NCAA bracket and results

[BUBraves2006]

With the full four days in the books, I think it's pretty clear that:

- The SEC got too many teams (Bottom five teams all lost their first game)
- The SEC is still really good (Seven in the sweet 16)

[Tommy]

With the full four days in the books, I think it's pretty clear that:
- The SEC is still really good (Seven in the sweet 16)

Well when you get 14 shots, the law of averages comes into play!

[BUBraves2006]

Well when you get 14 shots, the law of averages comes into play!

Trust me I'm as adversarial to how stacked the system as anyone. But, I can also be a realist, after watching Drake be outclassed by Texas Tech to realize that if you gave the top four of the MVC this year bids, it's unlikely any of them make the Sweet 16. Hitting at a 50% rate is still impressive.

The biggest issue now is that the teams who aren't part of the big conferences used to have the advantage of playing 3-4 years together. That continuity was what allowed many MVC teams to knock off bigger schools (often multiple) in order to move on in the tournament. Now most teams have to reload their roster at a much higher percentage every single season. So, that continuity is gone (rare one offs like Drake's situation isn't normal) and now the top talent is just generally winning out.

This is the sort of thing that makes me worry that Wardle could jump (if he got an offer) because he privately has to feel that he's really built something great and he hasn't gotten to reap that big dance reward enough that he would have liked. The counter point is that I do also wonder if he feels like he could create a sustained program of success that could get to be good enough to get in a bigger conference eventually. This is all complete speculation - I don't actually know anything more than the next guy. But, it has got to be frustrating for him and others to see the 14th place SEC team make it with a losing conference record and we have the season we have and the SEC team is valued higher (and isn't really a question in most people's eyes).

[egib52]

Trust me I'm as adversarial to how stacked the system as anyone. But, I can also be a realist, after watching Drake be outclassed by Texas Tech to realize that if you gave the top four of the MVC this year bids, it's unlikely any of them make the Sweet 16. Hitting at a 50% rate is still impressive.

The biggest issue now is that the teams who aren't part of the big conferences used to have the advantage of playing 3-4 years together. That continuity was what allowed many MVC teams to knock off bigger schools (often multiple) in order to move on in the tournament. Now most teams have to reload their roster at a much higher percentage every single season. So, that continuity is gone (rare one offs like Drake's situation isn't normal) and now the top talent is just generally winning out.

This is the sort of thing that makes me worry that Wardle could jump (if he got an offer) because he privately has to feel that he's really built something great and he hasn't gotten to reap that big dance reward enough that he would have liked. The counter point is that I do also wonder if he feels like he could create a sustained program of success that could get to be good enough to get in a bigger conference eventually. This is all complete speculation - I don't actually know anything more than the next guy. But, it has got to be frustrating for him and others to see the 14th place SEC team make it with a losing conference record and we have the season we have and the SEC team is valued higher (and isn't really a question in most people's eyes).

I just wish the committee would understand that people root for their teams and underdogs. Get rid of 4 or 5 SEC teams, and reward the mid majors.

[Da Coach]

Trust me I'm as adversarial to how stacked the system as anyone. But, I can also be a realist, after watching Drake be outclassed by Texas Tech to realize that if you gave the top four of the MVC this year bids, it's unlikely any of them make the Sweet 16. Hitting at a 50% rate is still impressive.

The biggest issue now is that the teams who aren't part of the big conferences used to have the advantage of playing 3-4 years together. That continuity was what allowed many MVC teams to knock off bigger schools (often multiple) in order to move on in the tournament. Now most teams have to reload their roster at a much higher percentage every single season. So, that continuity is gone (rare one offs like Drake's situation isn't normal) and now the top talent is just generally winning out.

This is the sort of thing that makes me worry that Wardle could jump (if he got an offer) because he privately has to feel that he's really built something great and he hasn't gotten to reap that big dance reward enough that he would have liked. The counter point is that I do also wonder if he feels like he could create a sustained program of success that could get to be good enough to get in a bigger conference eventually. This is all complete speculation - I don't actually know anything more than the next guy. But, it has got to be frustrating for him and others to see the 14th place SEC team make it with a losing conference record and we have the season we have and the SEC team is valued higher (and isn't really a question in most people's eyes).

