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ASU Basketball: After Oregon loss, are the Sun Devils still in the NCAA Tournament field?

By Trevor Booth

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 15: Victor Bailey Jr. #10 of the Oregon Ducks and Luguentz Dort #0 of the Arizona State Sun Devils go after a loose ball during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 15, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks defeated the Sun Devils 79-75 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 15: Victor Bailey Jr. #10 of the Oregon Ducks and Luguentz Dort #0 of the Arizona State Sun Devils go after a loose ball during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 15, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks defeated the Sun Devils 79-75 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MARCH 16: The NCAA logo is seen in the second half of the game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MARCH 16: The NCAA logo is seen in the second half of the game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Insight on the At-Large Selection Process

This afternoon, the 10-person committee produced an ‘initial ballot,’ selecting their 36 at-large selections in one column and identifying all teams that should be ‘under consideration’ for an at-large bid in another, according to the NCAA’s official website. There is no limit on teams under consideration.

The committee then formed an ‘under consideration’ board, per the NCAA, with an alphabetical listing of teams that received three at-large or under consideration votes, but didn’t receive enough to be an at-large team. Teams also listed on the board will be regular-season conference champions, outright or tied, who didn’t win their tournament.

According to the NCAA, teams can be taken off the board if they receive all but two eligible at-large votes from committee members. A team can be added if it receives at least three eligible votes.

Then, depending on the number of teams, the committee selected their ‘best teams’ to fulfill the remaining at-large field, per the NCAA. Here’s how numbers play into the process.

"a. When 20 or more teams are under consideration in “list” ballots, each member shall select eight teams; b. When 14 to 19 teams are under consideration, each member shall select six or fewer teams; c. When 13 or fewer teams are under consideration, each member shall select four teams. 3. When 24 or fewer teams remain in the pool of teams (during the selection or seeding process), a member may not participate in “list X teams” votes if a team he or she represents as a commissioner or athletics director is included in the “pool.” 4. The eight teams receiving the most votes comprise the next at-large ballot. 5. Committee members then rank the eight teams, using a “ranking” scoring system (i.e., the best team is valued at one point). 6. The four teams receiving the fewest points shall be added to the at-large field. The other four teams will be held for the next ballot. 7. Each committee member then submits a list of the best eight teams remaining on the “under consideration” board to be added to the at-large field. The four teams with the highest vote totals are added to the teams carried over from No. 6 to comprise the next at-large ballot. 8. Steps No. 5, 6 and 7 will be repeated until all at-large berths are filled."

Once the teams are selected, the committee will then build a ‘seed list’ before building the bracket itself.

If BracketMatrix is any indicator, the Sun Devils were likely in these discussions. This is where the comparisons will ensue – should they be evaluated based on their wins, or are the bad losses too much to overcome?

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