College Basketball 06/07

[Hawk 34 0]

They had about 20 minutes to come up with a play and they throw it out of bounds. That's great.

 

Wonder which #2 seed MOH has the best shot against?

[Guest]

Are you telling me that if Nevada had 2 less wins, that they would also be on the bubble.

 

Their schedule is equally as shitty.

[Guest]

Now, I don't think they're a lock, but they have a decent chance.

[CanadianChris 0]

Not with all the lock teams that lost yesterday. There's way too many teams ahead of Akron. Old Dominion and Drexel will get in before Akron gets in, and I don't think either of those two teams are in, either.

[Hawk 34 0]

Akron's biggest win was Oral Roberts and played no one else except Nevada. Akron's NIT bound. Even if there was 4-5 open bubble spots, Akron wouldn't be in.

 

If you can't beat Miami of Ohio twice a year, how can you call yourself a honest at large team?

[Guest Queen Leelee]

K, really. Akron is nowhere near a bid. Stop it.

 

And don't start with Old Dominion or iggy will swear at us again.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Speaking of bubble teams I just want to say how much I hate that conference tournaments play a factor in the selection process.

 

I can accept the tournaments determing the automatic bids, since no one is going to turn down making extra money from TV deals. However that is all conference tournaments should determine.

 

IMO only the regular season should be taken into consideration when determing the at-large spots.

 

None of this small school goes 26-2 and loses in the first round of their conference tournament on a last second shot and thus gets bump by a big school that went 8-10 in their conference but happened to win a few games in theirs.

[Guest]

I'll do my 33 at-large bids, LAWL. Just as a reference for tomorrow to see what I get wrong.

 

ACC

BC

Maryland

Duke

UVA

GTech

VT

 

A-10

Xavier

 

Big 10

Wisconsin

Michigan State

Purdue

Indiana

 

Big XII

Oklahoma State

Texas

A&M

K-State

 

Big East

Pitt

Marquette

Syracuse

Louisville

Notre Dame

Nova

 

CAA

Old Dominion

 

Horizon

Butlah

 

MoVal

Salukis

 

Mountain West

BYU

 

Pac 10

UCLA

USC

Wazoo

Zona

 

SEC (This conference is really unpredictable. And I love it.)

Kentucky

Tennessee

Vandy

 

WAC

Nevada

 

Last teams I left out were Arkansas and Illinois. If Arkansas beats Florida tomorrow, Old Dominion goes out. That said, Arkansas and Illinois will somehow get at-large bids.

[iggymcfly 0]

K, really. Akron is nowhere near a bid. Stop it.

 

And don't start with Old Dominion or iggy will swear at us again.

 

Nah, I've been pretty occupied fighting that battle on 2+2; I don't know if I have the energy any more. I must have made 20 posts lately showing how much better Illinois is than Drexel and how the former team should be a lock and the latter shouldn't be in the tournament. Here, I'll just sit quietly and hope that Georgia Tech gets any seed but an 8 or a 9, so that they don't have to fight their way through a 1 seed just to get to the Sweet 16.

[iggymcfly 0]

BTW, to quickly address the previous list, no way should K-State be in over Illinois. The Wildcats have 5 of their losses outside the Top 50, compared to only 2 for Illinois, and overall, the Illini just have a better record with a more difficult schedule.

 

Also, the computer rankings I use (Sagarin, KenPom, & Colton) have Illinois 3, 22, and 12 spots higher than KSU respectively.

[Guest]

I don't use computer rankings. Air Force disproved how I felt about them.

 

It doesn't matter what you use. It's what the committee uses, and it obviously is not RPI or SOS.

 

They see that ODU beat Georgetown, they jizz in their shorts. I don't see how anyone can definitively say that K-State is not as good as Illinois. Their profiles are identical.

[Vern Gagne 0]

So is your field the teams you think should be, or the ones you think will be?

[Guest Queen Leelee]

I'd like to hear that argument concerning Illinois. They have zero quality road wins. The advantage of only playing OSU and Wisconsin once in Big 10 play.

