The man in charge of the NCAA selection committee insists a win in November is worth the same as a win in March. wholesale nfl jerseys . Dont believe him? Check out the seeds slapped beside these conference champions: --A 4 for Louisville of the American Athletic. --A 4 for Michigan State of the Big Ten. --Yet another 4 for UCLA of the Pac-12. --A 7 for New Mexico of the Mountain West. Oh, and dont forget that 8 for Kentucky, which had the ball and a chance to beat Florida, the NCAA tournaments top overall seed, in the waning seconds of the SEC title game. Only Virginia, which wrapped up the ACC tournament Sunday to back up its regular-season title, seemed to get a significant bump from the conference tournaments that polish off resumes of teams before the start of Americas favourite office pool -- March Madness. Ron Wellman, chair of the NCAA selection committee, said the Cavaliers, considered a 2 or 3 on most mock-ups, "continued to impress us throughout the year." Asked to explain the mediocre seed for a team like Louisville, the defending national champion that has won 12 of 13 and rolled through the AAC tournament, Wellstone explained the committee looks at the entire resume, not just March. "We look at the total body of work, everything they did from November to March," he said. "Every time we scrubbed that seed, Louisville ended at the same place every time when compared to the people above them." The people above them in the Midwest region, which shapes up as the toughest, include top-seeded and undefeated Wichita State, No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Duke. Yes, thats three of last years Final Four teams. The national semifinals are April 5 in Arlington, Texas. On the 1 line in the West was Arizona, which stayed there despite falling in the Pac-12 title game to UCLA. The Bruins are a 4, same as Michigan State and Louisville -- their fellow power-conference champions. "They pass everyones eye test," Wellman said. "Theyre playing as well right now as anyone in the country. If you look at the last three or four weeks, they probably wouldve been seeded differently. When you look at the entire season, then its a little bit different." Of course, the numbers are just that -- numbers. In an era of one-and-done, superstar coaches and unending parity, the real drama starts after the brackets are out. Thats why Warren Buffett had no problem paying the insurance premium against a $1 billion payoff for anyone who fills out a perfect bracket. "Theres more good teams and less great teams," said coach Bill Self of second-seeded Kansas. "The difference between a 2 seed and a 7 or 8 seed is as narrow as its ever been." The last four bubble teams in this years draw were 12th-seeded North Carolina State and Xavier, who play in the First Four on Tuesday, and 11th-seeded Iowa and Tennessee, who play Wednesday. Left out of the tournament was SMU of the AAC -- a team almost all the experts had securely in the bracket. But not the folks in the conference room, who couldnt overcome the Mustangs strength of schedule: 129. "When I saw Louisville, I kind of figured that they didnt have a lot of respect for our conference," said coach Larry Brown. "But we only can blame ourselves, thats the way I look at it." The committee handed out only seven at-large bids to mid-majors after they took 11 in each of the last two seasons. The Big 12 led all conferences with seven teams, though winning the conference didnt move Iowa State past the 3 line. Other conference titles that didnt change much: --St. Joes was the champion of the six-bid Atlantic-10 and got a 10 seed while the team the Hawks beat, VCU, was seeded fifth. --Providence went from the bubble to Big East champion and was seeded 11th. Meanwhile, Kansas lost in the semifinals of the Big 12 but remained a 2 seed because of its ranking in the RPI -- No. 3. The Jayhawks have to get through the first weekend without centre Joel Embiid, out with a back injury, but could face a third-round game against Mountain West champs New Mexico. "Off the top of my head, I cant remember exactly what the conversation was about New Mexico," Wellman said. "I can tell you the conversations about New Mexico were very positive." In the West, Arizonas second game could come against eighth-seeded Gonzaga, which lost its second game as a No. 1 seed last year, or No. 9 Oklahoma State, which has one of the nations best players in Marcus Smart. The nations top scorer, Doug McDermott (26.9 points per game), is on the other side of that bracket with No. 3 Creighton. On Virginias side of the East bracket is one team nobody wants to play come tournament time -- No. 4 Michigan State, which hadnt won back-to-back games since late January, but strung three together to win the nations second-toughest conference. "You dont get many teams that are talented, have inside and outside, show toughness, are together, have great chemistry," coach Tom Izzo said. "Ive said three times in my career that I thought we were good enough to get to a Final Four. I thought this team was next in line." cheap nfl jerseys . Ekblad led all defencemen with 23 goals and finished tied for fifth in scoring among blue-liners with 53 points in 58. wholesale jerseys . Hurdle announced Friday that Mark Melancon would close games for the