To Gene Smith, the Ohio State Buckeyes have become "they" instead of "we."
No, Smith hasn't quit as OSU's athletic director. It's just that, through Sunday afternoon, Smith's only relevant job title is member of the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee. He and nine others are meeting in Indianapolis to select the 34 at-large teams in the 65-team field and then seed and place the entire bracket.
The seeding of Ohio State figures to be one of the more intriguing discussions of the weekend, particularly if the Buckeyes' roll continues and Duke doesn't win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. A Blue Devils loss would leave the last No.1 seed - Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse are locks for the others - up for grabs.
But Smith won't be in the room to lobby for the Buckeyes. To avoid the perception of bias, committee members are prohibited from being present when schools they represent are discussed.
Smith wouldn't have it any other way.
"They will be considered based on their body of work, just like everyone else," Smith said Tuesday while driving to Indianapolis. "Whatever happens, it is what it is. I feel totally confident that they - Ohio State - will get the proper view."
So when the rest of the committee debates the Buckeyes, Smith will retire to a side room with a bank of TVs and rest on what the committee has dubbed the "Gene Smith couch" because he has used it so frequently the past three years.
"It's long enough for me to totally lay out and not have my feet or head touch the end," he said.
Smith, who takes over as committee chairman next year, said he began making the transition from partisan OSU athletic director to disinterested committee member over the weekend.
"Mentally, I'm there," he said. "I have to be. I'm responsible for being objective. I'm responsible for making sure this process has the utmost integrity."
This could be a particularly challenging year for the committee because of the dearth of quality at-large candidates. The final 10 or so bubble teams that make the cut will have major flaws.
"A lot of people are saying that it's going to be harder (to sort out the bubble teams)," Smith said. "But I don't really think that way. I have this mind-set not to prejudge the field. I just look at teams individually."
Committee chairman Dan Guerrero also said the relative weakness of the at-large pool doesn't necessarily make the selection process more daunting.
"We believe that any team in the field has pros and cons," he said. "There's no perfect team out there. Every team has some blemishes."
The committee began meeting yesterday afternoon in its secluded conference room at the Westin Hotel. By now, it has arrived at a consensus about which teams are locks for the field. The next four days are about weighing the merits of the rest of the teams for inclusion, as well as seeding.
The rest of the week culminates a process that has lasted all season. Each committee member is responsible for being the expert on certain conferences. Smith is charged with being the lead person on the Big East and Colonial Athletic conferences and the Ivy League.
He said he has watched well over 100 games this season, mostly on TV but some over the Internet. He even had the Ivy League send him DVDs of selected games that weren't televised.
On Saturday, committee members had a conference call to start preparation for this week's deliberations.
When Smith walks into the committee room, he said, he does so with a deep sense of duty. A team's definition of success or failure for a season may ride with the committee's decisions.
"You want to pay every team the respect they deserve," he said. "Whatever team a committee member brings up, you want to make sure you do your due diligence. You want to be engaged. It's a huge honor and also a huge sense of responsibility."
brabinowitz@dispatch.com