Bracketology- is Wichita State going to get a bid or is MVC a one-bid conference?

[BUSongwriter]

OK, so Michigan just beat Indiana. I'm sure the committee is looking for any reason to add another Big 10 team or two, most likely at the expense of a mid-major. I still believe the Shockers get it, but these power conference tournaments are just the opposite of ours. An early loss doesn't hurt the likes of an Indiana or an Iowa or a Duke. And a bubble team doesn't have to win it all, just get a good win.

It will be a long weekend in Wichita.

[Da Coach]

CBSSports Jerry Palm has updated his brackets this morning (Sat. March 12)-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology?ttag=MM16_os_lk_ns1_palm_preSS

Mysteriously, even though they have not played for a week, and other teams have moved into his bracket, Palm nonetheless now has moved Wichita State back into the NCAA Tournament bracket as an #11 seed. He has them among his "Last Four In", along with Michigan, Monmouth, Syracuse. Michigan and Syracuse have had good post-season tournaments, so those two make sense, but WSU and Monmouth have done nothing that would seem to have put them back into his brackets.

His "Last Four Out" include- Vanderbilt, St. Mary's, George Washington, Tulsa (sorry Tulsa Brave). Northern Iowa is a #13 seed.


ESPN's Joe Lunardi also has an updated bracket posted this morning (Sat. March 12)-

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

He still has Wichita State as a #8 seed, and UNI as a #13 seed.
His Last Four In include- Connecticut, South Carolina, Monmouth, and Saint Mary's.
And his First Four Out include Michigan, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, and Valparaiso.

[tornado]

Wisconsin has multiple bad losses - Home losses to Western Illinois, UW-Milwaukee, and to Northwestern then knocked out of the Big Ten Tourney instantly by bottom dweller Nebraska!

So how do they get a 7-seed and UNI gets a 13-seed?
Even their RPI does not differ that much!

Cal has EIGHT losses against the other Top 50 teams yet they get a 5-seed...
Helps to have friends in high places

[Tulsa Brave]

CBSSports Jerry Palm has updated his brackets this morning (Sat. March 12)-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology?ttag=MM16_os_lk_ns1_palm_preSS

Mysteriously, even though they have not played for a week, and other teams have moved into his bracket, Palm nonetheless now has moved Wichita State back into the NCAA Tournament bracket as an #11 seed. He has them among his "Last Four In", along with Michigan, Monmouth, Syracuse. Michigan and Syracuse have had good post-season tournaments, so those two make sense, but WSU and Monmouth have done nothing that would seem to have put them back into his brackets.

His "Last Four Out" include- Vanderbilt, St. Mary's, George Washington, Tulsa (sorry Tulsa Brave). Northern Iowa is a #13 seed.


ESPN's Joe Lunardi also has an updated bracket posted this morning (Sat. March 12)-

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

He still has Wichita State as a #8 seed, and UNI as a #13 seed.
His Last Four In include- Connecticut, South Carolina, Monmouth, and Saint Mary's.
And his First Four Out include Michigan, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, and Valparaiso.

Tulsa laid a big fat egg the other night which dooms them to the NIT. Hopefully Monmouth gets in over someone like Michigan.

[Da Coach]

17 Number #1 seeds have lost in conference tournaments so far. That creates a crowded bubble going into today's NCAA Tournament selection, as well as a crowd of teams locked into NIT bids.

CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm's latest update as of this morning, Sunday, March 13. He now has Wichita State in as a #11 seed, playing in the "First Four" play-in round, and UNI as a #13 seed-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

Palm's Last four in:
Wichita State
Temple
Monmouth
Syracuse

His First four out:
Vanderbilt
San Diego State
St. Mary's
George Washington


Here is the latest ESPN/Joe Lunardi update, as of this morning Sunday, March 13. Wichita State has dropped own a notch to a #9 seed. UNI climbs one spot to a #12 seed.-

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Lunardi's Last Four In:
Temple
Michigan
San Diego State
Saint Mary's

And his First Four Out:
Monmouth
South Carolina
Vanderbilt
Syracuse

[Tulsa Brave]

This year's stunner is Tulsa getting in somehow. Saint Bonaventure has the most right to be upset.

