NCAA TOURNEY Hoops chief defends the field

Selection committee chairman Craig Littlepage took aim at critics.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Craig Littlepage took aim at critics of the NCAA selection committee Monday, even firing back at CBS.
One day after the committee was harshly criticized for its 65-team field, its chairman defended the panel's work saying he wanted a better working relationship with the NCAA's $6 billion broadcast partner.
Then, when pressed on comments made by CBS analyst Billy Packer, Littlepage mixed honesty with diplomacy.
"I think Billy made the comment that he hadn't seen the Missouri Valley Conference play, but he felt comfortable enough to talk about their lower level of performance not only this year but over time," Littlepage said. "It seems to be counterintuitive, if you will, that he'd make a comment like that."
Praised committee
Littlepage, the athletic director at the University of Virginia, praised the 10-member committee for its dedication, thorough evaluations and ability to work under a challenging deadline.
Some scrutiny, he acknowledged, was expected.
But the scope of the criticism during Sunday's selection show telecast and on other networks clearly irritated Littlepage.
The controversy from Sunday's brackets seemed as wide-ranging as the tournament itself -- Packer and CBS aside -- and former committee member Jim Delany called the criticism unprecedented.
"It seemed to me to be at a higher pitch than before," said Delany, the Big Ten commissioner.
Among the issues
UCincinnati's omission despite a strong strength of schedule ranking and a relatively high RPI.
UThe at-large selections of Air Force and Utah State, two teams with lower RPIs than schools such as Michigan and Missouri State -- which were left out of the field.
USeedings that gave Tennessee a No. 2 seed, higher than either Southeastern Conference regular season champion LSU or tournament champ Florida, and had No. 14 George Washington dealt an eight seed in the Atlanta Regional despite having the best record in the field at 26-2.
But what riled Littlepage was Packer's assertion the committee look at a five-year track record of teams and conferences. Littlepage and past committee chairmen have stated regularly that past performances have no bearing on the brackets.
And Littlepage said the reason teams from the traditional power conferences fare better in the tournament is that they typically get higher seeds.
"He may have an opinion about that or the two of them may have an opinion about that, and they are certainly free to have those opinions and express those opinions," Littlepage said of Packer and his CBS broadcast partner, Jim Nantz. "But to look at this in terms of the partnership, you would hope there would be a little better understanding of what it is that we do and an accurate reflection of the facts as they know them to be. Facts, instead of opinions, would be helpful."
Pressure-packed decision
But there were times Monday that Littlepage almost seemed to plead for empathy.
"I think you can imagine the pressure in that room and the tension that builds up leading to Sunday," he said. "We're working on the field up until about 30 to 45 minutes before it goes on the air."
Since the pairings were released, there have also been questions about whether mid-major programs were disproportionately represented on the committee. Littlepage denied that.
He said six of the 10 committee members work at Division I-A schools, primarily from the Bowl Championship Series conferences, while only four work at schools with Division I-AA football programs.