Who Let the Dogs Out...

[The_Waterboy]

I'm all too familiar with the axiom: "Every dog has his day," but the 2016 NCAA Division 1 B-Ball Tourney has been nothing less than the hardwood equivalent of the Westminster Dog Show. I just turned away from watching a little regarded #14 Steven F. Austin team rubbing the elitist noses of their overwhelming favorite #3 West Va opponents in a pile of dog doo-doo of the Mountaineers own making. Statistically for the tourney thus far, virtually more than 50% of the underdog teams have beaten their higher seeded opposition over the course of the opening three days of the tournament. Unreal. My heartfelt congrats to all the lesser regarded programs who showed that if you higher seeded teams don't bring your "A" game, especially in the first round of the tourney, chances are you're gonna lay an egg. In the B!G alone, #2 Moo U and #5 Broiler Chickens have taken the high hard one up their moons. The PAC-12 entrants are imitating mother hens as well, laying egg after egg. I'm lovin' it!

Woof... Woof... Woof-Woof

 

[pawildcat]

I'm all too familiar with the axiom: "Every dog has his day," but the 2016 NCAA Division 1 B-Ball Tourney has been nothing less than the hardwood equivalent of the Westminster Dog Show. I just turned away from watching a little regarded #14 Steven F. Austin team rubbing the elitist noses of their overwhelming favorite #3 West Va opponents in a pile of dog doo-doo of the Mountaineers own making. Statistically for the tourney thus far, virtually 2 of 3 underdog teams have beaten their higher seeded opposition over the course of the opening three days of the tournament. Unreal. My heartfelt congrats to all the lesser regarded programs who showed that if you higher seeded teams don't bring your "A" game, especially in the first round of the tourney, chances are you're gonna lay an egg. In the B!G alone, #2 Moo U and #5 Broiler Chickens have taken the high hard one up their moons. The PAC-12 entries are imitating mother hens as well, laying egg after egg. I'm lovin' it!

I seldom pay much attention to Dickie V. these days, but the other day he suggested major conferences be limited to no more than a third of their teams in the tourney (I think he also suggested teams should have to be over .500 in conference). Although I don't think the big conferences would ever give in to it, I don't think it's a bad idea after watching teams such as Wichita State and S.F. Austin play. What stands out this year is that there have been very few blowouts even when the favored team wins. I thought Austin had a legitimately tough defense and excellent guard play. I don't think the winner of Notre Dame-Michigan will look forward to playing them.

 

[The_Waterboy]

The NCAA Division 1 B-ball Tourney is the NCAA's #1 cash cow, and they would sooner cut-off their left gonad rather than put a limit on the number of entrants to The Dance from one single conference. I must admit, that putting the restriction of going at least 50% in your conference games could make sense as a decent pre-qualifier; but then again, if this restriction was in place, prohibitive dog teams, like Holy Cross, would never get a seat at the table with the Basketball Blue Bloods. And with the advent of the formation of super conferences on the brink of having 14-16 teams, restricting entrant numbers from a single conference would be detrimental to the tourney's ultimate goal: making m-o-n-e-y. So that will NEVER happen.

 

[pawildcat]

The NCAA Division 1 B-ball Tourney is the NCAA's #1 cash cow, and they would sooner cut-off their left gonad rather than put a limit on the number of entrants to The Dance from one single conference. I must admit, that putting the restriction of going at least 50% in your conference games could make sense as a decent pre-qualifier; but then again, if this restriction was in place, prohibitive dog teams, like Holy Cross, would never get a seat at the table with the Basketball Blue Bloods. And with the advent of the formation of super conferences on the brink of having 14-16 teams, restricting entrant numbers from a single conference would be detrimental to the tourney's ultimate goal: making m-o-n-e-y. So that will NEVER happen.

Vitale was talking the power conferences on this, not the small fry who would never qualify five teams to begin with. And I don't believe it would affect Holy Cross this year as they won their conference tourney, which is an automatic qualifier. As I said, I don't think the big conferences would go along with it and you're right that it probably won't happen, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea.

 

[Sec.112]

Before the tourney started, these boards were just one of the many places people were bitching about letting in teams from smaller conferences. It was the typical argument.

Hasn't the tourney history taught us anything?

a) These conferences often have teams - at worst - very representative of the talent and execution of the big-name teams.
b) The big conferences are stacking the scheduling deck more and more against these programs, so they need a route in.

As these two days have demonstrated, these "mid-majors" are such an important part of the "madness." No way should they be cut out.

 

[thewildcat2011]

Or....we could seed teams appropriately via advanced stats and other tools we have at our disposal, rather than having a group of know-nothings guess at it.

 

[Hungry Jack]

IMO, there is more parity this year. Teams that get elite players typically lose them to the NBA in a year or two. And the guys that have run the dominant programs in recent years are, frankly, getting old.

 

[Catreporter]

Or....we could seed teams appropriately via advanced stats and other tools we have at our disposal, rather than having a group of know-nothings guess at it.

Like in the bowls, matchups, especially in the early rounds, are key. Wichita State an 11 seed? I don't think so. They had key injuries early in the year so their record was a little deceiving. As to the balance of mid-major, major and smaller conferences, it looks about right to me. You still had some big blowouts at 1 vs 16.

 

[pawildcat]

Like in the bowls, matchups, especially in the early rounds, are key. Wichita State an 11 seed? I don't think so. They had key injuries early in the year so their record was a little deceiving. As to the balance of mid-major, major and smaller conferences, it looks about right to me. You still had some big blowouts at 1 vs 16.

I'm for letting more of the teams in from the smaller conferences. I think the Missouri Valley is 3-0 for the first round. I'd just as soon see them as the seventh-place team in the B1G or ACC.