced in their conference tournament.

CHERYL MARRA: With Baylor we noted they had an 8-8 conference record. One of the things that I think was important in their particular case was the lack of strength in their non-conference schedule. Even though they won, the strength of schedule for those that they scheduled, which were non-conference was a factor when we took a look at them.

CHERYL MARRA: I think that clearly was a factor.

CHERYL MARRA: I think one of the things you have to look at there is we were able to send them to a neutral site. If you take a look at the four number one seeds, two of them are playing at home, and two of them have the opportunity, with our predetermined sites, to play neutral. And we thought clearly that was something they deserved as the number one.

CHERYL MARRA: Let me take your first question first. This year will be the last year that anybody will have the opportunity to play at home for their first and second round games, as well as the Regionals. And so that is something that we will be moving in another direction. So this will be the last time that will happen. As far as the Big East, I think the fact that they have five teams in the upper bracketing just speaks very well of why they are the number three team in the conference. They did a great deal in many different schools to be able to attain that. You take a look at Connecticut, you got BC, you got Villanova, you got Rutgers, obviously they played their way into those seeds.

CHERYL MARRA: I think obviously Oklahoma did what they needed to do to get in the championship. Regardless of the fact that they are hosting. They had a record, they were 19-12. Their non-conference competition allowed them to also get the job done. They also had two wins against some very tough scheduling out there. And the Big 12 has done a great job with their scheduling throughout. So to be honest with you, the fact that they were hosting really never played into it at all into the discussion when we were talking about Oklahoma.

CHERYL MARRA: Well first of all it's a neutral site. And I think that certainly played into being able to send a number one seed out into a neutral site when that was possible. And also you take a look at Texas, LSU, teams that were under consideration for that number one spot, so of course that matchup is always going to be one of the tougher ones. With a 1-2 in that particular position. So we thought that we -- while it is one of the tougher brackets, we put them in a neutral site. And that should allow them to be able to compete without that extra advantage.

CHERYL MARRA: Let me just start with your question on Oklahoma. As far as the process went, we stayed true to the process, as far as selecting teams into the tournament and then seeding those teams. At that point in time who was hosting was not a part of those discussions. The only time that came into play is when we made a decision of exactly where we were sending teams. So I might have misspoken as far as them not coming into consideration at all. But in fact, when it came to who was going to get into the tournament, and how they were going to be seeded, at no point in time did we discuss who would be hosting. As far as your first question, relative to the Big 12 and Conference USA. One of the things that certainly helped Conference USA is they had an upset in their tournament. And TCU came out of that conference and in affect allowed them to have a little bit more depth than they might have had otherwise.

CHERYL MARRA: To answer your second question, we didn't consider sending them back to University Park. As far as was there consideration to give them a higher seed, I can tell you that seeding in the middle part of this bracket, because of all of the parity that we have in this tournament right now is extremely difficult. And there was a great deal of discussion with all of those teams around the seeding that they obtained. And so they were considered long and hard and talked through, but that is exactly where they landed.

CHERYL MARRA: There's no two ways about it. The conference tournament certainly played into what happened in the Big 10. The teams that emerged through this, those that were playing well at the end of the season, and clearly Ohio State had a great run through that tournament and Minnesota had a difficult time getting the job done.

CHERYL MARRA: Well clearly one of the things you had to take into consideration for Charlotte was the fact that they won the regular season. And that speaks well to somebody who goes through the entire season and comes out on top in that conference. And that can't be overlooked. And I think that was a major factor that played into the fact of when we had to make that determination of those teams that might have been on the bubble, what was going to help them be propelled to get into the championship. And that certainly helped them tremendously.

CHERYL MARRA: You know, a lot of times that we're making those discussions we're discussing several schools at one time. So we really don't ever have the last team that ever goes into the championship.

CHERYL MARRA: Well the head to head matchup certainly made it pretty obvious whenever there's an opportunity that you look at two teams and they look even, and you need something that's going to make that decision, head to head generally would come into play. And so there's no doubt that LSU played through their tournament with the number one conference in the country and they beat a number one, to do that. And while Texas certainly had a great year and they won the regular season and they won the conference championship, the fact is you're absolutely right, head to head they got beat by LSU.

CHERYL MARRA: Well I think for Michigan State, obviously, playing in the Big 10 conference and going out night after night, but one thing that was important for them, they had three very good wins against some of the top teams. And they weren't afraid to go out and schedule their non-conference season as well. So the fact of the matter is they got the job done with what they needed to get the job done.