[tornado]

Here's on the NCAA Selection Committee:

Joe Castiglione - 35 year BCS guy (Mizzou, Oklahoma)
Joe Alleva - 32 year DUKE guy, 40 - year BCS guy
Janet Cone - UNC Asheville
Tom Holmoe - BYU - probably slightly more in tune with BCS because of their FB alliances
Mark Hollis - Michigan State
Bernard Muir - lifetime Stanford guy
Bruce Rasmussen - career Creighton guy - remember - Creighton is NOT mid-major any more
Peter Roby - Northeastern
Jim Schaus - half his career at BCS schools and the other half at NIU & Ohio
Kevin White - career Duke guy

So - 10 people - only TWO are true mid-major people to represent the 280 midmajors...
while 6 are pure BCS guys and two more are half-BCS to overrepresent the 70 schools that are the big boys

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2016-03-13/selection-sunday-2016-when-it-what-it-and-everything

[Da Coach]

This year's stunner is Tulsa getting in somehow. Saint Bonaventure has the most right to be upset.

Yes, Tulsa's RPI is 58, the worst RPI among mid-majors that got an at-large bid. St. Bonaventure (22-8 ) had an RPI of 30, Akron (25-8 ) was 34, St. Mary's (26-5) was 38, Princeton (21-6) was 39, San Diego State (23-9) was 41, Valpo (24-6) was 49, Monmouth (27-7) was 52, and Hofstra (23-9) was 54. And none of them got a bid.
It appears only the midmajors got screwed. It is hard to find a major team from the top conferences that deserved to get a bid that didn't. The networks are pointing to South Carolina, but their RPI is 65.
Meanwhile there are some majors complaining about their seeds and their matchups.

[SubGod22]

Here's on the NCAA Selection Committee:

Joe Castiglione - 35 year BCS guy (Mizzou, Oklahoma)
Joe Alleva - 32 year DUKE guy, 40 - year BCS guy
Janet Cone - UNC Asheville
Tom Holmoe - BYU - probably slightly more in tune with BCS because of their FB alliances
Mark Hollis - Michigan State
Bernard Muir - lifetime Stanford guy
Bruce Rasmussen - career Creighton guy - remember - Creighton is NOT mid-major any more
Peter Roby - Northeastern
Jim Schaus - half his career at BCS schools and the other half at NIU & Ohio
Kevin White - career Duke guy

So - 10 people - only TWO are true mid-major people to represent the 280 midmajors...
while 6 are pure BCS guys and two more are half-BCS to overrepresent the 70 schools that are the big boys

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-...and-everything

For the record, Schaus spent some time rebuilding Wichita State and is the guy that brought in Marshall.

[tornado]

Thanks but just to summarize...
The main point was to show that the BCS schools - those from the "power conferences" who have formed somewhat of an alliance and have bullied the NCAA into allowing them to write their own rules - such as paying players, offering 4-year rides, getting multiple - even up to 10 & 11 of their conference members into the NCAA Tourney, etc...

those schools make up 21-22% of DI members (depending on where you draw the line - as some are mid-major-ish like DePaul, Memphis, Butler, etc..)
yet account for about 70% of the representation on the Selection Committee

While the true mid-majors make up 77-78% of NCAA DI members and get only about 30% of the Committee representation.

They already get the LION's share of the TV exposure, the revenue, and the best players - now they get an unfair & disproportionate number of the at-large bids and best seeds.
Most of us fans don't hang our life & happiness on this fact, and we're not going to go on a picket line, sabotage an event to protest, or disrupt a Donald Trump rally just to get our point across - but we do appreciate the unfairness of it and speak our minds about it.

[SubGod22]

I don't disagree with your point.

[Da Coach]

I think Wichita State can beat Arizona on Thursday. Some experts don't seem to think WSU has much of a chance, but the betting line is only -1 point favoring Arizona. That is an incredible small line for a 6-11 seed match-up.
The Shockers will have to play better than they did against Vanderbilt, especially their bad first half shooting.

[SubGod22]

Our D should always give us a chance. If we can shoot better than we did against Vandy, I think we win comfortably. Not by 20 but with some breathing room. If points are hard to come by, it gets a lot more interesting.

Foul trouble will also be a factor. That contributed to our first half to some degree as Shaq was on the bench and we were rotating guys in that don't play much and aren't big offensive threats. I also think McDuffie was a little tight in the first half being that it was his first NCAA game.

I don't know a ton about Zona, but I hope this game has a little more flow. They kept saying Vandy was one of the best defensive teams in the country which contributed to the first half bogging down as well. I hope to see us push the ball a little more like we did in the 2nd half.

I just hate that the game is as late as it is. I want to play now.

[tornado]

It will help the Valley immensely if we get two teams beyond this weekend...
plus a nice sendoff for Fred & guys..

[tornado]

The Missouri Valley will make the 9th most $$ from this year's NCAA Tourney..

they will receive roughly $6.7 million according to Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/emdm45emlhf/9-missouri-valley/?utm_campaign=Forbes&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_channel=Business&linkId=22393079