Official NCAA Tourney Bracket Discussion

[romar]

NCAA Committee should be ashamed of themselves. I do not even want to do a bracket.
Then they have the audacity to match the Mid majors against each other!

Someone needs to find Gary Walters e-mail address @ Princeton & post it on all the Valley websites.

[tornado]

They might as well simply jettison the entire RPI formula....it obviously didn't even play a part in their desire to pack as many BCS teams in as possible.

[thefish7]

This was ridiculous... You do what they ask, play well out of conference, and then get screwed. Well it's total bull... and that's all I have to say.

[jasonpeoria911]

Allegedly from the committee chair man, 104 teams won 20 or more games this year compared to 78 teams last year. Quite a bit of teams but like the rest of you said about pairing the mid majors. Least this should make the NIT that much more exciting with a lot more good teams this season.

Jason

[BTID]

The only 2 beefs I have with the bracket are Stanford and Purdue. Arkansas played its way into the field. Bradley and Missouri State could have strengthened their cases by winning in the MVC semi-finals, but if they had, it would have been at Creighton's expense. No mid-major love at all this year. Well, we'll see how the Boilers and Cardinal do this year--nothing like shutting up your critics by playing well in the tournament, just like BU proved last year.

[Stryker]

I guess some on the committee did NOT want a Valley team to make a run like BU did last year.
They simply decided to shut out any Valley teams that they could, to avoid the embarrassment that Pitt and Kansas had to face last year.

The gurus are all now duscussing how few mid-majors there are this year, way down from last year.

Even a couple they did invite, Butler and Old Dominion have to face each other in the very first round.
This couldn't possibly be coincidental, and it appears this is the year the committee decided there will be NO Cinderellas from the midmajors.

Well, there still could very well be a few Cinderellas. Albany, who almost beat UConn last year could be dangerous. Obviously SIU and Creighton could do some serious damage. And of course, Winthrop and Oral Roberts look very dangerous to me as well.

As far as Butler/ODU are concerned, that is a good thing, because we know one team will make it to the second round.

I'll be dissapointed if SIU AND Creighton don't both make the sweet 16. This is really bad. Only 6 mid majors? Total crap.

[thefish7]

Georgethedog mentioned this above. I think we're missing on a key category of the selection committee's metrics... Our conference doesn't have "big" in front of it. So it's time to change the name to Big Valley.

[Bravesfan]

NCAA Committee should be ashamed of themselves. I do not even want to do a bracket.
Then they have the audacity to match the Mid majors against each other!

It's not the first time they have done that. Creighton/Central Michigan and SIU/St. Mary's are two recent examples. And that guarantees one will advance!

[tornado]

Only six mid-majors are at-large bids!
Even tho the mid-majors really proved and validated themselves last year.

And geeeez......doe Billy Packer really look old and look bad.
Did he have some botox treatments go bad, I mean really bad?
he's only in his mid-60's, but he looks 80.

[Bravesfan]

I just realized something. No Kentucky in the tournament! I guess Arkansas took their spot.

[BTID]

I just realized something. No Kentucky in the tournament! I guess Arkansas took their spot.

Kentucky plays Villanova in Chicago. Winner will likely get Kansas.

[randy]

Allegedly from the committee chair man, 104 teams won 20 or more games this year compared to 78 teams last year. Quite a bit of teams but like the rest of you said about pairing the mid majors. Least this should make the NIT that much more exciting with a lot more good teams this season.

Jason

Well, yeah, 20 wins isn't particularly difficult to achieve IF you schedule weak teams..that's why the RPI is supposed to be useful. More teams have 20 wins, so what, the rpi is supposed to tell us how legit that total is. THe committee chair doesn't get it I guess

[Stryker]

Allegedly from the committee chair man, 104 teams won 20 or more games this year compared to 78 teams last year. Quite a bit of teams but like the rest of you said about pairing the mid majors. Least this should make the NIT that much more exciting with a lot more good teams this season.

Jason

Well, yeah, 20 wins isn't particularly difficult to achieve IF you schedule weak teams..that's why the RPI is supposed to be useful. More teams have 20 wins, so what, the rpi is supposed to tell us how legit that total is. THe committee chair doesn't get it I guess

Exactly. It's just frustrating that only 2 teams out of the 5th best conference get in, while the sixth and seventh best conferences get more.

[abraveforlife]

The one thing that cracks me up the most is that they stacked these match ups with the best odds being in favor of the BCS schools. Yah, I know there can be upsets, but still. Why in the hell is Stanford and Purdue even getting a nod for the tournament? Air FOrce has been ranked up until last week and they were ball kicked out of the field. Just watching the selection show, when they called Stanford, they said "Stanford losers of 4 of their last 5 and a so-so RPI". What a bunch of crap. $#%# the selection commitee and piss on the talking heads (ESPN,CBS,SI, all of them) that drive up/down stock for teams that they never seen play. I gurantee you that the selection commitee listens to these nut cases.

[tornado]

27 of the teams in the NCAA tournament have worse RPI's than BU