<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">They need to make the selections like you do for a blind taste test. Every team eligilble should have their season highlights listed and then you go from there. I cannot believe Cal got a #7 seed, and I'm a huge fan of theirs. I thought they would be lucky to get a #10 seed. Tennessee a #2 seed is laughable.</div> I like your idea, I've been looking at stuff about teams that people think are too high, Nevada has won 14 straight, that's pretty good going against teams like Hawaii, La Tech, and Utah St. As for Cal, they hate us west coast teams, cept for UCLA, they gave them a walk to the Final 4 because all their games are in Cali
I really don't have any good suggestions...but one thing i'd like to say is that the committee really sucked it up badly this year. I'm not mad about Kentucky getting an 8 seed, because I know we deserved it, but some of the seeds were just flat out laughable. George Washington's seed really pissed me off the most, because everyone on this board knows they are one of the top 20 teams in the nation and deserved at least a 4 or 5...and just because Pops is out, it shouldn't have hurt GW's seed like it did. It would be absolutely wonderful if this team could beat Duke in round 2(I think they'll make it past UNC-Wilmington easily)! And yeah, Tennessee getting a 2 seed was just about as bad as GW getting an 8.
Yeah, and don't forget Nevada getting a #5 seed. I think Nevada and GW could switch and the seeds would be a tiny bit better.
George Mason should not have gotten a bid. They were defeated by Wake Forest, the last place team in the ACC. Wake also should have beaten Florida in the Coaches for Cancer tournament in December (lost by 5) even though Wake played horribly as they did all year. Florida won a bid by winning the SEC by 2 pts. (and probably would have an at large bid as well) and alot of luck against SC. Every year the selection committee gives different themes. One year Fl State got a bid with a team vastly inferior to this year's team because the committee said they were playing well at the end of the year. This year with a better team they got screwed. Why? Losing to Wake Forest in the 1st round? C'mon. Wake is playing almost as well as any team in the country right now. So is South Carolina. N. C. State is in after dropping two straight games to Wake. And they weren't even close. It's 20+ wins and alot of subjective support. I don't think Wake should be in because they took too long to figure out how to win. I do think South Carolina should be in to reward an outstanding conference tournament performance (they came up 2 pts. short in 4 games in four days).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SpursFan10:</div><div class="quote_post">I can't believe Cinncinati and Michigan got left out. That is crazy. Did Kent State or Murray State even win their conferences?</div> Yeah, the Murray State Racers win their conference just about every year. They are sort of like UNC-Wilmington. At some point there's got to be room for the guaranteed bids, and then the top 50 teams without guaranteed bids. There will be more fan support, more money made, the same length tournament, and more chances for Cinderella and the teams peaking in March who took a few weeks too long to figure out how to win. I haven't done the math, but each year too many deserving teams, players, schools, families, and fans and communities lose that chance for the magic of the long shot. Instead, we get a tournament selected to accomodate the traditional powers and NCAA member conferences and to set up big games for audience appeal in the big viewing audience areas.
^^LOL how do Air Force and UAB get bids but Cincy and Michigan get left out? I agree with leaving FSU out but c'mon Cincy could've been a real cinderella IMO.
Air Force paid off somebody. Shape, man, I tell ya, I'm happy for you Golden Bears, but I tell you what, if they get to Round 2, I wanna see Powe and Aldridge go at it. That's gonna be something serious. And I know we've had some discussions on where Powe belongs in the Draft, and he is that one player that could bust out on the National stage and be like "damn it. We play ball out here too." If he lights up Aldridge, he's flying up the draft board.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KICKSDADDY613:</div><div class="quote_post">Air Force paid off somebody. Shape, man, I tell ya, I'm happy for you Golden Bears, but I tell you what, if they get to Round 2, I wanna see Powe and Aldridge go at it. That's gonna be something serious. And I know we've had some discussions on where Powe belongs in the Draft, and he is that one player that could bust out on the National stage and be like "damn it. We play ball out here too." If he lights up Aldridge, he's flying up the draft board.</div> Agreed, I'm looking forward to that potential showdown. The problem I can see already is PJ Tucker coming from the weakside to help out on Powe. Cal's guards haven't been consistent enough all season to prevent teams from double and triple teaming Powe. UCLA exposed how bad Cal can be on offense, when the shots are falling from the perimeter. NC State is going to be a tough opponent for the Bears, but I think they will pull it out. Cal has a lot of size and athleticism in the paint, and are capable of locking down a team.