 

The team that's bullshit this year is Syracuse. How on earth are they a "lock"? They played their yearly joke of a schedule, and the only reason they're getting credit is 10 wins in the Big East. Which is nearly meaningless with who they played.

[Guest]

So is your field the teams you think should be, or the ones you think will be?

The ones that I think it will be. These old assholes don't go by how a computed mathematical formula rates the teams. They go by what they see with their own eyes, conference record, and total number of wins. These guys had to have been watching K-State this week, they saw them tear apart Texas Tech, so they'll get in.

 

They usually put in two of these mid-major bubble teams, and the rest wind up being big conference teams. SO, if Arkansas puts together a great game against Florida tomorrow and barely falls short, I'll say that K-State will miss. What I'd like to know the most is how the selection committee seeds the 64. THAT'S where I think RPI and SOS start to come into play.

 

If I put what it should be, you guys would be getting angry. And it would have teams like U-Mass and NMSU in if they lose against Utah State tonight. But not Akron.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

They do look at the numbers when deciding teams. If they didn't, Utah St. would have been miles outside the tourney last year.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Lunardi's got Duke playing Kentucky in the first round. I really hope that doesn't happen.

[Guest]

Utah State getting in was stupid. Here's one of the many posts I found from last year proving that everyone felt that way.

 

And I like Utah State.

 

Ok, for all of those who said, "SCHEDULE MEANS SOMETHING", well one team in the tournament is saying "Not really, no"

 

UTAH STATE AGGIES

23-8

 

Non-conference opponents, talk about powerhouses!

Oral Roberts W 72-67 (21-11, in tournament with auto bid)

Middle Tenn. St. L 59-60 (16-12)

Lewis & Clark W 102-65 (COME THE HELL ON!)

Utah L 66-67 (14-14, dominate team there)

Middle Tenn. St. W 79-61 (16-12, say...wait a minute...)

at Weber St. W 69-60 (10-17)

Oral Roberts W 65-64 (that's twice!)

BYU W 91-80 (20-8, hey a good team!)

AR Little Rock W 76-44 (14-15)

Binghamton W 81-47 (16-13)

 

Now how in the HELL does this team belong in and SWMS belong out?

Apparently a win over Nevada means a lot to the selection group.

 

Something from Andy Katz last year sorta proving what I'm trying to say.

 

Even though it ended in a loss, Utah State's performance against Nevada in overtime in the WAC tournament title game was the final impression needed to push the Aggies into the field of 65 in one of the more surprising selections of the year, ESPN.com has learned.

 

The selection committee watched Utah State and, after seeing the Aggies nearly pull off the upset at Nevada on Saturday night, was convinced the Aggies should be in the field, a source with knowledge of the selection processed confirmed.

 

Some of the more interesting decisions went down like this, according to the source:

 

• If South Carolina had beaten Florida in the SEC tournament title game, then one team would have been eliminated -- either Bradley or Air Force.

 

• One of the main reasons Air Force got in the field was that the Falcons were the No. 2 team in the Mountain West, ranked as the No. 8 conference.

 

• One of the last teams not to make the field was another mid-major: Western Kentucky. The committee looked strongly at the Hilltoppers, regular-season champs of the Sun Belt. Western Kentucky, which lost to South Alabama in the conference title game, had an RPI of 55, a strength of schedule of 116, a 1-2 record against the top 50, a non-conference SOS (strength of schedule) of 29, and a 7-4 road record. Meanwhile, the NIT placed Western Kentucky as a 6-seed in the South region.

 

• Duke earned the No. 1 spot overall because it played in the ACC tournament title game while Connecticut and Villanova failed to reach the Big East tourney title game.

 

• George Washington slid down to a No. 8 because of the knee injury to starting forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

 

• The biggest discussion point was over Missouri Valley teams.

 

• Boston College was one of the more perplexing placements as a No. 4 in Salt Lake City in the Minneapolis region. The Eagles play No. 13 Pacific with the other two teams being No. 5 Nevada against No. 12 Montana. BC, which played Sunday in the ACC tournament title game, will have to travel Monday night to Salt Lake City to play Thursday. The Eagles are the only Eastern time zone team among the other four teams.

