(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) WATCH:
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The NCAA has a big problem, whether the association wants to admit it or not.
The Division II women's basketball tournament will feature 64 teams starting this weekend and continue until one is left standing in Dallas, Texas as the national champion.
The field is set, but it won't include the 64 best teams.
During a conversation with Voice of the Griffons' Tommy Rezac on Monday Missouri Western head coach Candi Whitaker talked about the state of the tournament that the Griffons won't be playing in.
"We should have six teams in this and if we're going to preach student-athlete experience, what in the world are you doing if you're not allowing kids the experience of a postseason when they deserve it and they earn it, "Whitaker said. "We finished third (in the MIAA). Third, fourth, fifth, sixth in our league this year is going to win a lot of leagues across the country. You're not getting your best teams into the national tournament. You're not, so until the NCAA wants to care more about the Division II experience and the Division II athlete, you're going to continue to sell these kids short on what their experience should be."
Missouri Western didn't make the NCAA tournament. The Griffons finished the season 24-7 and third in the MIAA, but in the conference tournament and already on the bubble because of the regionalization of the Division II bracket, nothing was guaranteed.
The Griffons lost in the first round of the MIAA tournament to Fort Hays State. The Tigers, also a 20-win team, didn't make the NCAA tournament either. Six teams in the MIAA finished with 20 wins or more.
This all might sound like sour grapes for the MIAA, but look at the NSIC, they have three teams in the Central Region, but according to the Massey Ratings, an analytical approach to rankings, the NSIC has five teams in the Top 25 based on strength of schedule and other data.
When you look at the Field of 64, it's broken down into eight regions and each region is seeded 1-8, so you'd think the 1-seeds are the best of the best, nope. They're probably the best in their area, but according to Massey, just three of the 1-seeds are in the Top 10.
In fact, going by the Massey Ratings, there's one team in the field ranked 180 in Division II basketball and that team was not an automatic qualifier.
I know there is a budget involved and cost to it all, but there is a better way to seed the biggest basketball tournament of the year for these student-athletes.
You have your conference tournament automatic qualifiers, but what about the at-large bids? You have to make sure you're getting the best teams in.
It's not just women's basketball, either. Fort Hays State men's basketball finished 23-6 in 2022. The Tigers were third in the MIAA and beat a team that made the tournament, but did they get in? Nope.
Since 2014, on eight different occasions, either a men's or women's team from the region has either won or finished runner-up in the NCAA Tournament.
It's a stacked region on both sides, but right now, that doesn't matter because you will have conference rematches in the first rounds and the best teams don't always advance because they're playing against each other early.
At the end of the day, it might cost a little bit more to have the tournament, but it will cost us a lot more in the long run if we keep to the status quo.
