The NCAA Selection Committee claims that its members don’t look at matchups during the selection process each year, but rather the locations involved in placing teams in their respective regions.
Despite the widespread understanding that the aforementioned claim is an absolute lie — one that not even the most pedestrian fan would buy into — the committee continues to pitch the same narrative every March regardless of the multiple obvious examples that there’s nothing random and accidental about their pairings in the tournament.
Take this year’s bracket for example, where there are at least five instances of intentional pairings or potential games to be played in later rounds.