While members of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee were busy during their selection meeting March 8-13 in Indianapolis, their counterparts on the men’s side also were hustling to meet deadlines.

Division I Men’s Basketball Committee Chair Craig Littlepage arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday, March 7, and didn’t depart until Monday, March 13. At that time, he traveled to Dayton, Ohio, where he attended the tournament’s opening-round game in which Monmouth University defeated Hampton University.

Littlepage, now athletics director at the University of Virginia, formerly coached at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania (1982-85), and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick (1985-88).

During breaks in the committee’s deliberations, he checked in with his staff on the daily business taking place back at the office, and he kept in touch with his wife Margaret and three children — Erica, a sophomore at Virginia, and high-schoolers Murray, a junior, and Erin, a freshman.

But there weren’t many breaks...

Wednesday, March 8

Littlepage’s first media teleconference is at 3 p.m. in the north corner meeting room on the 15th floor of the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. He spends 40 minutes answering questions that range from a specific team’s selection chances to overall team profiles. When the call ends, Littlepage scopes out the meeting room. Fellow committee members Gary Walters, the athletics director at Princeton University and the man who will succeed Littlepage as chair next year, and Laing Kennedy of Kent State University enter the room and greet Littlepage. For the chair, this week culminates months of preparation.

“My adrenaline started pumping in the first week in February when we came to Indianapolis for selection orientation,” Littlepage says. “That’s when this process became pretty tangible. Since that time, the number of games I’ve watched and the number of phone calls I’ve made to get insight on teams and get information has picked up dramatically. It’s almost like a player who is approaching his or her championship game. You have the practices leading up to game day; then on game day you have your pre-game meal and go through your rituals; and then you finally play the game. It’s very similar for many of us, although it takes place over a longer period of time.”

With the committee, the ritual involves routine.

“In my first three years on this committee, I was always in Room 1516. This year I moved to the chairperson’s room. I guess I’ll go back to 1516 next year. I think everyone retains the same room over the duration of their term on the committee.

“We will go to dinner this evening together at Iaria’s Italian Restaurant. That’s been a tradition since the NCAA headquarters have been in Indianapolis.

“Being the chair, there is a feeling of even greater responsibility. I’ve had to have my eyes on more things to provide guidance and leadership. We have to make sure we’re on target to meet the goal of delivering a great championship field on Sunday evening.”

Thursday, March 9

The first order of business begins at 11 a.m. when the subcommittee for officials meets. Committee members serve on different smaller groups that cover items such as bracketing the fourth quadrant of teams (seeded 13, 14, 15 and 16), ticketing and the Rating Percentage Index.

“The goal for Thursday is to try and get a consensus on those teams that would be entered into the tournament as one of the 34 at-large teams in the event they did not win conference tournaments,” Littlepage says, adding that on this Thursday, the committee finishes with about 24 on the list.  

“My first two years, all of our votes were done manually on a paper ballot. Last year was the first time we had the ability to use computer technology at every work station,” Littlepage says. “Previously, the NCAA staff would tabulate votes, print off team sheets and everything we asked for. Last year was the first year that all of us had a laptop in front of us. This year, in addition to the laptops, we have three monitors at each of our stations to allow us to customize the laptop for purposes of voting and for reviewing materials as an individual member might want.”

Friday, March 10

“My wife and kids are in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the ACC tournament kind of representing me along with my senior staff,” Littlepage says. “I don’t want to call them too early, because of the kids being on spring break. I’m sure they don’t want to be awakened at 7 a.m.”

Littlepage decides to check in at home at a mid-morning break.                        

Summing up the committee’s business on Friday, Littlepage says, “Part of the discussion today was on the opening-round game. Since we added the 65th team (in 2001), we’ve looked at the history of who has played in that game. There is a question of whether our policies and procedures might disadvantage the conferences and schools that tend to play annually in that game. We wanted to ask ourselves: Are we looking at this fairly and objectively and indeed putting the teams in that game that are 64 and 65?”

Littlepage says the committee will continue to review the matter at its summer meeting.

Saturday, March 11

“This year has a lot of uniqueness because of the number of schools in the mid-major category with excellent track records and with good quantitative numbers to back up their credentials,” Littlepage says. “There were also a fair number of teams from the larger conferences with that classic 19-12 type of record and that were around .500 in their leagues. Today’s discussion was interesting and very spirited. It was one that required several breaks and reflection.

