NCAA Tournament Selection Show Discussion

<div class="quote_poster">GarnettKG21 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I like how UNC got ****** with having to play either Marquette or Michigan St. in the second round no less. and then IF they win they would most likely have to play Texas..... No doubt they have the hardest path of all the #1 seeds. Looks like it will just make it that much more impressive when they win!</div>

I don't think that either Marquette or Michigan State have the firepower to compete with North Carolina, especially not the Spartans. They're a one man team, and if you shut down Neitzel, you shut down their entire offense.

They also have the benefit of playing in Winston-Salem, which is like ten minutes from the North Carolina campus. They're basically playing two home games.

I do agree that they are in the toughest region though. They're the strongest #1 seed, Georgetown is the strongest #2 seed, Texas is the strongest #4 seed, and Boston College is probably the strongest #7 seed. Top to bottom, it's the toughest bracket.

<div class="quote_poster">Bobcats Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">And how the hell did Duke get a 6th seed?</div>

Who else was more deserving? Duke had a solid resume, and we all know they're talented and well coached. I'm not about to complain about them getting a #6 seed when according to their RPI they should have been a #4 seed.

 

I really think more midmajors should be in. As they showed in that chart on the show, the number of midmajors being invited has been in steep decline every year, even though they do pretty well. I wonder if it has something to do with big money and big conferences seeing the midmajors and their lack of stars as party crashers. Drexel went 0-4 vs the top two teams in their conference? What did Purdue go against the top two in their conference?

Arkansas has the strong computer profile. But they went 7-9, they don't need to be in the big dance. Boot out Stanford, boot out Illinois, let in Drexel, App. St., and okay, Syracuse...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Fast Luck Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I really think more midmajors should be in. As they showed in that chart on the show, the number of midmajors being invited has been in steep decline every year, even though they do pretty well. I wonder if it has something to do with big money and big conferences seeing the midmajors and their lack of stars as party crashers. Drexel went 0-4 vs the top two teams in their conference? What did Purdue go against the top two in their conference?

Arkansas has the strong computer profile. But they went 7-9, they don't need to be in the big dance. Boot out Stanford, boot out Illinois, let in Drexel, App. St., and okay, Syracuse...</div>

The reason why Drexel going 0-4 against the top two teams in their conference is important is because those top two teams were VCU and Old Dominion, not Ohio State and Wisconsin. There's a huge difference.

It's also important because their non-conference resume was above average, but not to the extent where they could just rely on it and nothing else to put them in the tournament. They beat Villanova, Syracuse, and Creighton.

Okay, well Syracuse didn't even make the tournament (which was bullshit, I know, but for the sake of argument...), Villanova was a #9 seed, and Creighton was a #10 seed. Take the names away from the teams in question and just look at it from this perspective. They beat an NIT team, a #9 seed, a #10 seed, and then lost to Penn and Rider. That's their non-conference schedule. Then in-conference, they went 0-4 against the only other two tournament teams, and they lost to William & Mary.[/endrambling]

(Then again... I'd take them 99% of the time over Arkansas... )

 

Yeah, but I'm not saying they're the greatest team in the world, they're just better than some of the sucky power conference teams that got in and I think they should get a chance. Illinois really lost to pretty much every good team they played and can barely even score points, which is pretty important in basketball. And then there's teams like Arkansas, of course. I'm just saying instead of letting in >50% of the Big Ten, or whatever, they should let in some of the warriors from the smaller conferences.

 

Oh, also:

5 Butler v. 12 Old Dominion
4 Southern Illinois v. 13 Holy Cross
8 BYU v. 9 Xavier
7 Nevada v. 10 Creighton

Look at how all these at large midmajors are playing other midmajors. I'm not really sure if that was an accident, or insurance. Not to mention, I think a lot of the midmajors deserved better seeds.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Fast Luck Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Oh, also:

5 Butler v. 12 Old Dominion
4 Southern Illinois v. 13 Holy Cross
8 BYU v. 9 Xavier
7 Nevada v. 10 Creighton

Look at how all these at large midmajors are playing other midmajors. I'm not really sure if that was an accident, or insurance. Not to mention, I think a lot of the midmajors deserved better seeds.</div>

Yeah, I agree with you on that point. When the seedings came out, I thought the same thing. And what's Nevada doing with a #7 seed anyway, or Creighton with a #10? Both should be at least 3-4 seedings higher. And look who they play in the next round, another mid-major with Memphis. Automatically, they're knocking out two of the three top mid-majors in that one corner of the bracket.

And how does Winthrop get a lower seed than Gonzaga and the same seed as George Washington? It seems to me like they just lumped all the midmajors in there at the bottom regardless of their resumes, talent, etc.