CHERYL MARRA: Well, I guess there's different ways to look at it. In some cases there were 2 seeds that didn't necessarily bid to host the first and second round. And so you can't give them that advantage. But in looking forward of what we're trying to accomplish, predetermined sites is the first step towards moving to neutral sites. We have the opportunity this year to put some teams at two neutral sites which will give us the benchmark of how successful that is. And it's not only the teams that are playing at Oklahoma that might not have the edge, there are nine of the 16 sites that are not hosting the first and second round. So we tried as best as we possibly can to keep the seeds. And I think that was what was most important as we were going through this was a predetermined site. To make sure that the integrity of the selection process and the integrity of the seeds held. And we were able to accomplish that.

CHERYL MARRA: Well every year we have to take a look at potentially sliding teams. Because of conference matchups, because of the fact that they may have played during the regular season, all those things were taken into consideration this year as well. So there may have been an occasion where we needed to move a team from side to side. Or up one or down one. And that's no different than we have done in the past when we were looking at the safety net.

CHERYL MARRA: At this point in time I would have to go back and reconstruct that.

CHERYL MARRA: You know what, it really didn't affect it at all. Where it became a bit of a challenge, but it was one that the committee really did a great job with, is then after they were selected and after they were all seeded, to take a look at what were the matchups at that point in time and where we may not have had a host institution. And then make changes across the lines in some cases or merely make a 6 that might have been hosting in the same region, merely just swapping those number 6s or number 8s. So the selection process really stayed intact. And I felt very very good about what the committee did relative to that. And it really didn't change a whole lot more than it had in previous years. Which I think in all honesty it was a bit of a surprise and a pleasant one.

CHERYL MARRA: Well I think one thing we do have to take into consideration is the conference. And what the RPI is of the particular conference that they're playing up against. Week in and week out some schools are playing schools that are in the top strength of a conference a little bit different than somebody else did. So certainly we had a great deal of respect for Green Bay. And we're certainly excited that they did a great job and we have the opportunity to move them up. I think we had to compare them with everybody else and one thing you might want to do is look across the way and see who you might have bumped relative to that. But we felt pretty good about where we had our seeds.

CHERYL MARRA: You know what, that would be impossible for us to know this particular year because we never discussed it that way. They were in. We never had to match them up with somebody else if there had been an upset. While there were a couple of conferences we had to do that, you really take it one year at a time and one conference at a time to make that determination. So Green Bay had a great year, they won the conference championship and so we didn't have to deal with that.

CHERYL MARRA: Well you know when we got down to the fact of where people naturally fell with their seeds, you always want to try your very best not to disrupt that if you can. However, there were quite a few safety nets that we had to put into effect. For example, teams that had played in the first or second round last year or teams that had played during the regular season, or conference opponents not to play each other. And so when you're making those moves to protect all those different factors, sometimes you just have to let the chips fall where they may. And as long as the safety nets are protected, you go ahead with where they fall. And that's what happened with those teams being in the East.

CHERYL MARRA: Well, I don't know if it's so much how many losses, I think one thing that certainly spoke well for Virginia is what they did down the stretch. Sometimes you might look at a team and if they're a fairly young team, the first half of the season and the second half of the season clearly may look very different. And in addition you look at Virginia and they had a great win over North Carolina fairly late in the season. They played in a conference that was No. 2 in the RPI. And so there are an awful lot of factors and I don't believe we could every say how many losses are enough or how many wins are going to be enough. You have to take it on the merits in any particular year. You look at a lot of those teams on the bubble, that got in, that another year might not have gotten in because of their record. But when you look at the parity that's out there it's really tough to say. But certainly for Virginia, their second half of the season was clearly a great stride for them.

CHERYL MARRA: Well, I hope that's just a coincidence. The fact of the matter is it's sold out. So we certainly didn't put them in to help attendance. And the other thing is, I think that they haven't been in for the last 10 years, so I'm sure they're holding their breath hoping that we don't wait for that to be the criteria for which they get into the tournament. Certainly they played their way into this championship as well. And they got a look just like everybody else did, regardless of where the Final Four was being held. As far as the non-conference scheduling, there's absolutely no doubt that that is playing a major factor for several of these conferences. While you can't control always the strength of your conference, as coaches you certainly can control your non-conference schedule. What gets difficult sometimes is you may be scheduling somebody you think is going to be a top 25 or top 50, and then in fact they don't end up being that. And that's difficult when you make that attempt to do that. But non-conference scheduling I would say certainly came into a criteria for several of the teams that was on the bubble and not just who you scheduled, but how you did against them.

