Patty Mills and the Gaels got snubbed Sunday night and will have to settle for the NIT.
Selection Sunday always brings about controversy about which teams get selected for the NCAA Tournament. Our bracket prognosticator Joe Lunardi went 33/34 in at-large bids this year, missing on Arizona. I think the selection of Arizona is just atrocious and echoes what certain voices in college basketball have said, which is that a schools name matters. Here is a breakdown of what the bubble was and further examine each schools case.
Team A: 24-6 (10-4), RPI 47, SOS 149, 7-3 last 10, 3-4 vs. Top 100
Team B: 26-7 (14-4), RPI 40, SOS 111, 9-1 last 10, 9-5 vs. Top 100
Team C: 20-13 (7-9), RPI 55, SOS 17, 5-5 last 10, 9-11 vs. Top 100
Team D: 19-13 (10-10), RPI 44, SOS 11, 5-5 last 10, 10-12 vs. Top 100
Team E: 19-13 (9-9), RPI 62, SOS 34, 5-5 last 10, 8-12 vs. Top 100
Team F: 22-11 (10-8), RPI 70, SOS 93, 5-5 last 10, 7-10 vs. Top 100
Team G: 23-9 (11-5), RPI 34, SOS 41, 6-4 last 10, 6-9 vs. Top 100
Team H: 23-10 (9-7), RPI 52, SOS 84, 4-6 last 10, 8-9 vs. Top 100
Team I: 22-11 (10-6), RPI63, SOS 62, 8-2 last 10, 6-10 vs. Top 100
These are the major numbers that must be considered by the committee when making their selections. If there were three spots left, which three teams would you select? Obviously, Team B has to be selected no matter what, with a Top 40 RPI, strong conference record, hot finish (11 of 12) and 9-5 record vs. the Top 100. Team B is Creighton, who was snubbed by the committee. Their resume is no doubt the strongest of any of these teams. Team A, Team D and Team G would have to be the next three teams to fight for two spots. Team A turns out to be St. Mary’s and is 3-4 vs the Top 100, has an RPI of 47 and struggled when their superstar guard went down with injury. Team D (Michigan) has a very strong SOS, only a .500 record vs their conference, but was a respectable 9-11 vs. the Top 100. Finally, Team G has a strong RPI, good SOS and was 6-9 vs. the Top 100. Team G is San Diego St whose numbers are better than Michigan gave Utah(6 seed) all they could handle in the Mountain West title game before losing 52-50. If there were three spots, then going just by the numbers Creighton, San Diego St. and St. Mary’s would have to be selected. Michigan would just miss the cut, Maryland(Team C) would not be in because of their 55 RPI and below .500 record in conference! How can a team who couldn’t win fifty percent of it’s conference games be selected as one of the best 34 at large teams? The same can be said for Arizona who had a mediocre RPI, 19 wins, poor finish the last six games and 8-12 record vs. the Top 100 teams. How can they be invited if they can only win 40 percent of their games when they play quality opponents?! If this was Creighton with those numbers, they would not even qualify for the NIT!!! Obviously Arizona’s brand name came into effect for the committee and it is truly a shame that this is the case. Team F (Penn State) had very weak numbers, Team H struggled down the stretch to hurt their chances and Team I(Auburn) had a poor RPI and record vs the Top 100, but got hot at the end of the season.
With Maryland, Michigan and Arizona being the three teams selected to these final three spots and only four “non-power” conference teams receiving at-large bids it is apparent that mid-majors are no better off than ten years ago. In fact, their cause has been hurt as they have continued to receive less bids every year! Anyway, here’s to an entertaining tournament, but one that will be missing some quality teams! I can only hope that the Maryland, Michigan and Arizona have poor showings in order to justify to the committee that taking the seventh best team from a power conference over the second or third team from a quality mid-major conference is the wrong way to go about selecting teams.
Coming Tuesday, my NCAA predictions…..
Gonzaga will attempt to channel their tournament magic which has been absent the past few years…
Also, every day I will post some videos of some of my favorite NCAA moments…
1 Comment
March 16, 2009 at 1:07 am
While you do make a couple good points, I dont see any mention of top 50 rpi records, which I believe the selection committee takes a long hard look at. In that case Arizona went 6-10 I believe. Arizona won more games against the top 50 then most the mid-majors played. Also SOS plays a a factor and having one above 100 is never good. So While Creighton and St Marys have nice overall records they didnt really play that high quality of opponents.
Lastly, there is the eye test. You can’t honestly tell me you think the teams who were left out are better than Arizona, Maryland or even Wisconsin. Arizona destroyed SDSU, beat Gonzaga (who St Marys lost to 3 times), handled Oregon 2x (a team that was considered one of St. Mary’s good OOC wins).
While the committee could have left Arizona out and would have been justified in doing so they did indeed put the best team in the tourney. People are saying Arizona could possibly make the sweet 16 none of the other teams would have been talked about like that.
Here’s to hoping Arizona gets a win in the tourney to prove they should have been selected.