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The Dance: Questions, answers

Was Drexel shafted? Did Temple get a fair seeding? Those, and more, are right here.

With Temple carrying the local banner and Drexel's omission getting plenty of Selection Sunday debate, here are 20 questions and answers about this year's NCAA tournament.

1. Drexel didn't make it. But how did this Selection Committee treat the Dragons?

Like gum on their feet. Officially, 27-6 Drexel was one of four teams left outside the field with Oral Roberts, Miami and Nevada.

We wrote all along that the committee was going to have to make a philosophical decision - the team or the profile. They chose the profile and mocked it.

Selection Committee chairman Jeff Hathaway, sounding like a numbers geek who had never seen a game, almost sounded disdainful when he spoke of Drexel's nonconference strength of schedule and pointed out it was "well over 200." (It was 222d of 334). The former Connecticut athletic director later added, "There are some teams that stretched themselves."

In other words, Drexel's RPI=RIP.

2. Why should Dragons players be especially ticked?

The Colonial Athletic Association regular season literally meant nothing. Their NCAA at-large chances were done in early December. It didn't matter that the team itself turned into a terrific ball club, won the CAA regular-season title - or that the NCAA would have been better for having the Dragons. They are set up to win in the postseason, with terrific perimeter defense, good rebounders and some strong three-point shooters.

3. Did the committee really job the Dragons for a big-conference team?

No, they didn't do that. It would have been a joke if Seton Hall, which lost 10 of their 15 games, got in over Drexel, or if Northwestern was chosen over the Dragons, since both those schools had losing records in league play.

4. Enough griping about the Dragons, how was Temple treated?

Not too badly. The Owls held on to a No. 5 seed, although Fran Dunphy shouldn't love the idea of playing a team that already has a game under its belt, since Temple gets the winner of the California-South Florida play-in game. Remember VCU played in a play-in game last season, rolled USC in it, then crushed Georgetown in the first round.

Full respect to USF's defense, but it's hard to see that team scoring enough to beat both Cal and Temple. If the Owls make it as far as the second round and Michigan is there, nobody has an easy time facing a John Beilein-coached team.

5. Will Temple's A-10 early exit be a factor?

It won't. Winning the A-10 tournament meant a first-round exit for the Owls. Not winning it last year meant getting to the second round. Almost an inverse effect. Temple hopes the trend continues.

6. Any anniversaries to think about?

Just the 20th anniversary of maybe the greatest college game ever played. It wouldn't be at the Spectrum this time, but Kentucky is the No. 1 seed and Duke the No. 2 seed in the South region, on a collision course for Atlanta.

7. Listening to John Calipari, you think Kentucky can win a game this time?

"We're just young,'' Calipari said with a straight face Sunday after his team lost the Southeastern Conference final to Vanderbilt. "We're the fifth-youngest team in the country.''

8. The teams that get to the Final Four traditionally have pros. Give us the pros.

Everybody, including Calipari, knows Kentucky has Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. North Carolina has Harrison Barnes and Tyler Zeller. Kansas has Thomas Robinson. Ohio State has Jared Sullinger. Get rid of them early at your peril. We touted UConn as one of the five or six potential winners last year solely because of Kemba Walker. We'll keep Syracuse because of Dion Waiters.

You can't discount UConn this season under this criteria either, since Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb are future lottery picks.

9. So you should just pick the chalk to make the Final Four?

Not in your pool. You'll share also-ran status with half the pool and even if the chalk comes through, you'll need to be strong with the rest of your bracket. Better to take your shots for the big prize.

Obviously, most people got blown up last year by Butler and VCU reaching the Final Four. In a pool we were familiar with last year, only six of 206 entries had Connecticut winning the whole thing. Three more had UConn losing in the final. Only five entries had as many as two of the Final Four - all of them UConn and Kentucky. Only one entry had Butler in the Final Four. Nobody forecast VCU's run from the play-in game to the Final Four. As a result, this pool had its lowest point totals ever for top finishers and down about 25 percent for the winning score.

