Executive Vice President for Championships and Alliances for the NCAA, Greg Shaheen and Final Four Media Coordinator Dave Worlock met with media yesterday to talk about the selection process.

During the interview, they were asked about the inclusions of Iona and BYU. Here’s what they had to say…

Thanks to ASAP Sports for the transcript.

Q.  The game between BYU and Iona, if you can help me, historically is that the lowest number at‑large that we’ve had of a 14, and why they were put in a 14 line? 

DAVE WORLOCK:  That is the lowest number.  Quite honestly, what I alluded to earlier actually affected that because of BYU having to play at a Thursday/Saturday site, the teams ended up having to drop a little bit to protect against that.
We also had to make a switch on the 7 line involving Florida and Saint Mary’s there so that we could separate the West Coast Conference teams.
That rule involving BYU, as is usually the case when BYU is part of the tournament field, had an impact on the rest of the field and resulted in an Iona/BYU matchup on the 14 line.
GREG SHAHEEN:  Additionally, it’s important to point out, getting into the mechanics for a second, those of you who may enjoy bracketing at home, keep in mind that the layout, the geographic layout, of teams as you get into the seed list, dictates a lot of what happens.
As you look at the top 16 teams of the field, you have teams that are not west, yet we still have Portland and Albuquerque that way.  What that generally means is it causes compression in the site assignments.
Again, look at the bracket and understand that you have the 4 and the 5 in each one of the regions, then you have to bring the 12 and 13 with them.  So two lines in a row with only those second and third round sites.
What that means then, to your question, is that there were no sites readily available where the Committee originally had BYU for that purpose.  So there had to be a move.

Iona was on the bubble throughout the build-up to Selection Sunday, but the Gaels didn’t need to worry at all according to the committee, as they were comfortably in the tournament.

Obviously, the inclusion of both teams in the tournament was a controversial one, with schools like Washington, Seton Hall, Miami (FL), and others deemed worthy of an at-large bid missing out.

With a match-up with one of these two teams on the cards, and then a possible game with Murray State in the third round, Marquette will definitely find itself as one of the largest talking points over the next week nationally.