Iowa still has a shot at Des Moines

IOWA CITY — Iowa's men's basketball team still has a chance to play in nearby Des Moines or St. Louis, even if the Hawkeyes fail to earn a coveted top-four seed when NCAA tournament brackets are unveiled Sunday.

The No. 18 Hawkeyes (21-9, 12-6 Big Ten) are projected as an NCAA fifth or sixth seed entering this weekend's Big Ten Tournament. Des Moines and St. Louis are among eight locations slated to host first- and second-round NCAA tournament games. The 10-member NCAA tournament selection committee ranks all 68 teams, and the the top 16 are assigned to sites based on geography in sequential order. Kansas, for instance, is a probable No. 1 seed and likely will be sent to Des Moines. Each of the eight locations accommodate two top-four seeded teams.

As the committee works through the third and fourth seeds (teams number nine through 16), the sites become a crapshoot. Indiana, for instance, is located closest to St. Louis. But if two higher-seeded teams already are assigned to St. Louis, then Des Moines or Brooklyn might be the next closest site to Bloomington, Ind. If Indiana or Purdue landed in Des Moines, then Iowa would not be placed in the same four-team pod because the Big Ten foes already have played at least twice.

But if Xavier was assigned in Des Moines as a three or a four seed, then Iowa could oppose it in the second round. But there are no guarantees.

'When it comes to bracketing, geography and conference affiliation dictate many of the decisions we make,' said Oklahoma Athletics Director Joe Castiglione, who serves as the chair of the Division I men's basketball committee. 'The first thing we try to do is keep as many teams as close to home as possible. We respect the overall seed list and utilize that to determine the choice of the team and where they will be applied.'

But Castiglione is clear to say the committee would not gerrymander the seed list based on location, either. If Indiana, Xavier and Iowa all were No. 3 seeds in that sequential order, the selection committee would not jump Iowa ahead just to place the Hawkeyes in Des Moines.

'We would not disadvantage a team higher on the seed list to help out another team lower on the seed list,' Castiglione said.

Location plays a role for lower-seeded teams but not at the expense of other principles.

'Geography is first, but we may have to move teams based on possible rematches of the regular-season games and/or their conference affiliation,' Castiglione said.

Among the many bracketing principles, the committee will avoid scheduling a potential 'home-crowd disadvantage' for top-four seeded teams. But that only applies to the first round, which could impact Northern Iowa. The Panthers (22-12) earned the Missouri Valley Conference's automatic bid on Sunday. If UNI was seeded 13th, a game in Des Moines against a No. 4 seed would fall into a home-court disadvantage. But if Northern Iowa was a No. 12 seed, it wouldn't apply to a No. 5 seed.

As the host institution, Iowa State (21-10) is ineligible to compete in Des Moines.

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