Quotes From Selection Committee Chairman Dan Guerrero

As they always do, the fine folks at CBS interviewed the Selection Committee Chairman immediately following the release of the NCAA Tournament field of 65 teams.

Here's a bullet-pointed list of soundbites from this year's chair, Dan Guerrero, as spoken to Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg:

On Duke getting a higher No. 1 seed than Syracuse:
+ "As we evaluated the top four teams, we actually threw West Virginia in the mix. All five of those teams had terrific resumes. We looked at the body of work (for all of them). We put a lot of value on the way Duke finished."

On where Duke would have been seeded had it not won the ACC Tournament:
+ "We had some contingency plans put in place. There was a possibility that could have occurred. We knew there were a lot of teams that were going to be in the mix. We wanted to give every team consideration."

When asked how many teams, Guerrero replied: "Two hands."

+ "(We were) looking at everything. The tough part of this deal is selection. We wanted to make sure we gave everyone a fair shot."

CBS analyst Greg Anthony didn't try to be polite when he asked what many on Twitter were thinking throughout the 6 o'clock hour: "How could you possibly see (Duke) being a better seed than Syracuse?"
+ "The big center for Syracuse got banged up. The reports we were getting back from Syracuse have been positive, but winning their conference tournament carried the day (for Duke)."

On having to shut out bubble teams:
+ "I feel for every one of those teams; there's no question about it. But we look at a number of things. And it's not necessarily how you finish, but it's how you do throughout the course of the year."

On how the injury to Robbie Hummel affected Purdue's seeding:
+ "The Hummel situation was unique because we had an opportunity to see Purdue play without him. We had to be certain we placed them where we thought it was most appropriate. Without him in the lineup, Purdue is a very different basketball team. There's no question about that."