Division I Chair Tom Burnett: the committee is looking at all sorts of factors

POSTED: March 11, 2022 -- 8:42 a.m. CT

Earlier this week, Tom Burnett, the Commissioner of the Southland Conference and also the Chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, participated in a media teleconference to discuss the preparation for the seeding and bracketing of the 2022 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

I participated in the teleconference and asked a couple of questions pertaining to Quadrant 1 wins and the impact of season-ending injuries when seeding teams in the bracket.

THE HRR: In terms of seeding, could it be as simple as comparing two teams, which team has more quad one wins than the other?

TOM BURNETT: I would say not by itself. I think certainly it's one of many factors we look at. We're looking at quite a bit. Who were the quad one teams, the quad two teams that they played? What is their road record? What is their head-to-head record? What could be their record against teams that are in the field as a comparison as well?

That one isolated example is just that. But the committee is looking at all sorts of factors.

Further, as you may be aware, the committee members are very engaged with the 32 conferences, the monitoring program. We're hearing directly on a regular basis from our conference contacts on their thoughts about their conference and what's going on in their leagues.

THE HRR: How does the committee handle teams who lose players to season-ending injuries?

TOM BURNETT: The committee has had a long-standing policy to certainly be as informed as we possibly can be about injuries. I would say certainly over the past two years we've also added COVID disruptions to that, as well. On occasion we have to address the possibility that a student-athlete or even a coach at times can be suspended from play. Certainly the committee wants to know what was the impact of that, how did the team perform with or without certain players, whether it's COVID or an injury, possible suspension. It certainly factors in.

I think ultimately knowing that a team coming back to full strength may be very different than it was during a COVID pause or coming right out of that, same with injury. Committee takes that into account.

Ultimately we certainly have to go to the results. We can't presume anything because of a COVID issue or an injury that would have impacted a final result. We do have to kind of live with the results that we've spoken of before. It allows us to move forward with the process.

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