CHERYL MARRA: Oh, absolutely. You look at their win/loss records, you look at what they do in the conference, you look at what they do out of the conference and what the strength of that out of conference. If you do not choose to go out of conference and play a pretty solid non-conference schedule, that's not going to help you in terms of seeding or selection into the bracket.

CHERYL MARRA: Yes.

CHERYL MARRA: No, Connecticut would be number 1. Then Duke, then Tennessee and then LSU.

CHERYL MARRA: To be honest with you we had conversations each and every day about our number one. Including this morning. When we were making all of our final decisions. So they were the last conference game, I believe, and we actually sat here and watched that particular game. Because we did want to make sure and we were looking at everything that was out there. So we discussed our number 1s every single day.

CHERYL MARRA: Yeah, I'll tell you what, Tennessee has the number one toughest non-conference schedule. And not only do they have the toughest one, but they do very very well within that. So Tennessee's strength of schedule and what they do with it, non-conference and conference, is second to none. And you have to give them credit for that throughout the season.

CHERYL MARRA: There's no doubt they did. But they're playing the toughest one every single week. And I guess you would venture to say if you ask those teams that play that type of schedule they might have a little bit more difficult time as well.

CHERYL MARRA: Yeah, it's hard for to us put a specific timetable on that. Obviously this is the first step. We have two neutral sites, we'll have the opportunity to see how, how they go. It's something that the committee will review each and every year to see when in fact the time is right to make that move. One point to note it was told to me it took the men 50 years to move to neutral sites. So I think we're certainly on our way and we're going to keep our eye on it because that is a goal that we would like to have. I think it will enrich our tournament, bring a lot more parity and fairness to that and just a provide for a great atmosphere and a great event. But we believe these predetermined sites have given each of the schools that are hosting these a whole year just about to plan for that to make it a great event for their community, for the student athletes, for the fans, and quite frankly, we're already ahead of ticket sales right now than at where we were at the end of the year last time for first and second rounds. So it's beginning to pay off. And I think the final comment that's important to note is the opportunity to have all 63 games on TV in partnership with ESPN and giving them the lead time is also a great benefit for the basketball championship for women.

CHERYL MARRA: Yeah, they're both going to tell us something. What we don't know at this point in time, but we're excited that we have that opportunity and that will begin the benchmark for how we move forward.

CHERYL MARRA: Well in all honesty we take a look at all of the brackets that are in there and one thing that's very important for us is geographic distribution of that, as well as the type of support they're going to provide, the facility, the hotels, their tournament staff. And so they're going to have just as good a look as everybody else does. And we're awful happy that more and more teams each year are bidding. And hopefully in the not too distant future we'll have some cities that will actually bid on them and it will be a neutral site even within that same campus area. So we're moving in the right direction and Duke's going to get a good look.

CHERYL MARRA: No. They don't -- that's not something that was agreed to. It's not something that they have to have. But it is certainly something that we believe is worth providing in order that we can do all the preparation work in front of things. Not just for ESPN to have that extra time, but also for the host schools to have that time and the cities to be able to rally around that. We think it's good for everybody.

CHERYL MARRA: I'm not sure -- Old Dominion last year was at Purdue with Georgia and --

CHERYL MARRA: Right. We cannot protect that far out. What we try to look at is first and second rounds and conference matchups until the regional. So we're not able to protect all of those all the way out or we would have an impossible time making any matchups given the amount of times that some of these teams find themselves in the tournament bracket. So we look at that safety net for the matchups just from the first and second rounds and then for conference matchups until Regionals.

CHERYL MARRA: That's one way to look at it. It's not the way the committee looked at it. We believe firmly that if you're a number 1 seed you want to be an a neutral court versus playing in anybody's gym who happens to be in the tournament.

CHERYL MARRA: Absolutely. We couldn't provide not all four seeds going into being number 1s in any particular year, that they're going to be number 1s in order for to us pick those sites for a predetermined site. When you got to that point you want to make sure you make it as fair as you possibly can. Putting two of the number 1 seeds at neutral courts we thought was very important. And if you take a look at Louisiana Tech, they're a number five. So we believe clearly that sending LSU out to be in a neutral site was the bigger advantage for them as a number one.