NCAA committee chair addresses evaluating Alabama with, without Charles Bediako
By David Wasson
Published:
The NCAA unveiled its top 16 seeds during a Bracket Preview Show earlier Saturday, previewing how the top 4 teams in each region would stack up if March Madness were to begin today.
Said hypothetical bracket would not feature an SEC team among the No. 1 seeds (Michigan, Duke, Arizona and Iowa State). In fact, only two conference teams are among the top 16 at this moment – with Florida (No. 9 overall) slotted as a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Bracket headlined by Michigan and Vanderbilt (No. 15 overall) as a No. 4 seed in the East Bracket.
Keith Gill, the chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, said that both Arkansas (20-7 overall, 10-4 SEC) and Alabama (19-7, 9-4) received plenty of conversation for inclusion among the top 16 – with even more chatter around how the Crimson Tide fared – both with and without Charles Bediako.
“We certainly talked about it a lot,” NCAA committee chair Keith Gill said. “They were 3-2 with Bediako, 16-5 without him. So, we didn’t necessarily apply a material change to that just because it seemed like it wasn’t as impactful as maybe some of the other injuries.”
Bediako was a controversial mid-season addition to Alabama’s program after a temporary restraining order allowed the former G-League player and NBA signee to return to the court for what would have been his senior season. Bediako’s return was muted after a judge denied his injunction for relief and the restraining order expired.
What kind of March Madness run could Alabama make? The Tide are a current longshot at prediction market Kalshi:
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
