Somewhere, CAA commissioner Tom Yeager is smiling from ear to ear. He already has conference member George Mason in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, with an excellent chance to be in the Elite Eight playing basically at home in Washington D.C. (George Mason defeated Wichita State 71-68 on Bracket Buster Saturday, February 18). And tonight, one of his teams is guaranteed a spot in the NIT semifinals when Old Dominion travels to Hempstead to take on Hofstra. How ironic is this? Hofstra holds the second longest winning streak in the country. The last time they lost; last year to, that's right, Old Dominion by a single point. They have played each other five times at Hofstra Arena. The five games have been decided by a total of nine points. The last game was won by Hofstra on a buzzer beating three pointer by Aurimas Kieza. The game gets a national audience as its being televised on ESPN2 at 7pm tonight. Should be a great game.
Speaking of the NIT, what was with the committee's seeding. It was skewered to say the least. The four #1 seeds were all, surprise, big conference teams; Michigan, Cincinatti, Louisville and Maryland. Cincinatti certainly deserved a #1 seed. Maryland,with the two Missouri Valley bubble teams, Missouri State and Creighton, and bubble team Hofstra, having much better records and higher RPIs, did not. Michigan was a borderline choice. But Louisville???? Louisville finished as the 12th place team in the Big East and the last Big East team to make the tournament. Rutgers, the 11th place team in the Big East got an #8 seed. Rutgers beat Louisville in their only matchup of the year, 65-56. The RPIs were pretty close, 71 for Louisville, 75 for Rutgers. Yet Louisville was a #1 seed and Rutgers was a #8. No clue on that one. Even worse was that Missouri State, which faces Louisville at Louisville tonight had a RPI of 21, 50 spots higher than Louisville, yet was only given a #2 seed in that region
Better yet, Hofstra was given #3 seed in the East bracket with a RPI of 30 and 24 wins, while St Joe's was given a #2 seed a RPI of #43 with 18 wins. Didn't matter. Hofstra won at St Joe's.
In a New York Times article, when asked if the committee was favoring big named teams that might draw bigger crowds, NIT committee chairman C.M. Newton defended his seeding stating "Question our ability, but don't question our motives and integrity. We don't have any dogs in anybody's hunt." Right. Lets face it, the committee tried to get the four biggest basketball names to MSG for hopes of a big crowd and a good television audience. Nice try. Thanks to Manhattan spanking an undeserving Terrapins team, the committee will only at best get three out of the four. The NIT will have a guaranteed fourth NIT Semifinal team from the CAA, the mid major conference who has been making a name for itself this year. And Missouri State might also just having something to say tonight. Just like the Sweet Sixteen, the mid majors are spoiling the NIT party and are some of "the dogs in the hunt", right C.M?
Yeah, I totally smell a rat with the NIT selections and seeding. In my most recent "actual" post (not my picture), I ran down some of the schools who got in and who didn't.
This isn't the NIT of old, where more small conference representation came through. Just look who happened to grace that party...Wake Forest, Penn State, and Minnesota...all teams that just barely spilled over .500. Penn State's my biggest gripe, having only one quality road win, and they HOSTED Rutgers. What the heck? I was glad to see my alma mater shown to the door. They're not good, and after seeing the Big 10's performance in the tournament, neither was their conference. To think...all those schools that had 20+ wins and DIDN'T go to this thing.
That's why I'm not watching it. And...I think it's funny that when questioned about the suspicious nature of the seedings, the chair sounded like he was being provoked. It's a fair question, wouldn't you say, when there's absolutely no logic to the seedings and selections, considering RPI, and the overwhelming favoritism in large conference invites?
While I wish all the best to Missouri St. and ODU, I wash my hands of this travesty. I smell a rat, and I think there's something afoot, especially considering that the NIT was on the mothership, and the Women's Tournament was on the Deuce the other night.
Ugh.
Oh well. Consider this rant over. Hey, did you get my email?
Posted by: Jeff Hufnagle | March 23, 2006 at 11:35 AM