Tom Izzo - NCAA selection process needs more nuance, less analytics - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said his experience on the NCAA tournament bubble this year was both exciting and a reminder that the way teams are selected might need to change in the future.

Ahead of his team's matchup with Mississippi State, Izzo said Wednesday that he agrees with St. John's coach Rick Pitino, who argued the NCAA tournament selection committee needs more input from former players and coaches rather than relying so heavily on athletic directors dissecting analytics.

«There definitely should be some coaches and players on that thing to bring some levity to as crazy as it's gotten,» Izzo said. «I never know what the NET means, what KenPom means, what ESPN means or the Daily News. There's so many things out there right now that do influence [the committee].»

After St. John's missed the tournament this year, Pitino took to social media to suggest the selection committee might benefit from input from legendary — and now retired — coaches like Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski. The current 12-person committee is made up of nine athletic directors and three conference commissioners.

Izzo agreed, saying analytics often miss the nuance and complications of a long basketball season.

«I'm appreciative of being in, and I wouldn't have felt any different if I was out, but I think it would be best if people who've been in the game and have been around,» he said. "[They] understand when you lose a game and something happens — you play three tough games in a row; analytics don't show injuries or they show when a guy misses a game but not when he plays hurt."

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