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I know many may think this past season was a fluke with mid-majors. All the way through, from the 'inflated RPI' to success in the NCAA tourney.
We, as BU and MVC fans have seen the teams and conference get better over the years - especially in the past 10 years. I don't believe it is a flash-in-the-pan situation. The MVC will be just as good if not BETTER next year.
Every year there are obstacles to overcome. We will have to start over again in October. March Madness of 2006 will long be forgotten and the polls, pundits, and networks will be having a love fest for all the BCS teams again.
We are going to hear the RPI is no longer important, relevant, reliable and valid. Littlepage's approach to the selection process is gonna be difficult to overcome. He will once again ask people their perception of who is good without giving much weight to what teams did on the floor to get a bid. Littlepage, all the pundits, polls, and networks view things in perception of reality. Since they view it in perception of reality, they are NOT in reality!
Littlepage sent a message to the Florida State's of the world - don't play cream puffs in the regular season. Basically what this means... play a couple of bad BCS schools, the RPI will 'inbred' itself so it doesn't hurt to beat them. This means fewer and fewer games will be scheduled with mid-majors. Like there were a lot to begin with... schyeeya, right. So for example, Florida State would have gotten in the NCAA this past season if they had not played Jacksonville (331 RPI), Alcorn St (302), Tex Southern (307) {Hey, Illinois played them too!}. Instead, replace them with Penn St (106), Mississippi (156), and Missouri (139). All VERY winnable games.
So what does this mean? Littlepage wants seperation between the classes. He called mid-majors Division 1 Two-A. I about fell on my a$$ when I heard him say it. You will see more weak BCS schools schedule each other. So the trickle down will mean... The bottom feeders are gonna need to play somebody - and they are gonna need 'buy' games. Now maybe the Creighton's and SIU's of the world won't give buy games, but maybe their opponents will. That will affect the RPI of not just those teams, but those in their conference - all the MVC will feel the effects of this.
Let me backtrack a little now. Was this year a 'flash-in-the-pan' for mid-majors? I have a theory on why it isn't and how we got help from the majors. It all goes back to the conference jumping. Greed will do them all in (I hope - hehe). ACC robs the BE, so the BE (becomes the BigBeast) raids CUSA, etc. IMO, this not only c-r-u-s-h-e-d the CUSA, but I think it seriously hurt the BE. Time will tell. But I see dark clouds on the horizon for the BE. Always have once they made the expansion. Take Cincinnati for example. I was living there when they announced the move to the BE. Those fans were SO HAPPY. I told them all to get ready for mediocrity and say hello to the NIT every year. My reasoning was this: They are no longer gonna recruit against the schlepps in CUSA - they are gonna have to recruit against the Syracuse's, St John's, and Seton Hall's - and those aren't the creme-de-le-creme (sp?). Also, instead of winning 25 games, finishing top 3 in CUSA and an at-large NCAA bid locked up every year, they will be faced with wins in the high teens and a conference finish outside of the top 4 just about every year. No more top 4 seeds in NCAA, hello 7-11 seeds if that. I would love to ask Cincy fans now if they are so sure the BE was the best thing to do. So anyway, back to my point... The expansion benefitted mid-majors. Had Marq, Cincy, L'Ville all stayed in CUSA (along with the others), I think Memphis, Marq, Cincy, L'Ville and UAB all get bids. At the same time, the BE would have still gotten at least 7 with UConn, Villa, WVU, Pitt, G'town, SH and Syracuse... maybe more because maybe ND and Rutgers could have won more games. Good gosh, the BE has 16 teams but only has 16 conference games. How in the world can you get a fair assessment on who is any good?
So the 8 bids to the BE and 2 to CUSA (10 total) could have been 12 or more. Ahh... but the sharing of the money. The schlepps of CUSA get less. And the BE is gonna have to share about the same amount of shares to more teams. That's the key. So CUSA is gonna continue to slip due to fewer shares of the pie. BE is gonna 'hurt' from spreading their shares to more teams.
What's next? Well, for a couple years... the BE will try to own the NCAA by trying to get more teams in to keep the boat afloat. CUSA will slip into mid-major status in perception of the pundits, polls, and networks. It will snow-ball... fewer bids, fewer NCAA wins, less-talented players, etc. Thing is - it's gonna benefit the mid-majors in the MVC, Colonial, MAC, WAC, and the Mountain West (yes, the Mtn West is actually a mid-major in the grand scheme of things).
I think it will eventually burst. Not sure how long it will take. The football (BCS) drama is a major role-player affecting the hoops. I still believe the BE will break up. And when it breaks, look out! I hold no crystal ball, I just believe it won't be as simple as when the WAC had 16 teams and split into 2 leagues with 8 teams each.
Whew..
Sorry to be so lengthy. I hope you all actually found the time and patience to read my ramblings.
