NCAA Bracket 2011: How Ohio State's A.D. Gene Smith Got the Best of NCAA...Again

For the second time in about as many months, Ohio State's Athletic Director Gene Smith is finding himself in hot water for decisions he has made.

This time, however, it was about basketball, not football.

By expanding from a sixty-five team field to a sixty-eight team field, one might expect that this year's "March Madness" selection committee would have an easier time selecting the field than years past.

According to Gene Smith, this was not the case.

In an articled arguing that Smith "tried to get it right," he said, "We had a lot more teams that we were scrubbing. And then from a seeding point, we scrubbed on Saturday, but we did a lot more Sunday...that was a little bit longer for me than we typically had done. For me, it was tougher."

Is anyone reading that statement and rolling their eyes?

Smith's statement might have more credibility if he wasn't the Athletic Director at Ohio State University. But since Smith is the A.D. at Ohio State, let's start the interview questions:

Mr. Smith, was it hard to put seven out of eleven teams in your conference in the "Big Dance?"

How much money did you receive to put any of those Big Ten bubble teams in the tournament?

Was it that hard to put 14-loss Michigan State and 13-loss Illinois in the Big Dance over teams such as Virginia Tech (21-11) who, by the way, beat a number one seed Duke at home 64-60?

Was it that hard to put Michigan State and Illinois in the tournament, and leave out a Colorado team that beat a number five-seed Kansas State team three times this year?

I could go on with examples of teams that should have been involved, but who was left out is not the main issue here.

The main argument rides on who Smith included in the selections.

Many will argue that he has fooled the NCAA once again and that the NCAA took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

As a result of the NCAA being hood-winked, teams like Illinois and Michigan State should be kissing Smith's feet.

Gene Smith's questionable, "self-benefiting" history does not stop in regards to putting too many Big Ten teams in the "Big Dance."

Ohio State's self-imposed two game suspension and $250 thousand fine (handed down by Smith) for football coach Jim Tressel also drew heavy criticism from a bulk of collegiate followers as being too light.

Tressel makes $3.5 million a year. I hardly think he will be sweating too hard over this fine.

And the two game suspension?

It will most likely be for Toledo and Akron—games that Ohio State will not lose.

Tressel has been a coach since the 1980s, and shouldn't have covered up material solely because "he was scared." There would have been nothing against Tressel if he had confessed to everything he knew when he found out.

In fact, whether or not the NCAA completes further investigations into the Ohio State football team's "Tattoo Five Scandal" is pointless.

This is because the NCAA overlooked the fact that Gene Smith's beloved Ohio State is currently involved in an NCAA investigation.

Their overlooking of the on-going investigation, and their allowing Gene Smith to be the chairman of the NCAA men's basketball selection committee, has made a mockery of the NCAA.

It is no longer in the best interest of the NCAA to conduct a further investigation into Ohio State's football scandal.

The NCAA desires to maintain a reputation of fairness. But will pay a price if they conduct further investigations into OSU's case and it turns up that A.D. Smith had an actual part in some of the cover-up.

I just want to take this time as a Michigan Wolverine fan to admire good old Brutus and the Buckeyes for the mockery they have made of the NCAA.

Maybe Ohio State goes out early in the tournament so that justice will be served, because the NCAA is clearly not interested in making things right until at least after the tournament.