Pirates in place of Grilli, who has blown four save opportunities this year after converting 33 of 35 chances last season.April was always going to be a big test for the new-look Vancouver Whitecaps with games against some of Major League Soccers top teams. After back-to-back matches against LA Galaxy, the Caps now head to Rio Tinto Stadium - a place where they have never won - to face Real Salt Lake, the only remaining unbeaten team in Major League Soccer this season. The Form: The Whitecaps are winless in their last three matches, but after a hard fought defeat at LA and a 2-2 draw against the Galaxy at home, there are clear signs the team is growing under new head coach Carl Robinson. "In the last two games weve shown we can compete against one of the top teams in Major League Soccer," said Robinson. "Now its another great challenge for us. You look at the fixtures weve had and its been tricky against good teams. We get another big test. They are a squad that has been together for the last couple of years so its another marker to see where we are." The Big Question: Will Kekuta Manneh start? The 19-year-old has appeared in every match this season but has started only once. The young Gambian was impressive coming on as a half time substitute against LA Galaxy at BC Place a week ago. He injected life into the Whitecaps attack and scored the game-tying goal with a fantastic strike with just four minutes left to play. "I toyed with the idea of playing him from the start, said Robinson. "Me, being a young head coach thought is it better to be in the game and then unleash him on them." Theres no doubt Manneh has loads of talent and will have a big future in the game. But there is also still plenty that he needs to learn. Robinson doesnt want to rush the youngster, and acknowledges he needs to improve his defensive qualities before he becomes a regular starter. This is a long-term project. Robinson wants to build the Whitecaps around some fantastic young players, a job that doesnt need to be rushed. Manneh will continue to get his chance at the right times. That also applies for Erik Hurtado. The speedster was drafted along with Manneh in the first round in 2013. Hes still waiting for his first MLS goal, but was another big spark in the second half against LA when he came on as a substitute last week. "Hes been training very well over the last two or three weeks and from where he was last year to where he is now, it is night and day for the kid," said Robinson when asked about Hurtados form. "If he continues to push hell get plenty of opportunities." The Lineup: Aside from whether Manneh will come into the starting lineup, one of tthe other big decisions for head coach Carl Robinson is in defence. cheap jerseys. Its extremely likely that Robinson will select Johnny Leveron in the team after bringing the Honduran on at halftime of the draw against the Galaxy. Robinson has made no secret of the fact that he admires the qualities Leveron possesses, particularly his ability with the ball at his feet. The Hondurans abilities match the way Robinson wants his team to play. Leverons only start this season was at New England where the Whitecaps registered their only clean sheet so far. On that day he was beside Andy OBrien. It will be interesting to see which one of the veterans - OBrien or Jay DeMerit - is replaced if Leveron gets the call to start. The Opposition: Stability has been a major factor in the success of Real Salt Lake over recent years. Despite losing head coach Jason Kreis at the end of last season when he departed to join expansion club New York City FC, RSL has started the season strongly under new head coach Jeff Cassar. He may be in his first season as manager, but Cassar has been at the club since 2007 and was a key part of Kreis coaching staff. They have also managed to keep a core group of players together over the last few seasons. Eleven of Salt Lakes current squad have been with the club for five years of longer. Real Salt Lakes 1-0 win at home to Portland Timbers last week leaves them four points ahead of the Whitecaps heading into Saturdays match. Their clean sheet against the Timbers was their fourth of the season, in just seven matches. Veteran goalkeeper Nick Rimando was the star of the show, winning the MLS Player of the Week award for his performance. The Odds: One of the areas the Whitecaps will need to improve upon if they are to make the playoffs this season is picking up points against Western Conference opposition. Both of Vancouvers wins so far wins this season have come against the East (New York and Houston). From four matches against Western opponents, they have two draws and two defeats. History isnt on the Whitecaps side as they head to Utah - theyve only won two of eight previous meetings against RSL, and have never won at Rio Tinto Stadium with three losses and a tie from their last four visits. With RSLs strong start to the season, the home team will be heavy favourites heading into the match, but the Caps showed against LA a couple of weeks ago they have the potential to go toe-to-toe with the leagues top teams, even on the road. Where to Watch: Vancouver Whitecaps at Real Salt Lake is live on CTV2 BC on Saturday at 6:30pm pt/9:30pm et. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
