The drum beat we've heard this year is that the committee looked at the body of work, not just the end of the season...and clearly, that's the case for some teams.
-Arizona, who lost 5 of their last six...but still managed to muster up 19 wins in the tough Pac-10 made it in.
-Xavier, who lost 5 of its last 10 games in the rugged A10 got a 4 seed.
-Oklahoma earned a 2 seed in spite of losing 4 of its last 7 in the Big 12.
But, the over-riding body of work principle didn't work out in all cases.
-Penn State didn't finish strong, but won 22 games in the Big Ten was left out in the cold.
-Butler lost 3 of its last 7, but managed to win 25 games was sent to the South to play and SEC school as a 9 seed.
So there are problems with the excuses...errrrr...reasoning behind the tournament committee's selections. That said, one thing really bothers me about this committee. It seems biases were obvious in many cases:
-The Pac-10 probably didn't deserve to have as many in as it had...but they also had more Pac-10 AD's in the group than any other conference (2 out of 10)...
"Where's she get her hair done?" -Keaton Grant-Many thought UConn didn't deserve a 1 seed because of the way they played down the stretch with their injury...and UConn's AD helped nudge them into one of the three #1s that conference was given. His pulling for the Big East also earned the conference two other #1 seeds...Furthermore, Syracuse played well in the Big East tourney and handsomely rewarded with their play by being handed a 3 seed for the dance. Purdue, on the other hand, won their conference tourney and was given a 5 seed with their second game coming against Washington just 3 hours from Seattle. Purdue finished the season 25-9...Syracuse finished 26-9.
-Xavier gets a four seed in spite of playing in a horribly weak conference and losing 5 of their last 10 games...and X's AD was on the committee as well.
But, the fact for Purdue and most other teams (except Arizona) is this- you earn your way into and out of the tournament.
If you're a bubble squad, chances are, you didn't tie up loose ends that you could have during your conference schedule.
And, if you're like Purdue and think you deserved a higher seeding, you probably didn't win all of the games you belonged winning. MSU handled its business down the stretch and was placed as a 2, relatively close to home with very winnable games until it gets difficult in the round of 16.
All that's unimportant at this point because the field is set...Don't forget to sign up for the Boiled Sports tournament pick 'em...The link's at the top of the page.
9 comments:
I hate PJ Hill.
I am glad PSU didn't get in. They didn't deserve it with their joke non-conference and the anti-Big Ten backlash would have been huge if they got in.
Did I say I hate PJ Hill?
First off, I like the blog, and read every entry, but this "home cooking" conspiracy is crap, especially the part about Ohio State and UConn because if you represent the school that is being discussed, you have to leave the room. Ergo, neither Gene Smith (OSU AD) or the UConn AD would have been in a position to argue in favor of their squad.
Boiler Up!!!
Its a ill scratch your back if you scratch mine type of move.
Boiler The Fuck UP!!!!!!11
So the OSU AD was able to use backroom deals to swing a spot in Dayton for his Bucks, but didn't bother getting them better than an 8 seed after charging into the Big Ten Finals?
If you're correct, why are they the only 8 in the tournament that got this sort of treatment? I think Anon might be onto something.
They were a bubble team prior to the BT tourney...8 is about right, even with them making their run.
The selection committee also (supposedly) put more emphasis on keeping schools closer to home this year because of the economy. (Obviously this didn't apply to some schools, and I'm not sure that avoiding conference opponents is solely to blame for that.)
Then again, OSU is an 8. Does it really matter where they play? They could host in Columbus and would still get whacked by whatever 1 seed they played. I'm not sure they'll get past Siena in Dayton anyway.
Besides, it's not like we have to play LSU in Baton Rouge, or anything like that. Maybe we can get some Washington State fans to come to our second-round matchup, should we be so fortunate as to face Washington.
I actually like it when other conferences squeeze in crap teams. We can't play crap teams in our own conference unless they go on some miracle run, and in that case, we probably wouldn't make it that far anyway. But we could play an overseeded team from another conference.
Unfortunately (again, should we make it that far), Washington doesn't look to be one. kenpom.com has us virtually even; we're slightly higher and have had a bit more bad luck this season. (No ... kidding.)
I highly recommend playing with ESPN's BracketCaster. The second time I used it, ETSU made the Sweet 16. The third time, Butler won the tournament. I love randomness.
close to home for the bad economy huh? Should we be carpooling with the Illini out to the west coast?
Only if we can abandon them on the side of the road when they get out to pee.
Illini fans pee sitting down.
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