 

I kind of wonder if this is a reaction to George Mason. Instead of letting in more Cinderellas, they're cracking down on them.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Fast Luck Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I kind of wonder if this is a reaction to George Mason. Instead of letting in more Cinderellas, they're cracking down on them.</div>

I don't think that was the case as far as the selection goes, because Syracuse and Kansas State were just as deserving of making it as Drexel and Air Force. I just think that it was an amazingly hard year for bubble teams to squeeze in, because there weren't many elite teams but loads of above-average teams. Teams like Xavier and Nevada losing their conference tournies didn't help much either.

The seedings, now that's another story. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but you have to wonder...

EDIT: I don't know why I didn't pick up on this earlier, but Texas plays New Mexico State in the first round too. How bullshit is that? NM State is one of the strongest mids in the field, a team that I was thinking about taking as a Sweet 16 cinderella, but after they've paired them up with Texas and Kevin Durant? I'm not so sure anymore.

Maybe too much is being made of Texas because of Kevin Durant though. I've seen so many fans and analysts picking them to come out of that brutal East bracket and make it to the Final Four, but really, this is the same team that lost to Michigan State earlier this season.

It's probably the hardest first round pick to make in the entire tournament. I keep going back and forth between the two teams. At the moment, I've got NM State making it to the Sweet 16 though.

 

<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Florida was awarded the #1, #1 seed. Unbelievable. I guess Joakim Noah's rant after Florida won the SEC tournament spooked the committee.

Interviewer (Jim Gray?) "Will you be disappointed if you're a #2 seed"

Noah - "I doesn't MATTER...you haters...we just win rings!"</div>

When they lose in the 2nd round to Arizona, I'll have to look back on this quote

 

How about all yall punk a** Razorbacks haters shut up... If your team didnt get in shid who fault is that... Arkansas knew what they had to do to get in and they did it.. I kno they got blew out by florida but people didnt think they were going to get that far... so stop hating and just jump on the banwagon.............. GO HAWGSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

<div class="quote_poster">lil nba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How about all yall punk a** Razorbacks haters shut up... If your team didnt get in shid who fault is that... Arkansas knew what they had to do to get in and they did it.. I kno they got blew out by florida but people didnt think they were going to get that far... so stop hating and just jump on the banwagon.............. GO HAWGSSSSSSSSSSSS</div>

HOMER!!!

The Razorbacks are trash, they shouldn't of gotten in. I don't understand how beating 3 sub-par opponents in your conference tourney gets you in the Big Dance

 

<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">

Interviewer (Jim Gray?) "Will you be disappointed if you're a #2 seed"

Noah - "I doesn't MATTER...you haters...we just win rings!"</div>

I officially want to puke. You know we've reached a sad day in sports when the team who has been #1 for nearly a full calendar year, won the last national title, and has been fawned over like nobody but UNC/Dook can look a camera straight-faced and talk about 'haters'.

Florida? Haters? You know, the 60s Packers have a lof of haters, too. I mean, I bet there are still people out there who will try to argue that they aren't 100% for sure the greatest team of all time. They get disrespected constantly, I mean, all they do is get the tropy named after them. F*** the haters

[/extreme sarcasm]

I also thought it was funny when I made the mistake of turning on Cold Pizza this morning and listening to Skip Bayless (Vandy grad) explain how the Big 10 is THE most overrated conference in the country, Wisconsin is painful to watch, and how Arkansas deserved to get in over Purdue and Illinois. Why? Because they beat Vanderbilt twice. Apparently, just because a team beats his team, they're automatically good.

What's really funny, to me, is how the Big 10 is a convenient way to deflect the bad for everyone else. Skip has to talk about his overrated SEC? Nah, just shift focus to the Big 10, where it's just accepted to take shots at the conference. If you get really passionate and upset about how bad the Big 10 is, people will just believe you instead of questioning your crap teams. Vandy and Tennessee should've both been seeded below Michigan State.

And to be honest, I usually root for Arkansas. I like that big ugly Hill, he's a shot blocker, and Weems is a heck of an athlete. Patrick Beverly is probably the most underrated star freshman in the country, and Stan Heath has Big 10 pedigree. And having said all that, I don't think they should've gotten in. It's not about haters or anything like that - Arkansas played a good non-league schedule, but then hit the skids once SEC play began. Just because they made a wannabe-Syracuse last year run in their conference tournament doesn't mean that you overlook their inadequacies of the past 2 months.

 

Go Razorbacks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Fast Luck Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Oh, also:

5 Butler v. 12 Old Dominion
4 Southern Illinois v. 13 Holy Cross
8 BYU v. 9 Xavier
7 Nevada v. 10 Creighton

Look at how all these at large midmajors are playing other midmajors. I'm not really sure if that was an accident, or insurance. Not to mention, I think a lot of the midmajors deserved better seeds.</div>
I don't know exactly why they matched teams up how they did, whether it's a conspiracy or not. Maybe the Memphis/Nevada/Creighton thing is because they think that the formula for a successful tourney is to have at least one cinderella team in the Sweet 16...I don't know if I believe that, but it's an option. But I don't think it's because they favor those teams. The number of at-large bids to those teams proves that.