“We started the seeding process today as well. We got about five or six lines in the seeding completed, but it can change depending on the conference tournaments that need to be completed. We got done with the meeting around 11:15 p.m., but we watched some games out West afterward.”

Sunday, March 12

“We finished everything around 5:30 p.m.,” Littlepage says of the day that culminates the selection process. “As we go through the weekend, each committee member writes down the issues that might raise the public’s and the media’s curiosity. Everybody is scurrying before that point because we’re trying to make sure we followed all of the policies and procedures.

“I jumped in the shower and called my wife before I came back into the meeting room. I got myself oriented and adjusted to the bright lights and everything. I let the TV people wire me for sound.

“Before I went on the air, it felt very similar to getting ready for an athletics competition. The adrenaline starts to move a little bit. I know enough about college basketball and the selection process, so I’m not nervous. I’m talking about something I love very much.”

After the CBS interview, Littlepage conducts an hour-long media teleconference that predictably centers on why certain teams were included and others excluded from the bracket.

Littlepage also conducts radio interviews with Westwood One, ESPN and a television one-on-one with the Indianapolis FOX affiliate.

 In the middle of the media obligations, Littlepage calls home.

“I didn’t ask how I did,” he says. “I was more concerned about what the kids had for dinner and making sure they had a good time at the ACC tournament. I’m sure we’ll talk again tonight. One question I asked my son was, ‘Were there any surprises?’ He’s a big basketball junkie. There were a couple of things he wasn’t expecting.”

Thursday, March 16

On the first day of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, Littlepage helps monitor first-round games from a control room at the NCAA national office. He is expecting the drama of buzzer-beaters, but matters take an unfortunate turn when a bomb scare occurs at San Diego’s Cox Arena just two hours before the scheduled tip-off between Marquette and Alabama. The incident happens around 12:40 p.m. Eastern time when bomb-sniffing dogs from a private company react to a 4-by-6-inch package near a concession stand.

That puts Littlepage and NCAA officials into crisis-management mode.

Both teams are on their buses ready to head to the arena but are told to wait. The arena is cleared to ensure safety and a bomb robot is brought in to remove the package. Fans wait anxiously in the parking lot.

NCAA Vice President Greg Shaheen is point man in the control room. Another staff liaison and committee member Chris Hill are at the arena. Shaheen juggles calls with all eight of the teams in San Diego and CBS Vice President Mike Aresco to update everyone as much as he can about the necessary delay.

With games in progress in Greensboro, Jacksonville and Salt Lake City, the CNN feed about the situation in San Diego also is prevalent in the control room.

Authorities finally give Shaheen the all-clear at 2:27 p.m., and he tells Alabama and Marquette officials minutes later that it is OK to head to the arena.

The game tips off at 3:50 p.m., 70 minutes behind the original scheduled time.

“We have the usual adrenaline going for the tip-off of the first games, then (the bomb scare) happens as we are getting into it,” Littlepage says. “Thank goodness we plan for these types of situations and have fine-tuned our security protocol. We were able to minimize the adverse impact on the teams.”

To help recoup time, the remaining six teams are allowed to warm up at a gymnasium just 200 yards from Cox Arena. Officials also decide to reduce the time between games from 30 minutes to 25 and shorten halftimes from 20 minutes to 15.

For Littlepage, the crisis adds perspective. Suddenly, he says, any controversy surrounding the selection process takes a back seat to public safety.

At the end of the day, Littlepage has a chance to reflect on what he’s experienced  as committee chair. While mostly satisfying, being the face of the committee nonetheless did put him squarely in the critical limelight. It was Littlepage who had to answer the questions, respond to media and take the heat when necessary. But he was ready.

“Our jobs as athletics directors and conference commissioners prepare us for this,” he said. “We have the unique responsibility in this age of technology of responding in some way to every concern our constituencies have. I don’t take any of it personally. I had e-mails from people who started in on me Sunday night and Monday morning after the selections. They called me all kinds of names, but after an e-mail exchange or two, most end up admitting that the committee has a difficult job and that we do the best we can.

“We know the challenges going in, and having been with this group for a while now, I can assure you that each member carries out his or her duties with as much professionalism as they do their everyday jobs.”