Walters '67 returns to March Madness as king

Princeton will be at the men's basketball Final Four this year. There's no chance anyone on the current squad will be suiting up to play, but there is one Tiger who has more power than anyone else in the country when it comes to determining who can fight in March Madness, and he'll be there. Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 is the chairman of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, the group that is responsible for selecting the 65-team field to compete in the Big Dance.

"In my role as committee chair I've been glued to the TV set, as I know the other committee members have been," Walters said in a teleconference last week. "On Sunday I watched five games starting at 1:00 [p.m.] and finishing at 9:30, 10:00 [p.m.]. Last night I had a chance to watch four or five games as well. That's the kind of commitment that I and the members of the committee are making at this point to get a feel for what's actually going on out there in the world of college basketball."

Walters certainly has a deep appreciation for the game, and he has the experience to go with it. At Princeton, he was a point guard and a member of the 1965 Final Four squad. After graduating from Princeton, he became a head coach, first at Dartmouth, then at Providence. In 1994, he returned to Princeton as director of athletics. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, working his way up the ladder to his position as this year's chairman.

Walters recognized that the committee is under immense pressure and that the high level of competition among NCAA teams does not make the task any easier.

"It may very well be now that we're trying to shoehorn 10 teams into four spots," Walters said. "It's clearly not going to be easy."

The committee considers several factors when making its selections. Each year, 31 of the 65 teams are given automatic bids by virtue of winning their conference tournaments. In the case of the Ivy League, which does not have a tournament, the regular season champion is offered a bid. The remaining at-large bids are offered to teams based on their performance during the season and at conference tournaments.

"There continues to be a lack of differentiation among teams, and that's going to make our job even harder," Walters said. "Conference team tournaments could take on increasing significance this year in helping us to separate teams. A team can either burnish or bruise its resume in the conference tournament."

Along with overall performance in its conference tournament, a team's RPI — ratings percentage index — can also be important. The RPI is a quantitative model based on wins and strength of schedule. Though the RPI is very useful, it is not the only tool that the committee uses to select teams.

"I guess my wording has always been that the RPI as a quantitative model is a tool — it's a useful tool, but it's not the only tool," Walters said. "Understand that the RPI is a general indicator of relative strength ... not a precise indicator of absolute strength."

Another possible factor is a team's performance in last year's tournament, especially concerning teams from mid-major conferences. Last year, George Mason — an 11th seed from a mid-major conference — upset top-seeded Connecticut to reach the Final Four.

Though George Mason was the Cinderella story last year, Walters said that prior tournament performance will not necessarily influence the committee's decisions.

"As someone who coached for 14 years and was in the investment business for 13 years ... I can assure you that past performance does not guarantee future results," Walters said. "While one can look back last year and certainly acknowledge the fact that a number of the mid-major teams performed well, one would hope that one of the reasons they performed well is because they were worthy of being in the tournament."

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Walters knows that regardless of which teams his committee slate for the tournament, some people are going to be unhappy.

"There's an aspect of this where we have to develop a thick enough skin to be able to withstand the criticism," Walters said. "But I also think we have to be sensitive enough to also conversely understand that some people are going to be disappointed. I mean, we're walking a fine line here. We have a job to do. Some would say it's a thankless task. Frankly, I find it to be a labor of love."