The NCAA DI Men’s Basketball Selections will have a different look on social media this year with the introduction of #Select68. On Wednesday, March 11 at 1 p.m. ET the selection committee will enter the selection room, the initial ballot will open and #Select68 will begin.
What is #Select68? It’s an opportunity make fans feel like they are inside the room with the committee. The @MarchMadness account, along with seven committee members and two NCAA staffers, will “enter the room” by turning their Twitter accounts private during the selections. Every tweet connected with the process will only be available to those that are in the “room” (i.e. following the accounts) up until the bracket release on Selection Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
“In the age of social media, and given our transparency with how the selecting, seeding and bracketing process works, the interest level has only increased,” said David Worlock, the Director of Media Coordination and Statistics at the NCAA. “The committee has embraced the idea of engaging with fans on social media platforms. We’re looking forward to integrating these strategies into the selection process.”
The NCAA digital and social media team developed the #Select68 campaign. They will be running the account during selections to provide a look behind-the-scenes at the process to the 262,000+ March Madness fans. The team will be on-site, along with embedded photographers, to capture the action and share content.
“The selection process that leads up to the release of the DI men’s basketball championship bracket has always been a difficult one to portray to casual fans,” said Nate Flannery, Director of Digital and Social Media, Marketing and Broadcast Alliances. “To combat that difficulty, we’ve created #Select68 to give the real-life selection process a social media equivalent.”
If you want to see how #Select68 unfolds, be sure to follow the accounts now. Below is a list of all the accounts participating in the #Select68 campaign:
Main Account
March Madness- @MarchMadnesss
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee
Peter Roby, Northeastern Athletics Director – @ADRoby
Mark Hollis, Michigan State Director of Athletics – @MSUAD
Janet Cone, UNC Asheville Director of Athletics – @ADCone
Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma Director of Athletics – @soonerad
Tom Holmoe, BYU Director of Athletics – @TomHolmoe
Bernard Muir, Stanford Director of Athletics – @Stanford_AD
Scott Barnes, Utah State Director- @USUADBarnes
NCAA Staff Members
David Worlock, Director of Media Coordination & Stats- @DavidWorlock
JoAnn Scott, Managing Director of Men’s Basketball Championship- @jls4
What do you think about the idea of brining fans in the room by going private? Share your thoughts below!
Thanks for reading!
I like the idea of going private and making the selection process more exclusive (at least on social media). It’s definitely a great way to generate new followers leading up to March Madness and it should satisfy fans’ curiosity about what goes on inside the room. I’m sure a social strategy has already been developed regarding what kinds of tweets should be sent out and how frequently certain accounts will be tweeting, but I question how great some of the tweets from the college ADs will be. I’m hoping there isn’t a huge disparity in tweet quality and I’m eager to see how much, if any, two-way dialogue will take place with fans.