10. What about our locals?

Kidd-Gilchrist, from Somerdale, and Syracuse's Dion Waiters, from South Philly, are special players, future NBA difference-makers who can take over games. At his best, Kidd-Gilchrist brings an edge that few can match. And Waiters loves comparisons to Dwyane Wade. Tweet that comparison and @dionwaiters3 is likely to re-tweet it, because it's on the money. And don't forget, D-Wade led Marquette to the Final Four. Waiters doesn't start for the Orange. Two other Philly guys do. Scoop Jardine (Neumann-Goretti) and Rakeem Christmas (Academy of the New Church) do start.

11. You want a strange comparison?

Vanderbilt and Temple are similar kinds of teams. Matchups are always key in the tournament, but especially here, since both have terrific offensive guards and a big-time presence inside. But their perimeter defense can be suspect. That shouldn't hurt Vandy in the first round. Harvard plays big-time defense, inside and out, but may not have the perimeter offense to pull off this upset.

12. Best 5-12 matchup?

Wichita State's reward for winning the Missouri Valley regular season, and punishment for losing to Illinois State in the MVC tournament, is a No. 5 seed and a date with VCU. Of course, the selection committee must think that's no big deal, that the Rams are merely the second-place team in a one-bid league.

13. Can Duke make a run?

The Blue Devils won it all two years ago with a team everyone counted out, so you never can. But nobody who was in the Wells Fargo Center when Temple took out the Blue Devils could think Duke could deliver a repeat. Speedy guards should take Duke out at some point. Notre Dame plays Xavier, with the winner to face the Duke/Lehigh winner. Xavier's Tu Holloway fits the bill of a speedy guard. He could take out the Irish and Duke, zip 'em both up.

14. What about under-the-radar pro prospects in the tournament?

Jim Clibanoff, president of ClibHoops, a scouting service to which many NBA and international clubs subscribe, has this list of potential pros who could get a win or two for their school: Nate Wolters, South Dakota State, junior point guard; Mike Moser, UNLV, sophomore forward; Trey Burke, Michigan, freshman, point guard; Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State, sophomore, shooting guard; Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's, junior point guard; Kyle O'Quinn, Norfolk State, senior, power forward; Royce White, Iowa State, sophomore, power forward; Gorgui Dieng, Louisville, sophomore, power forward; James Ennis, Long Beach State, junior guard-forward; Isaiah Canaan, Murray State, junior point guard.

15. Who was on Clib's list last year?

This group: Keith Benson, Oakland, senior, post; Gilbert Brown, Pittsburgh, senior, guard; Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt, junior, post; Kenneth Faried, Morehead State, senior, forward; Justin Harper, Richmond, senior, forward; Kahwi Leonard, San Diego State, sophomore, forward; Nikola Vucevic, Southern Cal, junior, post; Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh, senior, guard. . . . They combined to go 5-3 in the first round, with Vandy's Ezeli losing to Richmond's Harper, Oakland almost springing a No. 13-over-No. 4-seed upset of Texas, losing 85-81, and Vucevic losing to eventual Final Four team VCU before getting drafted by the Sixers. (In other words, pay attention. Talent matters.).

16. What does Clib think of St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson, the Atlantic Ten player of the year who dominated in Atlantic City, carrying the Bonnies to the NCAA tournament?

Nothing against the 6-9 senior, but Clibanoff doesn't see an NBA future right now: "Nicholson put together an efficient and highly productive collegiate career. However, his physical package and awkward style are not likely to easily survive the transition to the NBA level."

17. What about a local guy who deserves some applause?

Give it up for Chester High graduate Bo Ryan, in the tournament coaching Wisconsin for the 11th straight season, a No. 4 seed this time.

18. Informal advice the University of Dayton already has received since President Obama plans to attend Tuesday's play-in games with Great Britain's prime minister, David Cameron?

Order extra hot dogs. The Secret Service eats 'em up. (Seriously. That's what the school was told by another school that hosted the president.)

19. How can we pile on Villanova?

The Wildcats did not beat a single team in this year's field.

20. A last suggestion?

The NCAA Selection Committee should take over the task of scheduling Drexel Dragons basketball. Maybe they'll get their calls returned from BCS schools. Or they can go to Maui. That's a fine tournament with a fine field, as the head of the selection committee pointed out. The Dragons can wait for their invitation.