****OFFICIAL NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK / BUBBLE WATCH THREAD****

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

The committee is supposed to judge BYU based on how they played without Davies, not how they played with him. They shouldn't be a 3.

disagree, they always (and should) judge you by how you played after you lose a player, and BYU played like steaming dog crap, except when Jimmer willed them to a win. They still got credit for their season, but if BYU is a 2 seed, someone #1 (Pitt) gets an unacceptably easy bracket. I would have knocked BYU down to a 4.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by alnorth

disagree, they always (and should) judge you by how you played after you lose a player, and BYU played like steaming dog crap, except when Jimmer willed them to a win. They still got credit for their season, but if BYU is a 2 seed, someone #1 (Pitt) gets an unacceptably easy bracket. I would have knocked BYU down to a 4.

That's what I'm saying. They should have been a 4. At least.

[alnorth]

Gonna revise my theory. Maybe its not necessarily "play a good non-con SOS and you are in", maybe its more like "if you play a horrid non-con SOS, you better have a terrific year or we're throwing you out, and we don't care how tough your conference is".

in other words, playing people doesn't get you in, but not playing people outside your conference may kill you. Colorado had one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the country, and beating K-State 3 times apparently didn't make up for that. Did we get any marginal tournament teams who had a non-con SOS above about 200?

[banyon]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Gonna revise my theory. Maybe its not necessarily "play a good non-con SOS and you are in", maybe its more like "if you play a horrid non-con SOS, you better have a terrific year or we're throwing you out, and we don't care how tough your conference is".

in other words, playing people doesn't get you in, but not playing people outside your conference may kill you. Colorado had one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the country, and beating K-State 3 times apparently didn't make up for that. Did we get any marginal tournament teams who had a non-con SOS above about 200?

Just showing UAB non con at @173.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by banyon

Just showing UAB non con at @173.

it wasn't over 200 or 300 like Alabama and Colorado. I think UAB got a pass because their RPI was 31.

That's got to be the message this committee is sending: schedule people in November and December, or you are toast. Scheduling people doesn't get you in, but if you don't play anyone until the conference schedule, they will punish you.

[banyon]

Originally Posted by alnorth

it wasn't over 200 or 300 like Alabama and Colorado. I think UAB got a pass because their RPI was 31.

That's got to be the message this committee is sending: schedule people in November and December, or you are toast. Scheduling people doesn't get you in, but if you don't play anyone until the conference schedule, they will punish you.

It's stupid though, because they didn't even play any of those teams close. In fact, they only played 3 noncon team that's even in the tourney, one being VCU.

Look at this schedule:

2011 Schedule (?)
Game Plan
Date Opponent Result Location Record Conf
Sat Nov 13 287 Southeast Missouri St. W, 78-56 70 Home 1-0
Wed Nov 17 180 Middle Tennessee W, 76-71 73 Away 2-0
Sat Nov 20 120 Arizona St. L, 69-66 64 Away 2-1
Tue Nov 23 288 South Alabama W, 82-58 67 Home 3-1
Fri Nov 26 102 Arkansas W, 70-65 71 OT Semi-Away 4-1
Mon Nov 29 273 Troy W, 78-57 63 Away 5-1
Wed Dec 1 276 Jacksonville St. W, 59-53 59 Home 6-1
Fri Dec 3 57 Georgia L, 66-64 59 Away 6-2
Sun Dec 5 110 Kent St. W, 75-59 59 Home 7-2
Sun Dec 19 323 Alabama A&M W, 58-40 62 Home 8-2
Tue Dec 21 84 Virginia Commonwealth W, 68-65 69 Home 9-2
Mon Dec 27 162 George Washington W, 79-44 59 Home 10-2
Wed Jan 5 2 Duke L, 85-64 69 Away 10-3
Sat Jan 8 65 Texas El Paso W, 100-97 94 3OT Home 11-3 1-0
Sat Jan 15 88 Tulsa L, 78-62 67 Away 11-4 1-1
Mon Jan 17 136 East Carolina W, 66-59 60 Away 12-4 2-1
Wed Jan 19 146 Southern Methodist W, 67-53 61 Home 13-4 3-1
Sat Jan 22 85 Memphis L, 76-73 75 OT Home 13-5 3-2
Wed Jan 26 80 Marshall W, 60-56 63 Home 14-5 4-2
Sat Jan 29 100 Central Florida W, 74-69 62 Away 15-5 5-2
Wed Feb 2 68 Southern Mississippi L, 75-71 59 Home 15-6 5-3
Sat Feb 5 179 Tulane W, 47-39 62 Away 16-6 6-3
Wed Feb 9 80 Marshall W, 64-48 58 Away 17-6 7-3
Sat Feb 12 150 Rice W, 74-68 65 Home 18-6 8-3
Wed Feb 16 85 Memphis L, 62-58 65 Away 18-7 8-4
Sat Feb 19 100 Central Florida W, 63-58 53 Home 19-7 9-4
Sat Feb 26 203 Houston W, 68-55 61 Away 20-7 10-4
Wed Mar 2 68 Southern Mississippi W, 67-66 58 Away 21-7 11-4
Sat Mar 5 136 East Carolina W, 66-48 58 Home 22-7 12-4
Conference USA Tournament
Thu Mar 10 136 East Carolina L, 75-70 76 OT Neutral 22-8

[alnorth]

Michigan State is another good example. People were crossing their fingers, but as a 10 seed they weren't close to being out.

This year Michigan State lined up a hilariously hard schedule, won only a couple of those tough non-con games, and then hoped the committee would like it. The Spartans absolutely nailed it.