NCAA Draw - what a joke
Let’s start with Duke. They get a #1 seed. The first round game is against the play in winner…. the number 4 seed in the bracket is a Purdue team that has been in a free fall since losing Hummel, and they get by far the weakest #2 and #3 seeds in Villanova and Baylor. How is that possible? Why are they treated like the #1 overall team in the country? What did they do this year to deserve that? Did they have a single quality win the entire year? Pretty sure their best win was home against Maryland. Their best road win was at Clemson. They beat a very average Gonzaga team non-conference, but that is it. How does that warrant a #1 seed, let alone the #1 overall??? They lost all three of its tough games (@ Wisconsin, @ Georgetown and @ Maryland) Duke hasn’t made a run in the tourney for quite some time… perhaps that is why they are gifted the easiest draw I have seen…
I need to bitch a little about Va Tech. Yes, I like Cornell and Marquette more than Va Tech, but I still follow them very closely. For the third year in a row, they were one of the final 2-3 teams not to make the tourney. This year they didn’t make it largely because of a supposed weak non-conference schedule. The RPI formula is 75% based on strength of schedule, and 25% on how you actually perform against that schedule, and it killed Va Tech this year. Should that be the top criteria used by the committee…. No fricken’ way. Let’s compare California v. Va Tech. Cal got an at-large #8 seed. Let’s assume that the ACC was better than the Pac 10 this year (anyone wanting to argue that, let me know). Cal had a much better RPI because of its “difficult” non-conference schedule. Cal went 8-4 in the non-conference with the best win against Iowa State at home (a team that finished 11th in the Big 12). The four losses came against powerhouses Syracuse, Ohio State, Kansas and New Mexico - losing by a combined 51 points…i.e. they were not competitive in any of those games. They had one win against a tournament team when they beat Washington at home….and they got an 8 seed. Va Tech on the other hand went 12-1 in the non-conference, with the one loss @ Temple (a #5 seed in the NCAA). They played a lot of crappy teams, but they did schedule games @Iowa, @ Penn State, Seton Hall, and Georgia…. All teams for major conferences who have traditionally been respectable teams (OK, maybe not Penn State). In the conference schedule they beat Clemson, Wake Forest and @ Georgia Tech… all tourney teams. They lost in double OT to Maryland, and have the ACC conference player of the year in Delaney. They were also tied @ Duke with 5 minutes left in the game. How Cal is an 8 seed and Va Tech is in the NIT is joke.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:05 am
And Sweden got hosed in the Olympic hockey tournament… men’s *and* women’s draws. Wake me up when Danny has a college basketball rant that does *not* involve the alleged hosing of Va Tech.
As to Duke getting the #1 overall, I’m miffed as well. Now, full disclaimer: I hate Duke, always have. Not sure why, I guess I decided early on that I liked North Carolina - so that necessarily meant I had to hate Duke. Maybe it’s cuz guys like Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley (terrific college player obviously) just *looked* like guys that needed to get slugged. Tough to have an issue with Coach K, seems to do and say all the right things, in the right way… but I was a Dean Smith guy (as noted)… so I therefore am dutibound to not be a Coach K guy.
Okay, that said… who’s your #1 then? I”m hearing Kansas is the odds-on favorite, so I’m guessing you’d suggest they should’ve gotten the #1 overall seed - or perhaps you have someone else in mind. But if you’re going to lambast the committee for choosing Duke, you have to name at least one other team that is more deserving.
In your tired Va Tech rant, at least you identified (at least) one team that you feel is less deserving. I get thoroughly annoyed when I hear people whine that Team A or Team B got screwed (and/or got a gift) by the selection committee, but they can’t tell me who Team A or Team B should be replaced with. You did so in the Cal/Va Tech whine, so who’s the “better #1 seed(s)” than Duke?
March 16th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
As for Va Tech… they also have a better resume than Wake and Georgia Tech both of which they beat… not to mention Minnesota. I mean, why do they even play the Championship game for the Big 10, since it has no bearing on the seeds. Minnesota isn’t a tourny team as displayed by completely not showing up on Sunday
Ohio State should be a #1 seed instead of Duke…. They won the Big Ten regular season and Conference tourneys [which as I mentioned didn’t matter] and lost 3 of 4 conference games with player of the year Evan Turner. If Syracuse gets dinged for Onuaku’s injury, then tOSU should be acknowledged for playing with Turner…..
West Virginia is also more deserving than Duke. There 2 wins against Villanova and a win against G-Town and Ohio State far surpass anything Duke accomplished…. and winning the Big East Tourney is no small feat. Duke had to go through the tough slate of Virginia, Miami and Georgia Tech… WOW. Kentucky or Kansas should be #1 overall, but Duke shouldn’t even be on the #1 line.
March 17th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Fair enough. Hopefully they will continue their (relative) lack of success in the tournament this year, exposing that #1 seed for the fraud it is. It’s been six years since they advanced past the Sweet Sixteen - and in 07 and 08, they didn’t even make the Sweet Sixteen. Well… see for yourself right here (handy-dandy NCAA tourney results for all teams - yes, including Cornell - closest we’ve come to victory was a 2-pt loss to Navy in 1954):
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/history/_/team1/5847