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**TheAsianSensation** · 02-13-2010, 05:24 PM

UConn is way off the pace. Don't worry about them anymore.

**bigdaddystuck** · 02-13-2010, 09:21 PM

I agree that as it stands right now, they are way out! But if they can get back to .500 in conference and gets a couple of wins in the conf. tourney....they will steal one!

**tornado** · 02-17-2010, 09:46 AM

Just when some talk of UConn missing the NCAA Tournament, they go on the road to #4 ranked Villanova and win...

but seriously....even if UConn or North Carolina lose all their remaining games and end up in 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th place in their conference,
I really doubt they'd be left out of the NCAA Tourney....
and I have little reason to think they'd get dealt with OBJECTIVELY.....and would get bids just because....
they ARE UConn and THEY ARE UNC....their records would be a distant secondary to their names and reputations...

If you doubt for a minute that they'd still get a bid even if they had 14 losses and finished deep in their conference...then I offer this example...

JUST last year, Arizona was a program in turmoil...coaches coming and going, players up and leaving, recruits backing out...
then they a bunch of super-patsies early to run up a couple wins (Santa Clara, Mississippi Valley State, Florida Atlantic, Northern Arizona, Marymount, etc...)
But they actually LOSE the only 2 games prior to mid-December that were teams under RPI 150!!..and their final total of LOSSES was 14!!!

Then their conference season is bad, going 9-9, picking up 4 of the 9 wins against the two bottom dwellers,
but even tanking it down the stretch losing 5 of their final 6 Pac-10 games!!!!
and they lost in the first round of the Pac-10 Tourney.

So they ended the season with fewer than 20 regular season wins and 9-9 in the Pac-10, but they still got an NCAA bid....even though they were the 6th best team from a relatively weak BCS conference, their RPI was 62!!! (and SOS was NOT Top 25!)

So the rule is that if you are a midmajor, you have to have at least 22-25 wins, and/or an RPI better than 20 (just ask Missouri State) -
but if you are a BCS team, then all you need is less than 15 losses, and an RPI better than 60

(every rule that we thought was a guideline to getting an NCAA bid...20 wins, fewer than a dozen losses, RPI under 50, strong down the stretch on their conference race, strong in their conference tourney, finishing in the upper half of a strong conference, strong out of conference slate, strong wins out of conference, etc, etc,....every one of those rules that people cite when they want to keep teams like Bradley or Missouri State OUT suddenly no longer applied when it came to Arizona last year!!)

**bigdaddystuck** · 02-17-2010, 09:54 AM

Didn't BU get this respect one year....albeit a long time ago. But didnt we get an invite with a losing record based mostly on our reputation at the time? I might be wrong but I believe it happened.

**tornado** · 02-17-2010, 09:58 AM

no..BU went to the NCAA in 1955 with a bad record, but it was because they were in the Final Four (lost the title game to LaSalle) the year before and that was the protocol back then...they qualified for an automatic bid...

**bigdaddystuck** · 02-17-2010, 10:01 AM

As has been posted on here several times, the obvious protocol for the NCAA is to currently give schools from the BCS the benefit of the doubt. That sometimes means that schools from the power conferences may get in with bad records.

**TheAsianSensation** · 02-17-2010, 10:18 AM

but seriously....even if UConn or North Carolina lose all their remaining games and end up in 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th place in their conference,
I really doubt they'd be left out of the NCAA Tourney....
and I have little reason to think they'd get dealt with OBJECTIVELY.....and would get bids just because....
they ARE UConn and THEY ARE UNC....their records would be a distant secondary to their names and reputations...

but seriously....listen to literally every talking head in the world. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has either team in. Or close to in. Name me one case, any single one case, where a team that is off of everyone's bubble radar ends up in the field of 65. This committee has left out a 10-6 Syracuse before. Notre Dame several times. They punish the Big East and ACC all the time. Maryland's another example. The committee has no problem angering its most popular teams.

If you doubt for a minute that they'd still get a bid even if they had 14 losses and finished deep in their conference...then I offer this example...

Arizona had 13 losses when they were included. In fact, there's only one case in the history of the NCAA tournament where a 14 loss team got in - Georgia about a decade or so ago (with the #1 SoS).

JUST last year, Arizona was a program in turmoil...coaches coming and going, players up and leaving, recruits backing out...
then they a bunch of super-patsies early to run up a couple wins (Santa Clara, Mississippi Valley State, Florida Atlantic, Northern Arizona, Marymount, etc...)
But they actually LOSE the only 2 games prior to mid-December that were teams under RPI 150!!

The 2 losses were UAB (RPI 46) and @Texas A&M (RPI 36).