But the bigger point is not that we think Drake or Bradley or UNI would have bulldozed teams like Duke, Michigan State, or Texas Tech and made it to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, or Final Four. That probably would not happen, though it did happen in 2006, when they put 4 MVC teams in the MVCT and gave them a chance. Bradley and Wichita State both made it to the Sweet 16, and another mid-major, George Mason, made it to the Final Four.

The bigger point is that every team is awarded about $2 million for each game played. So if the MVC could get 2 or possibly 3 teams in the tournament, and maybe one or two advance, that would bring in an additional $5 to $10 million dollars to the MVC every year. That is many times the athletic department budgets of any MVC school. Just think what the MVC schools could do with that kind of revenue- bigger recruiting budgets, better facilities, maybe more money back-channeled into NIL. It would greatly improve the qualify of the every team in the MVC, and would lead to more MVC teams qualifying for future bids.

That scenario frightens the Power Conferences. They simply cannot allow it. It's why they keep changing their selection formulas and keeping some of them "secret" to keep mid-majors out. They do not want to share that money with mid-majors, even though it is a drop in the bucket compared to the athletic department budgets of those Power Conference teams that range from $100 million to over $200 million per year. It wouldn't hurt them a bit if a little more money went to mid-majors, but they are afraid it would improve those programs, make them more competitive, and steal future bids and more NCAA money.
Mid-majors just want a chance to play and get a small piece of the massive NCAA revenue pie.

[egib52]

But the bigger point is not that we think Drake or Bradley or UNI would have bulldozed teams like Duke, Michigan State, or Texas Tech and made it to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, or Final Four. That probably would not happen, though it did happen in 2006, when they put 4 MVC teams in the MVCT and gave them a chance. Bradley and Wichita State both made it to the Sweet 16, and another mid-major, George Mason, made it to the Final Four.

The bigger point is that every team is awarded about $2 million for each game played. So if the MVC could get 2 or possibly 3 teams in the tournament, and maybe one or two advance, that would bring in an additional $5 to $10 million dollars to the MVC every year. That is many times the athletic department budgets of any MVC school. Just think what the MVC schools could do with that kind of revenue- bigger recruiting budgets, better facilities, maybe more money back-channeled into NIL. It would greatly improve the qualify of the every team in the MVC, and would lead to more MVC teams qualifying for future bids.

That scenario frightens the Power Conferences. They simply cannot allow it. It's why they keep changing their selection formulas and keeping some of them "secret" to keep mid-majors out. They do not want to share that money with mid-majors, even though it is a drop in the bucket compared to the athletic department budgets of those Power Conference teams that range from $100 million to over $200 million per year. It wouldn't hurt them a bit if a little more money went to mid-majors, but they are afraid it would improve those programs, make them more competitive, and steal future bids and more NCAA money.
Mid-majors just want a chance to play and get a small piece of the massive NCAA revenue pie.

Just for comparison, I found this article from 2021 regarding the NIT:

https://www.sportico.com/leagues/college-sports/2021/ncaa-nit-revenue-1234625859/

"The NCAA has a complex way of rewarding teams for participating in March Madness. For the NIT, it’s much simpler. In addition to having travel, hotel and other expenses comped, each school in the NIT is given $4,000 for every game it plays. It’s a total payout pool of $128,000 this year."

[Tommy]

Trust me I'm as adversarial to how stacked the system as anyone. But, I can also be a realist, after watching Drake be outclassed by Texas Tech to realize that if you gave the top four of the MVC this year bids, it's unlikely any of them make the Sweet 16. Hitting at a 50% rate is still impressive.

No less likely than over half the SEC teams that were invited, but then we'll never know because mid-majors don't get the invites. And I know you're not sticking up for the PC's, so this is not me arguing with you. I know we both feel the same way on this subject matter. As we've all discussed here in the past, if the tournament isn't a tournament of champions, then what is the point? If they just want to have a PC tournament, then call it that and stop pretending that it's anything else.