I can see Cal upsetting every number 2 on this board but Texas. The game being played in Dallas doesn't help either. This is the worst job ever done by the selection committee. They had a real opportunity to have some compelling match ups in a region. Why aren't Duke and Gonzaga in the same region? How much publicity would a JJ Redick Adam Morrison game would have gotten? Why aren't former coaches like Karl Hobbes in a region w/ UConn? Why is GW playing a 9 seed in that school's home state, and with a win plays another team in their home state in Duke? Why are good teams having to go all across the country to play in first round games? Illinois in San Diego, BC in Salt Lake City--other lower schools who could have gotten better locations such as GW, Kansas, Marquette and Alabama playing each other in SD who is going to come see that game? Just a poor job of putting the tournament together. Wichita St was a mid major who didn't win their conference and they are a 7 seed. What is going on? Now I'm pulling for Cal this tournament and I thought that they were seeded pretty high but all in all I think that the gripe should be about the seeding and the pairing of the tournament moreso than who got in. The only change that I would make would be Cincinnati over Air Force. The only reason why Cincinnati didn't get in was b/c you are only allowed two teams from the same conference in a region and the only way that those two teams can meet up is if they both make it to the Elite 8. The committee wanted to stay consistent with that trend.
I have one major, major question for the Selection Committee this year: they say that how you finish is a HUGE determining factor in how you're seeded. To that effect, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Arkansas, UAB, North Carolina and Nevada all really helped themselves, while Wisconsin, Georgetown, George Washington, West Virginia and NC State all hurt themselves. But then, you've got the complete oposite, where the selection comittee turned a blind eye to bad/unimpressive finishes by Tennessee, Seton Hall and Northern Iowa and Arizona in giving them higher seeds than they deserved, and didn't reward teams like Boston College, Southern Illinois and Pitt for finishing strong? <font color=""Red"">WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY, GENTLEMEN OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE?</font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TDoug:</div><div class="quote_post">George Mason should not have gotten a bid. They were defeated by Wake Forest, the last place team in the ACC. Wake also should have beaten Florida in the Coaches for Cancer tournament in December (lost by 5) even though Wake played horribly as they did all year. Florida won a bid by winning the SEC by 2 pts. (and probably would have an at large bid as well) and alot of luck against SC. Every year the selection committee gives different themes. One year Fl State got a bid with a team vastly inferior to this year's team because the committee said they were playing well at the end of the year. This year with a better team they got screwed. Why? Losing to Wake Forest in the 1st round? C'mon. Wake is playing almost as well as any team in the country right now. So is South Carolina. N. C. State is in after dropping two straight games to Wake. And they weren't even close. It's 20+ wins and alot of subjective support. I don't think Wake should be in because they took too long to figure out how to win. I do think South Carolina should be in to reward an outstanding conference tournament performance (they came up 2 pts. short in 4 games in four days).</div> Are you saying Florida doesn't deserve to go if they didn't win the tourney? Florida is 26-7, we deserve an at large. Both teams played like crap in the championship game because of fatigue. I was very pleased that we played well down the stretch, because we hadn't played well at all at the end of games in chokes against Tennessee(twice), Arkansas, and USC(once). Wake played bad in the CvC tournament, but the Gators had no offense other than Taureen Green. If you stopped the one guy you woulda beat us, so I'm not sure you can say that you guys played bad and we played great.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Schaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">I have one major, major question for the Selection Committee this year: they say that how you finish is a HUGE determining factor in how you're seeded. To that effect, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Arkansas, UAB, North Carolina and Nevada all really helped themselves, while Wisconsin, Georgetown, George Washington, West Virginia and NC State all hurt themselves. But then, you've got the complete oposite, where the selection comittee turned a blind eye to bad/unimpressive finishes by Tennessee, Seton Hall and Northern Iowa and Arizona in giving them higher seeds than they deserved, and didn't reward teams like Boston College, Southern Illinois and Pitt for finishing strong? <font color=""Red"">WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY, GENTLEMEN OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE?</font></div> Get over, they made their decisions and it's up to them not us. Even though the bracket looks like something on my March Madness 06 when I've played 5 seasons and Bucknell has the ability to be a #1 seed, it's what they decided. I've come to this, it don't matter where your seated, just go play!
