Joe Creme on ESPN.COM

The selection committee proved a couple of things with the 2006 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament bracket. First, this bracket illustrates that the RPI is, in fact, just a tool. If Tennessee is the lowest No. 2 seed when the Lady Vols are second in the RPI, if Cal gets into the field with an RPI in the mid-60s and if New Mexico is seeded 11th despite an RPI of 31, then the committee is not using the RPI for anything more than has been stated in the past couple of years.

The other theme that rings loud and clear: Forget the little guy. How can that not be the case with Iowa, Cal and Missouri getting selected and Western Kentucky and Indiana State getting overlooked? The committee must have put a bunch of stock in the day-to-day grind of playing in a major conference. Other than the three berths given to the Mountain West and George Washington, no at-large bids came out of the non-major conferences.

Furthermore, teams like Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech, Hartford and Bowling Green were given high seeds. This is all a very bad message. The committee is essentially telling commissioners and coaches from non-major leagues not to bother with a season. Apparently, they should just play a league tournament and the committee will take the winner only because it has to.