It doesn't look like there will an iPad app or ultrabook computer determining the entire field of 68 in the NCAA Basketball Tournament anytime soon.
Even though technology is used in just about every facet of determining the 68 teams that will make the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, NCAA Tournament Vice President Dan Gavitt says he doesn't foresee the day when computers or algorithms will determine brackets that have defined March Madness for 75 years.
"I think and certainly hope the human element will always be part of (the selection process)," opines Gavitt. "I think the data that is available to the committee now is robust and as powerful as it has ever been."
Echoing the sentiment of Gavitt is a former D-1 athletic director and former member of the NCAA Men's Tournament Selection Committee.
“That is the greatest thing, that humans are making the decisions. There’s always another opinion,” says Jack Kvancz, former athletic director at George Washington University and former member of the NCAA Selection Committee. “All those numbers cloud the issues sometimes. Everyone is so close. The truth of the matter is you have to have the human element. You have pretty good people on the committee who have some basketball knowledge who can make those decisions."
Mike Harris of the Washington Times talked with Kvancz in his piece that ran this week and stressed what the human element means in the difficult selection process.
The most important thing he emphasized is the human element is very important even with all the computer models that exist today. If picking the field was simply a matter of going by what the computers say, a couple of third graders could do it at recess. The myriad numbers are just a guideline.
Gavitt says more and more technology has been added behind closed doors, and this year it should be like the past few years... a challenge.
"No change in selection process for this year, I think it will be as challenging as it always is."
Gavitt and his family have been around this game for a longtime and he says the selection committee members work hard at this thankless job and almost have a "sixth sense"
about which teams are deserving.
"There is nothing like having a sense for what a team is good and why they are in the NCAA Tournament," explains Gavitt.
He also thinks that even though the players who play the games are huge fans and believers in technology, and the coaches are starting to embrace everything technology has to offer, they ultimately feel comfortable with qualified individuals determining their team's fate.
"Coaches and players want that human element for the selection of the NCAA Tournament," added Gavitt in closing.
Looks like a group of men and women in Indianapolis will be selecting these 68 teams for now and well into the future.
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