Every year a great debate ensues between Selection Sunday and the opening round of the NCAA tournament about the "bubble teams" ticketed to the Big Dance and those spurned to the NIT.

It is actually a carryover of a pointless debate that has gone on since early in the season.

And it's not good for college basketball.

The focus should always be on the nation's elite teams and ensuring they are seeded fairly. After all, they are the ones competing for the national title, not the bubble teams.

Analysts and fans alike get hyped about whether Syracuse, Virginia Tech, or mid-major darling South Alabama, with their less than impressive resumes, deserves a bid the most.

That's simply not what March is all about. It's not about a team with a mediocre resume catching a couple breaks to wind up in the Sweet 16 and call its season a success.

It's about taking two weeks to narrow college basketball down to the four best teams in the country, taking a few days to rest, and then crowning a National champion.  

It's a grueling process designed to bring the cream to the top by the final weekend, and it rarely fails. In fact, the only way the process can fail is for the selection committee to jeopardize the equality of the bracket when they seed the tournament's 65 teams.

Sure it's a tough assignment to choose 34 at-large teams and seed them alongside the 31 conference champions. But don't forget the committee is composed of college basketball "experts" who spend the entire season familiarizing themselves with the best teams in the country.

If they are indeed experts then they could use a crash course in common sense to go along with their basketball expertise.

There is no way around the fact that this year's tournament bracket is full of seeding blunders, some of which came as a result of too much emphasis on some conference tournaments and too little on others.

Some were caused by a strict adherence to the RPI, while others were seemingly caused by a negligence of the same index that is intended to be a starting point for the committee.

Here's a list of selection Sunday's winners and losers, all of which are a product of the selection committee's questionable judgment and inconsistent standards.

Winners

1. Oklahoma

The Sooners, a Big 12 afterthought for much of the season, got blown out by Texas for the third time this season in their conference tournament yet miraculously earned a No. 6 seed with a resume built for the NIT.

They had a terrible home loss to Stephen F. Austin in December. They proved they could not stay on the court with the Big 12 elite losing their four games to Texas and Kansas by a combined 95 points, the closest of which was a 17-point loss to Texas.

Oh, and they got drilled by Big 12 cellar dweller Colorado.

Oklahoma didn't garner a single vote in the final polls before the Big Dance. Even the Retrievers of University of Maryland Baltimore-County got one vote.

Hats off to Oklahoma. They might be the worst six-seed in the history of the NCAA tournament.

2. UCLA

Two Final Four appearances in a row for the Bruins, so why not give them a third?

That seemed to be the selection committee's attitude after putting together the West regional, where No. 17 Connecticut may be the only competition the Bruins face before the Final Four.

The argument could be made that UCLA landed the worst two-seed in Duke, the worst three-seed seed in Xavier, and the worst five-seed in Drake.

3. Davidson

Selection committee chairman Tom O'Conner admitted his affection for the Davidson Wildcats in an interview on Sunday, but a closer look reveals how much the Wildcats could benefit from O'Conner's affection.

Davidson's resume could have had them as a higher seed than the No. 10 they received, but they won't be complaining.

Their strategically placed seed allows them to play Gonzaga in Raleigh, where Davidson should enjoy a huge home court advantage. If they win there, the Wildcats will be looking at a Georgetown team that has proven over and over again to be susceptible to an upset.

Playing Davidson in Raleigh could be a death wish for the Hoyas. And who knows after that, it's not like Wisconsin or USC would feel good about meeting Davidson in the Sweet 16.

Other Winners: Xavier, St. Josephs, Miami

Losers

1. Butler

Last year the Bulldogs went 27–6 in the regular season to earn a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the Sweet 16 and almost knocked out eventual champion Florida in the region semi-finals.

Fast forward to this year and the same Butler Bulldogs led by senior guards Mike Green and A.J. Graves go 29–3, good for the fifth best record in Division I. But this time around the schizophrenic selection committee gives them a No. 7 seed.

Butler's laughable seed is not only unfair to one of basketball's hardest working teams, it is unfair to the other teams in the region with a three-seed disguised as a seven.

Again, how is it possible to finish 10^th and 11^th in the AP and Coaches polls, respectively, and end up with a #7 seed?

2. Tennessee

Does the RPI matter? Obviously not in the case of the Vols, who had the highest RPI rating for much of the season only to be left completely out of the discussion for a No. 1 seed by the selection committee.

Missing out on a top-seed is one thing, but being the unlucky No. 2 placed in top overall seed North Carolina's region is an entirely different situation.

That fact coupled with the reality that three-seed Louisville has long been considered a potential Final Four threat only adds to the confusion surrounding a mishandled East region.

Not to mention the Vols will likely face Butler, a team that beat them last season, in the second round. This was the worst possible outcome for Bruce Pearl and the Vols.

3. Arizona State

I know I said bubble teams should not be the focus this time of year, but the Sun Devils' situation is worth mentioning and is certainly the exception, not the rule.

First of all Arizona State and Arizona met twice this season as usual, with the Sun Devils winning both games. Arizona State had a better overall record and a better conference record, and had by far the most impressive non-conference win with a 22-point victory over Xavier.

All was for naught for the Sun Devils as that silly selection committee still chose archrival Arizona.

Other Losers: Wisconsin, North Carolina, Mississippi State