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The NCAA Bracket is set-
Loyola gets an #11 seed and plays #6 Miami in Dallas next Thursday.
Loyola gets an #11 seed and plays #6 Miami in Dallas next Thursday.
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As usual, some of the last teams in the tournament are questionable choices.
Arizona State gets in. They tied for 8th in the Pac-12, which Joe Lunardi of ESPN projected would only get 3 teams in the tournament-
AZ State was 8-10 in the Pac-12, had an RPI of 66, and were 3-4 against Top 50 teams, and just 4-6 in their final 10 games!
Syracuse was also one of the final teams in. They must have some dirty pictures of the selection committee, because this one was not forseen by anyone. Syracuse was projected out by Lunardi, and in fact, they were not even in his First Four Out. Syracuse was Lunardi's 7th team out!
Syracuse finished TIED FOR 10th in the ACC! They were 8-10 in the ACC.
A lot of people did not think Oklahoma (8-10 in the Big 12, and just 2-8 in their last 10 games) deserved a bid, but not only did they get a bid, they got the gift of a #10 seed. -
Arizona State, 11 losses
St. Bonaventure
Syracuse, 13 losses and 8-10 in conference
UCLA, 11 losses
Alabama, 15 losses
Butler, 13 losses
Mizzou, 12 losses
Oklahoma, 13 losses
Texas, 14 losses, RPI>50
.....all got at-large bids
Nevada, Rhode island and St. Bonaventure are the only non-power conference teams to get an at large bid -- MTSU with a 33 RPI and just 7 losses, St. Mary's 28-5, Vermont 26-7 all go NIT
No midmajor with an RPI of over 24 got in but multiple big schools with RPI's of even up to the 60's got in (AZ State- 66, NC State- 64, VaTech- 61)
a real stumper is USC, RPI 34, record of 23-11, played all the way to the Pac-12 TITLE game...and got SNUBBED!Comment
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Yeah, Arizona State still stuns me. RPI of 66.
Both Joe Lunardi (ESPN) and Jerry Palm (CBSSports) had them out-
Their RPI of 66 is one slot better than the worst RPI team ever to get an at large bid in the history of the tournament (USC RPI 67 in 2011).
Mid-majors were screwed again, but that surprises no one.Comment
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In my opinion any team with a losing record in their conference should be out-period.
In addition their road records were bad.houstonbraveComment
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I think Loyola got a pretty good matchup, considering their seed of #11. Miami is a very good team, but they seem to underwhelm at times. Their RPI is #28, but their Kenpom is #36. Many of their wins are by small margins, and they have trouble putting teams away. So if Loyola can hang close to them, and their shots are falling, who knows. However, in reality, I would not put any money on Loyola winning.Comment
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This is interesting. Here is the complete NCAA seeding list for all 68 teams-
Every at-large team in the tournament is seeded higher than Loyola, and every team seeded lower is an automatic bid winner. That means Loyola would not have gotten an at-large bid if they had not won the MVC Tournament. No matter what would have happened last weekend in St. Louis, the MVC was destined to be a 1-bid league. Sad.
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ESPN's review of all 68 teams-
NCAA winners and loser-
FBI-connected teams
Maybe this is a conspiracy theory, but three of the biggest teams left out of the field -- Louisville, Oklahoma State and USC -- were connected to the FBI investigation in September. Take it a step further, and one could make the case Arizona and/or Auburn are seeded lower than expected. Maybe it was purely based on credentials, but it's certainly something to think about.
Biggest losers
Mid-majors
Middle Tennessee and Saint Mary's were bounced earlier than expected from their conference tournaments, and it cost them. Middle Tennessee, after starting 24-5 in the regular season, lost its season finale at home to Marshall and then was bounced in the Conference USA tournament by Southern Miss in overtime. Meanwhile, Saint Mary's pinned its entire at-large resume on a win at Gonzaga after losing in the West Coast Conference semifinals to BYU. It wasn't enough for the Gaels. The committee did not buy into these gaudy-but-mostly-empty records.Comment
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I know they say they don't consider the conference RPI when selecting teams, but...
The Missouri Valley is the highest ranked conference to get only 1 team in the NCAA Tournament. And there are multiple conferences ranked lower than the MVC that have multiple teams that received bids (MWC, A-10).Comment
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Dr Reynolds gonna get it all cleaned up next year.Originally posted by MacabreMob View PostSad but true - I was TRYING to tell you guys...
Compete. Defend. Rebound. Win.Comment
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There are 32 conference auto bids - 7 are "Power Conferences" and 25 are midmajor (counting ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, AAC)
There are 32 at-large bids - only three are midmajors (St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Nevada) the rest are the big conferences.
So midmajors get 25 autobids but just 3 at-large
Power conferences get 7 autobids plus 29 at-large...
The "Committee" thinks 29 of the best 32 teams in the nation that didn't win their conference are their big boys - sure...
Loyola whupped Florida, St. Louis whupped Virginia Tech, UMass whupped Providence, even Illinois trounced Missouri!!
and don't tell me that behind closed door that the selection guys talk about what players and matchups will get ratings - even tho the teams may not beloing in the NCAA.
Of course, they want bobby Hurley, of course they want Trae Young, of course they want Syracuse & UCLA, of course they want Collin Sexton, and Michael porter, and Shaka Smart and Bob Huggins..even if their teams are less worthy than St. Mary's, USC or Nebraska - very worthy teams...Comment
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Originally posted by MacabreMob View PostIs THAT your bracket DC?
why does that bracket show MICHIGAN as a 3 seed in two different Regions?
They are the 3-seed in the West & in the MidwestComment
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there's a "..." after the one in the MW.... so not enough room to put "State"Originally posted by tornado View PostComment
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