When you're puzzled (by seeding in this case), ask an expert, right?

[Eye]

I decided to fire off an e-mail to Jerry Palm to see what he thought about MU's seeding. Here's my e-mail. Will hopefully have a response for you tomorrow afternoon.

Jerry:

Interesting you've mentioned Purdue-Georgia Tech as the only possible bracket switch in your mind. I'm convinced Marquette was part of a bracket switch; it seems to me the only logical way they were dropped to an 8. With Gtown a 2, Pitt a 3, and both UL and ND 6s, MU can't be a 6 or a 7 without a bracket conflict. The committee seems to have said they thought MU was the fifth-best team in the Big East, fair enough. If you're going to execute a bracket switch, you do it with the lowest-possible team, correct? I believe a very good case can be made that MU had a better resume than Duke, Vanderbilt, Boston College and Indiana.

That all being said, does the fact that the committee put MU as having to play NC in NC in a possible second-round game indicate otherwise? If the committee dropped a team in a bracket switch, would they make sure they wouldn't face a potentially unfavorable match-up geographically in the second round because they dropped them? Or maybe not? And lastly, is it possible in your opinion that the committee, because of the time crunch between when they finished with the field before moving on to the bracketing, made this switch and didn't realize the unfavorable potential second-round match-up they'd given geographically to that team as well, in a sense possibly giving MU a double-whammy or sorts?

I lied. Just thought of one more thing. How would you comprise the committee if you had your druthers (sp?)? I deal a lot with high school athletics on many levels, and if the ADs and conference commissioners I deal with were asked to seed high school teams around where I live, they probably do a very poor job of it IMO. They're more concerned about running their athletic departments and conferences, and deservedly so. Problem is I don't have a solution. I don't think current coaches or media would be objective enough to do a real good job of it, either.

Thanks and looking forward to your answers. You'll likely be able to help out me and a lot of other MU fans who are still extremely puzzled by MU's seed.

[ChicosBailBonds]

He was at the Big East Tournament...I was trying to hunt him down as we have exchanged emails for probably 10 years.  Unsuccessful however.  Will be interesting to hear his response.

PS I'm glad you didn't rip on Purdue...he's a Boiler alum.   

[Litehouse]

After hearing the comments from the committee chairman, I highly doubt they put anywhere near that much thought with bracket-switching into anything they did.

[Eye]

Didn't get a direct response from Jerry (I'm sure he's inundated with mail this time of the year), but here's the opening paragraph on his subscriber's Web site today.

Before I get to the picks, a reader suggested Marquette could have been part of a seed switch, and that does seem possbile. The Eagles (I suppose I'll forgive him for that) seem a bit underseeded as an 8 and Indiana overseeded as a 7, and there is no place for another Big East team as a 7 without a conflict.

[Dish]

I started a thread below about this. Marquette finished as a 7 seed on the S-Curve.

The reason we were bumped down is because of conference affiliation with Pitt, Louisville and Notre Dame all getting 3-6 seeds, MU had to be bumped to an 8 seed to avoid conference affiliation. This is also why we wound up in G-Town's region, since they are a 2 seed, and we couldn't play them until the regional final.