Straight Talk

NCAA logic is flawed in sending Portland packing.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Thursday, November 18, 2005) -- The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Committee can breathe a collective sigh of relief. The panel's glaring lack of judgment will not adversely affect the competitive balance of this year's national championship tournament.

Citing cost-cutting necessities, the committee shipped Portland, the top-ranked team in the country, to Nebraska for the first two rounds of the 64-school tournament. Meanwhile, the three other regional No. 1 seeds -- North Carolina, Penn State and UCLA hosted first- and second-round matches.

Portland defeated Iowa State 5-0 Friday and then had to fight off a spirited challenge from host Nebraska to prevail 3-2 and advance to the third round. The Pilots are back home to face Arizona tonight, with another home game on tap should they win.

In all, six of the 16 tournament seeds were asked to travel for the first two rounds.

Portland earned its No. 1 ranking in all polls and deserved to host the first two rounds on the strength of a 19-0-1 season, the only flaw a draw at then-No. 10 Pepperdine on October 16. If the integrity of the tournament were to be maintained, the Pilots should not have been put at a competitive disadvantage compared to the other No. 1 seeds, regardless of the cost. And the Portland community, which has so enthusiastically supported soccer for so long -- a lasting legacy of the hard work and commitment of the late Clive Charles -- was deprived of a chance to witness the Pilots begin their pursuit of the national title.

But did the NCAA really save money by dispatching the Pilots to Lincoln? In fact, the committee turned away tens of thousands of additional dollars had Portland hosted the first two rounds. Instead, the main focus was to limit travel, not developing revenue streams.

"It's pretty much automatic," said selection committee chairperson Carrie Wolff, assistant commissioner for championships for the Mountain West Conference. Sending Portland on the road "is the difference between flying three teams in or flying one team out. We have to go with the fewest number of flights. (Potential revenue) is not one of the selection factors.

". . . It's a tough choice every selection committee has to do. You do your best. Any seeded team that you have to send on the road and (Portland) clearly earned to play at home, it's really hard. Your heart just hurts."

With a little creative thinking, the selection committee could have recovered most or all, or even exceeded the additional costs that would have accrued had three other teams had to travel to Portland for the opening weekend. A point that was ignored by the committee as it set up the field was that the Pilots annually are one of the top drawing schools in NCAA soccer -- for women or men.

"We were ready to put on a big-time event and it was the fans who really got gypped," Pilots coach Garrett Smith said before the tourney started. "We played all year long to be a (top seed) and host four rounds."

Portland drew an average of 3,106, second most in NCAA women's soccer this season. A match against West Coast Conference rival Santa Clara drew 5,119. A crowd of 4,524 turned out for season-opener against Stanford, 3,909 of Wisconsin and 3,607 for Arizona among six audiences exceeding 3,000.

Portland was expecting to sell out both games at Merlo Field (official capacity: 4,982) if it hosted, with hundreds more paying admission to watch a video feed of the matches at UP's Chiles Center. But potential revenue is not a factor in assigning tournament home games. The overriding factor is how many teams have to fly to matches, with any trip of 300 miles or more constituting a "flight."

So with no teams in the tournament field within 300 miles of Portland, Ore., the Pilots had to hit the road.

"We would all would like to see the seeded teams host, (but) the way the parameters are set, (the idea of maximizing income) doesn't really hold true," said Portland associate athletic director Buzz Stroud, who was named to the selection committee in September. "It's unfortunate, but with geography. . . anything over 300 miles is a flying trip and affects how teams are assigned."

Stroud was required to recuse himself and not be present for any discussions regarding Portland's disposition, Wolff said.

With the Pilots back home, Portland sold out tonight's third-round game in two hours, 40 minutes, and a crowd of 1,000 or more is expected to watch the TV broadcast at the Chiles Center. If UP defeats Arizona, it will host a quarterfinal game.

It should be noted serving on an NCAA tournament selection committee is one of the hardest jobs and most thankless jobs in college sports, regardless of the sport. A good job can usually be judged not by compliments, but by a lesser volume of complaints.

However, Wolff and her panel members could have saved a lot of heartache had it searched a little harder for a solution to keep Portland at home. Here's one scenario that might have worked.

The NCAA field included an abundance of teams from Western states. California State-Fullerton, a third seed which averaged 491 fans per game in 2005, hosted first and second rounds with Gonzaga, Nevada-Las Vegas and Southern California, the logic being only Gonzaga would have to catch a flight, being from Spokane, Wash.

What if Gonzaga, Southern Cal and UNLV were sent to Portland. Fullerton drew 2,230 combined for the first two round with tickets going for $10, $8 for students and youngsters. Portland predicted a 10,000 to turn out at $8, $6 for students and children and some prime seats at $10 and $12. Additionally, Portland expected hundreds for each date to watch the TV broadcast at the Chiles center at $5, $1 for high-schools students and younger.

For argument's sake, let's say Fullerton averaged a $9 ticket price for revenue of $20,070. Portland, with an average $7 per ticket would have brought in $70,000, plus maybe $4-5,000 for two nights at the Chiles Center (assuming the Pilots advanced to the second round).

Put Gonzaga on a bus for an extra hour -- Spokane is 352 miles from Portland -- and another $10,000-plus would be saved.

Portland might have brought in more than $50,000 in additional revenue. One official at Portland estimated the cost of flying a team to Portland on short notice might cost around $17,000. Using that figure to draw a rough picture, it would cost $51,000 to fly three teams to Portland, much less if Gonzaga was driven. But additionally, the $17,000 it cost to send the Pilots to Nebraska would be saved.

While actual cost estimates were not available, it seems it would have cost the NCAA less to keep Portland home than to send it on the road. And if there were an additional cost, it would be minimal and certainly wouldn't justify sending a top seed halfway across the country to Nebraska where the Cornhuskers were 8-2-1 at home entering the NCAAs.

Of course, Fullerton would then have a gripe if it were sent on the road as a regional third seed, but top seeds should be accommodated first. Fullerton certainly was capable of hosting, having been the site of the Big West Tournament a week earlier.

This is not the first example of serious flaws in the tournament selection process; it seems to be an annual event.

North Carolina still quietly seethes about being the tournament's top seed, but having to play Santa Clara in the Round of 16 last year. Santa Clara was ranked fourth in the SoccerTimes.com College Coaches Poll, but was seeded 16th, setting up the early meeting with the Tar Heels.

In a match that probably should have been played in the Final Four, but at worst been in the quarterfinals, the Broncos handed UNC a rare home loss 1-0 and advanced to the semifinals before losing 1-0 to eventual national champion Notre Dame.

North Carolina, which had been to every Final Four since the NCAA tournament began in 1982, saw one of the most amazing streaks in the history of NCAA sports end.

Ultimately, Portland, now 20-0-1, survived -- and perhaps grew stronger from -- its hardship and, to capture the school's second national championship, must win four more matches against most the evenly-matched NCAA women's field ever. North Carolina (22-1), Penn State (21-0-1) and UCLA (19-1-2) and Notre Dame (21-2) must be considered co-favorites with UP. Another half dozen teams have a legitmate chance to win it all.

Gary Davidson is managing editor of SoccerTimes. E-mail Gary Davidson.

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