SALT LAKE CITY — After two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, it seems like a good time to ask a few questions:
Has college basketball’s long regular season been rendered meaningless? Could the selection committee make the selection criteria more convoluted, inconsistent, incomprehensible and, ultimately, unsuccessful if it tried just a little harder? And were these really the best 68 teams?
Consider what has happened so far:
Among the 16 teams that advanced to this week’s third round, the average regular-season finish in conference standings was fourth place (average conference record: 12-6).
Only four of the remaining 16 teams won regular-season conference championships — Kansas, Gonzaga, Nevada and Loyola-Chicago.