ONE ON ONE with Mike Tranghese.(Big East commissioner)(Brief Article)(Interview)

TSN associate editor Jeff D'Alessio talks polls and boards with the Big East commissioner, who moonlights as chair of the D-I Men's Basketball Committee.

TSN: As the selection committee chair, do you pay any attention to the polls?

MT: No. I've always viewed polls as being vehicles that create interest for the fans, but at the end of the day, we've got all of the information that we need from the Coaches Advisory Poll, which is a tool that is much more important to me than any of the polls that we see on a week-to-week basis.

TSN: What's the Advisory Poll?

MT: We get it when we get (to Indianapolis). Coaches basically vote on teams only in their regions and rank them. It can be a tremendous vehicle in helping us understand the difference between this team and that team.

TSN: What about the RPI? Is that as important as folks make it out to be?

MT: It's a tool and it clearly is used, but I think the RPI has taken on a life of its own. It's the factors that comprise the RPI that eventually get people into the tournament or get people out. The RPI is just something that people in the media can put their hands on.