 

• The team that seemed to move the most around the board was Pitt, which settled at No. 5 in the Oakland region.

 

• Cincinnati was off the board by late in the week. The Bearcats didn't get out of the first round of the Big East tournament after Syracuse's Gerry McNamara beat them with a 3-pointer with a half second left.

Seems like the discussion of RPI comes and goes.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

With how the committee loves to be cute, I wouldn't doubt it... plus, it gives an automatic showcase 2nd round game.

 

I think Kentucky may be higher than a 9, though.

[AboveAverage484 0]

As of this second I can't see Illinois or K-State getting in. Of course as crazy as this week has been anything is possible, and as King909 said, remember Utah State last year.

[Guest]

I didn't say that, Leena did.

 

I thought it was stupid, but I could live with it. The Air Force one was flat out fucking retarded.

 

If anyone can tell, I'm really on edge right now. The only 8 or 9 seed I want is in the bracket where Kansas gets the #1. Otherwise we're fucked without a 7 or 10. And even then, I'd rather get the 9 seed and play Kansas.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Air Force was the real mindboggler, yes. But, both were bullshit.

 

I can't wait to see what we get this year. Since there's more bubble teams than ever.

[Guest]

One more game tonight, with my guilty pleasure Long Beach State taking on Cal Poly. If Cal Poly gets into the Big Dance, I won't be able to stop laughing.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I didn't say that, Leena did.

 

I thought it was stupid, but I could live with it. The Air Force one was flat out fucking retarded.

 

If anyone can tell, I'm really on edge right now. The only 8 or 9 seed I want is in the bracket where Kansas gets the #1. Otherwise we're fucked without a 7 or 10. And even then, I'd rather get the 9 seed and play Kansas.

 

You think USC will go that low? I think there is a chance they can get a six, but seven is more likely.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Most sites have USC as a 6 or 7.

[Guest]

Lunardi had them at an 8 before the Wazoo win, and today he had us with a 7 playing Winthrop as a 10. I'm thinking the loss today may have been bad enough to push us back down to 8 or 9. If SC gets a 6 it's a miracle.

 

Honest to God, I don't know how it's possible to seed this field. I've got 1's and 2's, but after that you could just throw pieces of paper with team's names on them into a bowl, draw them out and seed them. Not to mention having to avoid putting conferences so close to one another, no wonder these guys get locked up for a week.

 

I won't be around here until after the selection show, so you guys won't get any OMG A 5, MAYBE A 10 WITH THESE BRACKETS OMG I DONT WANT TO PLAY OHIO STATE posts from me. And when I do find out what happens I won't go overboard.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I'll be honest the open campaigning done by Bob Huggins is bothersome.

[Hawk 34 0]

Speaking of Akron, anyone see the head coach pulling the "MAKE SURE YOU GOT IT RIGHT GUYS! I mean, I don't care. But make sure it's right" card while throwing in "I got kids having brain surgery. somebody's mom has a heart problem". Pretty funny, I thought.

 

I can't imagine if Miami plays Wisconsin. Would they even combine for 80 pts?

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Losing to Oregon shouldn't change their seed much.

[2GOLD 0]

I've always feel like they decided on seeding before the conference tournaments even started and they just slap in the bubble teams to the holes they leave. I really feel like they pick more on who matches up best with the team they already rated in than RPI or SOS or any of that crap. If your team seems to have the right pieces to match-up well and your record looks mildly impressive, you'll be in.

 

At the rate things are going though, NC State is going to get in and blow the hell outta everything.

[iggymcfly 0]

You wanna use RPI and SOS? Fine.

 

Illinois

Record: 23-11

RPI: 31

SOS: 31

 

Kansas State

Record: 22-11

RPI: 56

SOS: 99

 

No matter what measure you use, Kansas State clearly played a much worse schedule than Illinois did both in conference and out of conference, and the only edge they have is a slightly more impressive win in their conference tournament (Texas A&M vs. Indiana). For all the bitching about the selection committee, they tend to have a fairly good idea about the teams they're working with and get more right than they get wrong. I can't imagine that they can take two teams with nearly identical records and give the berth to the team who played the vastly weaker schedule.