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 Monday, March 12, 2001
Selection committee playing the field
By Brent Musburger
Special to ABC Sports Online
How important are the conference tournaments this weekend as far as the NCAA Selection Committee is concerned? Mike Tranghese, Big East Commissioner and chair of this year's committee, said his group meeting in Indianapolis will be paying close attention to the conference tournaments, especially as far as bubble teams are concerned.
|  | | Caron Butler and UConn must make some noise in the Big East tourney to impress the selection committee. |
In other words, the Dukes, the Michigan States, the Carolinas and the Fighting Illini are obviously headed into the field of 65, to be announced Sunday afternoon.
Where it matters is for teams like Temple in the Atlantic 10, Connecticut in the Big East, Penn State in the Big Ten and Oklahoma State in the Big XII -- teams that are squarely on the bubble. Tranghese said these teams' performances on a neutral court are very important to their chances for making the tournament field.
Next year, the Pac-10 will join the rest of the major conferences in having a conference tournament, scheduled to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Pac-10 will drop the bottom two teams after the regular season and play an eight-team tournament, which should add a lot of excitement to the college schedule in L.A.
There's no question that these conference tournaments generate great enthusiasm for the fans and revenue for the schools. The ACC sold 40,000 tickets per game for their tournament this weekend at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Rest assured, before the conference tournaments are finished, there will be a couple of big upsets along the way. Come late Sunday, we'll find out from Tranghese when he names the field of 65.
The quarterback derby
Never in the history of the National Football League has a quarterback coming off a season like Trent Dilfer wound up on the street in March. The era of free agency -- what a difference it's making.
|  | | Estranged quarterback Trent Dilfer is a Super Bowl winner that nobody wants. |
All Dilfer did last season in Baltimore was go 11-1 as a starting QB and win the Super Bowl. On Super Sunday, he was 12-for-25 for 153 yards with a 38-yard touchdown pass. But when Elvis Grbac left Kansas City in a financial upheaval, the Ravens decided that having Elvis in the building was the best way to go about defending their championship.
Grbac is coming off a productive season, with 4,169 yards passing, 28 TDs and 14 INTs, but the one statistic where he pales in comparison is the won-loss record. Grbac was 7-8 as a starter in 2000.
So where does that leave our old friend Dick Vermeil out in Kansas City? The Chiefs were hoping to make a serious run at former Washington quarterback Brad Johnson, but the lure of returning to the state of Florida was too much, and Johnson signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Johnson played college ball just up the road in Tallahassee at Florida State.
Speaking of the Bucs, for a team that gave up a Super Bowl quarterback (there's that Trent Dilfer name again), they now seem to be collecting quarterbacks: Shaun King and Joe Hamilton from a year ago, free agent pickup Ryan Leaf, and expected starter Brad Johnson. It makes you wonder if the Bucs aren't thinking about turning their $100 free-agent acquisition, Leaf, into an immediate draft choice in April.
Vermeil told me that he still thinks Grbac's backup, Todd Collins, can step up and play in the NFL, something he hasn't done for the last couple of years, and the Chiefs are still interested in talking to the St. Louis Rams about their backup, Trent Green. However, the two teams have not gotten serious in trade talks, and the price for Green would be very high for the Chiefs.
San Diego seems poised to select Virginia Tech's Michael Vick as the No. 1 pick, and if Doug Flutie signs on with the Chargers, he'd be an excellent tutor for Vick. Both are about the same size, and both would have to operate that moving pocket offense, which Flutie used so successfully at times with the Buffalo Bills.
It all takes me back to where I started in this quarterback merry-go-round. What happens to our friend Dilfer? I know it's not popular to applaud his quarterbacking talents, and all too often he has thrown costly interceptions in the fourth quarter of games, but a record counts for something. And 11-1 as a starter with a Super Bowl ring should be worth something.
Maybe our fans out there can remember, but I can never recall a Super Bowl quarterback not even being a starter the following season. There's no question that free agency has forever changed the look of football.
Brent Musburger is a play-by-play commentator for ABC's coverage of college football and college basketball. He is a regular contributor to ABC Sports Online.
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