updated 8:15 p.m. ET March 13, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS - The madness was on before the first tipoff.

This year’s NCAA tournament draw was a mix of power and unpredictability, with the top seeds surprising no one — and the rest of the field stirring all the debate.

The No. 1 seeds went as expected Sunday, with Duke first overall, followed by Connecticut, Villanova and Memphis. Beyond that, the 65-team lineup was one big bracket of questions and curious omissions.

For starters:

• The Big East landed a record eight teams in the field, but what’s shocking is that it didn’t get a ninth, with Cincinnati among the notables who were passed over. Meanwhile, the “mid-major” Missouri Valley got four bids, as many as the traditionally powerful Atlantic Coast Conference.
• Air Force, 38th according to RPI rankings for record and strength of schedule, got in. By comparison, among the left-out teams were 21st-ranked Missouri State; Hofstra, which finished 30th; and 32nd-ranked Cincinnati.
• Tennessee, which lost four of its last six games, was rewarded with a No. 2 seed, higher than both Southeastern Conference tournament winner Florida and SEC regular season champion Louisiana State.
• George Washington, with the best record in the tournament at 26-2 and ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll, was dropped to an eighth seed.

Selection committee chairman Craig Littlepage explained that the reasons were as varied as the process itself.

In George Washington’s case, he cited the Colonials’ nonconference record. In the case of Missouri State, he cited a weak record against the other MVC schools under consideration.

And in the case of Air Force, it seemed the committee almost went on a gut feeling.

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“We had a discussion and the questions that asked were similar to ‘Who is tough?’ or ‘Who is another team you wouldn’t want to play?”’ Littlepage said. “Air Force provided us with some unique things.”

Littlepage defended the committee’s decisions on everything from selections to seedings to placements — even how injuries factored.

At one point, the committee had to consider changing the rules. Had Cincinnati (19-12) become the ninth Big East team in the field, it would have broken a policy of not allowing conference teams to meet before the regional finals.

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But Cincinnati went from a virtual lock to outside-looking-in after losing to Syracuse in the Big East tournament, an outcome that stunned interim coach Andy Kennedy.

“I’m open to anyone telling me a justifiable reason as to why this team did not get to the NCAA Tournament other than, ‘Andy, we cant let nine teams from one league get in, it sends the wrong message,”’ Kennedy said.

Villanova star Allan Ray’s eye injury was another consideration. The committee has been known to dock teams that lose key players, and the committee was discussing that possibility Sunday morning. But it got some help when Texas and Ohio State both lost in their conference tournament finals.

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