And I'm sure scheduling all those pasties to get a bunch of wins sure worked when they beat the pasties such as Gonzaga, Kansas, and San Diego St (RPI 34).

And if you want to get technical, find me a schedule last year where there weren't 5 pasties (RPI 100+). There's not as many as you think.

Then their conference season is bad, going 9-9, picking up 4 of the 9 wins against the two bottom dwellers,
but even tanking it down the stretch losing 5 of their final 6 Pac-10 games!!!!
and they lost in the first round of the Pac-10 Tourney.

The Pac 10 is historically bad this year, but last year, they were good. 9-9 isn't that great, but it's not bad like you say. They actually lost 4 of 5 to end the regular season (3 of those on the road).

So they ended the season with fewer than 20 regular season wins and 9-9 in the Pac-10, but they still got an NCAA bid....even though they were the 6th best team from a relatively weak BCS conference, their RPI was 62!!! (and SOS was NOT Top 25!)

The pac-10 wasn't that weak last year. And while their SoS wasn't Top 25, they did have a whopping 16 games against RPI Top 50. In this case, the pasties they did schedule at the beginning of the year kept them from a sterling SoS.

All that said, I was among many who had Arizona out, and their inclusion ahead of Creighton was curious, but not egrogrious. Arizona was a very exceptional case where the dominoes fell just right with their non-con wins. To think all .500 BCS teams and everyone under 15 losses uniformly get in because Arizona did is just flat-out wrong. Arizona's resume was about the best-case scenario for a .500 Pac-10 team.

You have some good points at the bottom of the post but this chicken little stuff is taking it a bit overboard. It's the borderline mid-major teams getting screwed - the truly legitimate ones have no problem getting in. And you are insane if you think UConn and UNC are in play this late (barring a lengthy winning streak, and even then, it's dicey).

**tornado** · 02-17-2010, 10:39 AM

hey - all I am saying is that it WOULD NOT surprise me if they are in anyway...history proves me right...

last year, Maryland, 20-13, 9-9 then loses in their tourney, RPI was 55, and they lost 4 of their final 6 regular season games!
Midmajors like SDSU with RPI in the lo 30's and Top 40 SOS were left out...
and SDSU danged near ran the table down the stretch...winning their last 5 regular games and 10 of their last 13!..and were within a missed tip in of winning their conference tourney.

In 2008, Kentucky & Oregon got the same gifts...Oregon going 18-14, 9-9 in conference and one and done in the tourney - yet getting a BID!
Their RPI was 61 and NO MIDMAJOR would have ever gotten in with those credentials...never...
It hurt ISU, who was left out with RPI 37, and Dayton had RPI 30, plus a TOP 30 SOS w/ wins over Louisville & Pitt!!!

I know we might argue this all day, but it's hard to convince people that the big boys don't get the bias...

**TheAsianSensation** · 02-17-2010, 10:48 AM

Well what I'm saying is that UConn and UNC are nowhere near the Oregon/Arizona/Kentucky level in terms of resume. They are in much worse shape.

We do live in a world, however, where .500 in conference play isn't terrible (especially with imbalanced schedules). The good news is UConn and UNC aren't going to come close to getting there.

**BradleyJD** · 02-17-2010, 10:54 AM

Originally posted by tornado View Post

hey - all I am saying is that it WOULD NOT surprise me if they are in anyway...history proves me right...

I know we might argue this all day, but it's hard to convince people that the big boys don't get the bias...

You are correct on this tornado.

I heard some on ESPN saying UConn had put themselves back in the race with the W the other night.

**BradleyJD** · 02-22-2010, 09:36 PM

Originally posted by BradleyJD View Post

I heard some on ESPN saying UConn had put themselves back in the race with the W the other night.

UConn beats WVU....3rd top 10 team this year. 17 wins, only 1 away from .500 in conference.

They are gonna dance

**real fan** · 02-22-2010, 09:54 PM

This is why there needs to be more criteria as to getting into the tour; no one that has a 500 record in a conference should be allowed in and I don"t care which conference they play in as if you do not finish above 500 you have no business getting an at large bid.

**BradleyJD** · 02-22-2010, 09:54 PM

Originally posted by BradleyJD View Post

UConn beats WVU....3rd top 10 team this year. 17 wins, only 1 away from .500 in conference.

They are gonna dance

Here is one bracket with UConn in...

http://beyondthearc.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/02/22/2209241.aspx

**BradleyJD** · 02-22-2010, 09:55 PM

Originally posted by BradleyJD View Post

Here is one bracket with UConn in...

http://beyondthearc.msnbc.msn.com/ar...2/2209241.aspx

...and Lunardi has UConn in: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...field-with-win

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