I might edit this and/or add more later. I think I need a break right now. I can't type very fast.
We, as BU and MVC fans have seen the teams and conference get better over the years - especially in the past 10 years. I don't believe it is a flash-in-the-pan situation. The MVC will be just as good if not BETTER next year.
Every year there are obstacles to overcome. We will have to start over again in October. March Madness of 2006 will long be forgotten and the polls, pundits, and networks will be having a love fest for all the BCS teams again.
We are going to hear the RPI is no longer important, relevant, reliable and valid. Littlepage's approach to the selection process is gonna be difficult to overcome. He will once again ask people their perception of who is good without giving much weight to what teams did on the floor to get a bid. Littlepage, all the pundits, polls, and networks view things in perception of reality. Since they view it in perception of reality, they are NOT in reality!
Littlepage sent a message to the Florida State's of the world - don't play cream puffs in the regular season. Basically what this means... play a couple of bad BCS schools, the RPI will 'inbred' itself so it doesn't hurt to beat them. This means fewer and fewer games will be scheduled with mid-majors. Like there were a lot to begin with... schyeeya, right. So for example, Florida State would have gotten in the NCAA this past season if they had not played Jacksonville (331 RPI), Alcorn St (302), Tex Southern (307) {Hey, Illinois played them too!}. Instead, replace them with Penn St (106), Mississippi (156), and Missouri (139). All VERY winnable games.
So what does this mean? Littlepage wants seperation between the classes. He called mid-majors Division 1 Two-A. I about fell on my a$$ when I heard him say it. You will see more weak BCS schools schedule each other. So the trickle down will mean... The bottom feeders are gonna need to play somebody - and they are gonna need 'buy' games. Now maybe the Creighton's and SIU's of the world won't give buy games, but maybe their opponents will. That will affect the RPI of not just those teams, but those in their conference - all the MVC will feel the effects of this.
Let me backtrack a little now. Was this year a 'flash-in-the-pan' for mid-majors? I have a theory on why it isn't and how we got help from the majors. It all goes back to the conference jumping. Greed will do them all in (I hope - hehe). ACC robs the BE, so the BE (becomes the BigBeast) raids CUSA, etc. IMO, this not only c-r-u-s-h-e-d the CUSA, but I think it seriously hurt the BE. Time will tell. But I see dark clouds on the horizon for the BE. Always have once they made the expansion. Take Cincinnati for example. I was living there when they announced the move to the BE. Those fans were SO HAPPY. I told them all to get ready for mediocrity and say hello to the NIT every year. My reasoning was this: They are no longer gonna recruit against the schlepps in CUSA - they are gonna have to recruit against the Syracuse's, St John's, and Seton Hall's - and those aren't the creme-de-le-creme (sp?). Also, instead of winning 25 games, finishing top 3 in CUSA and an at-large NCAA bid locked up every year, they will be faced with wins in the high teens and a conference finish outside of the top 4 just about every year. No more top 4 seeds in NCAA, hello 7-11 seeds if that. I would love to ask Cincy fans now if they are so sure the BE was the best thing to do. So anyway, back to my point... The expansion benefitted mid-majors. Had Marq, Cincy, L'Ville all stayed in CUSA (along with the others), I think Memphis, Marq, Cincy, L'Ville and UAB all get bids. At the same time, the BE would have still gotten at least 7 with UConn, Villa, WVU, Pitt, G'town, SH and Syracuse... maybe more because maybe ND and Rutgers could have won more games. Good gosh, the BE has 16 teams but only has 16 conference games. How in the world can you get a fair assessment on who is any good?
So the 8 bids to the BE and 2 to CUSA (10 total) could have been 12 or more. Ahh... but the sharing of the money. The schlepps of CUSA get less. And the BE is gonna have to share about the same amount of shares to more teams. That's the key. So CUSA is gonna continue to slip due to fewer shares of the pie. BE is gonna 'hurt' from spreading their shares to more teams.
What's next? Well, for a couple years... the BE will try to own the NCAA by trying to get more teams in to keep the boat afloat. CUSA will slip into mid-major status in perception of the pundits, polls, and networks. It will snow-ball... fewer bids, fewer NCAA wins, less-talented players, etc. Thing is - it's gonna benefit the mid-majors in the MVC, Colonial, MAC, WAC, and the Mountain West (yes, the Mtn West is actually a mid-major in the grand scheme of things).
I think it will eventually burst. Not sure how long it will take. The football (BCS) drama is a major role-player affecting the hoops. I still believe the BE will break up. And when it breaks, look out! I hold no crystal ball, I just believe it won't be as simple as when the WAC had 16 teams and split into 2 leagues with 8 teams each.
Whew..
Sorry to be so lengthy. I hope you all actually found the time and patience to read my ramblings.
I might edit this and/or add more later. I think I need a break right now. I can't type very fast.
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