IN AND OUT Here are, in my opinion, the teams that had a case to get in that didn't: Hofstra, Michigan, Missouri State. Florida State to a lesser degree. Here is the team that by all means should have been in: Cincinnati Here are, in my opinion, the teams that perhaps should not have got in: Utah State, Texas A&M. George Mason and Alabama to a lesser degree. Here is the team that by all means should not have been in: Air Force So to be specific, swap Air Force and Cincinnati, and you have a few questions about the bracket but nothing downright "wrong." I'd also swap Michigan with Texas A&M and Hofstra with Alabama, maybe Missouri State with Utah State. George Mason probably deserved to be in but Hofstra beat them twice to close the season, so they really should have been in. FSU got punished for not scheduling any good teams, and almost always losing to the ones they had to play in conference. Texas A&M did the same, but got away with it! Never beat Kansas or Oklahoma and lost two of three to Texas. SEEDS Seeding was bad in a few places. I would defend Nevada's 5 seed and UCLA's 2. I would defend snubbing George Washington for their horrible SOS - but not to the degree that the committee did! I would not defend Tennessee having a 2. Illinois should have been a bit better than a 4. And Pitt should definitely have been better than a 5. Syracuse was seeded too highly. I think once you get to whether teams should be 7, 8, 9, 10 seeds it's not that big a deal. You can also always play out of a bad seed.
As happy as George Mason was to make the NCAA Tournament as a rare at-large team from the CAA, think how bad Hofstra feels right now. The Pride (24-6) has a better overall record than the Patriots, went further in the CAA Tournament and beat George Mason twice in the past two weeks. But despite all that, the Pride were shut out of the NCAA Tournament. Hofstra had more wins than any other team left out of the NCAA Tournament. The Pride also has the second-highest RPI (31) of all the rejected teams, behind Missouri State. Instead of the NCAA Tournament, the Pride grudgingly accepted an NIT bid for the second straight season. Last season, Hofstra lost, 53-44, at St. Joseph's. This season, Hofstra will open the NIT at home, where the Pride has won 20 straight games, the nation's second-longest streak, behind only Gonzaga. Hofstra, seeded third, will face six-seed Nebraska (19-13) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Pride will throw its balanced scoring at Nebraska. Hofstra is the only team in the nation with five different players to score 25 points or more in a game this season. One of those players is ex-Miami Christian guard Carlos Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico who scored 25 points in the win over George Mason at the CAA Tournament. Rivera, in fact, was named to the all-tournament team. Rivera and Co. will now try to lead Hofstra to its first-ever win in the postseason - the Pride has only made 4 NCAA Tournaments and now 3 NITs. If Hofstra wins its opener, it could get a rematch at St. Joseph's in the next round. ^ True story
As happy as George Mason was to make the NCAA Tournament as a rare at-large team from the CAA, think how bad Hofstra feels right now. The Pride (24-6) has a better overall record than the Patriots, went further in the CAA Tournament and beat George Mason twice in the past two weeks. But despite all that, the Pride were shut out of the NCAA Tournament. Hofstra had more wins than any other team left out of the NCAA Tournament. The Pride also has the second-highest RPI (31) of all the rejected teams, behind Missouri State. Instead of the NCAA Tournament, the Pride grudgingly accepted an NIT bid for the second straight season. Last season, Hofstra lost, 53-44, at St. Joseph's. This season, Hofstra will open the NIT at home, where the Pride has won 20 straight games, the nation's second-longest streak, behind only Gonzaga. Hofstra, seeded third, will face six-seed Nebraska (19-13) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Pride will throw its balanced scoring at Nebraska. Hofstra is the only team in the nation with five different players to score 25 points or more in a game this season. One of those players is ex-Miami Christian guard Carlos Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico who scored 25 points in the win over George Mason at the CAA Tournament. Rivera, in fact, was named to the all-tournament team. Rivera and Co. will now try to lead Hofstra to its first-ever win in the postseason - the Pride has only made 4 NCAA Tournaments and now 3 NITs. If Hofstra wins its opener, it could get a rematch at St. Joseph's in the next round. ^ True story
I understand people are pissed about Tennessee being a #2 seed, but to take out your frusteration by picking Witchita State winning their first round match then upsetting Tennessee in the 2nd round, in my mind, is insane. Yess, its possible Tennessee wasnt worthy of their seed, and yes an upset could happen, but to see this on EVERYONE's bracket baffle's me. They did have a couple convincing wins(blew out Texas, beat Florida twice), but I dont think those wins alone could give them enough leanway for a #2 seed.
You're right, picking Wichita St. over Tennessee is completely insane. Tennessee is going to lose to Winthrop.
