Q leads Kent to a MAC Title at the Q
Little for me to say about the MAC title game last night that Gary has not said below. A dominating performance by Kent against a very good Akron team from a conference that gets little respect. I am proud of the Flashes and hope that they will get an 8 or better seed to have an opportunity to win their first game and get on the sort of role the did in 2002.
Now a bit about Selection Sunday, the process of selection, and yes Gary, my parting shot at the A-10! Today many strong Mid Major programs will once again be disappointed by the overwhelming number of teams with average resumes (some even below average) from the so called Power Conferences that leave them out of the Big Dance.
This year, more than any in recent memory, the selection committee has the opportunity to take more “bubble teams” from Mid-Major conferences and give them a chance to play wit the “big boys”. Even if this happens it will not end the debate on who should get in and expanding the field. Just for fun consider the following three resume’s and give me your honest opinion after I reveal who owns which resume (hint, only one of these teams may get in, and from what you see below it may be the weakest of the three)! Pay close attention to key wins.
Team#1 Team#2 Team#3
Overall Record 21-12 17-15 19-13
League Record 9-7 9-7 10-8
Top 50 Record 5-6 3-7 2-10
Top 100 Record 8-8 5-12 7-11
Best Wins (out of conf) Penn State Miss State Syracuse
South Alabama Florida
Xavier
Illinois
Key Losses (out of conf) Holy Cross So Cal Butler
Creighton Louisville UNC
Gonzaga Dayton
Syracuse
RPI 41 72 48
Look at Team #1 and note that they did not beat a single good team, less great team, all year out of conference and look at their losses in important non-league games. Look at Team #2 who had three strong wins versus tournament teams and lost at the buzzer to Louisville, USC, and Dayton! Look at Team #3 whose only wins of note were against two teams not going to the tournament and lost by 20 points to Butler…at home!
By the way, Team #1 is St Joe’s, Team #2 is Miami of Ohio, and Team #3 is Ohio State. Despite Miami playing no less than 7 teams out of conference who will be in the tournament, and beating 3 of them, they will be not even be on the radar because they went 9-7 in the lowly MAC. On the other hand St Joe’s went 9-7 in the A-10, played only 1 team (Gonzaga, and lost)) out of conference who will go to the tournament, and yet it appears they will be dancing! Meanwhile, Ohio State has a decent chance to dance as well and they only played 2 teams that will be in the tourney and lost to both of them (and there conference record was similar at 10-8)!
My point is this. The A-10, because of what is now ancient history of some of their league members, starts the year with a baseline RPI much higher then it deserves based on fact, not fiction. Take a look at this conferences non league wins against teams that are going to the Big Dance and you will find a total of 6 (including 3 by Xavier)…6! The MAC on the other hand had a total of 9! So how will this play out at the start of next year when league RPI’s are established. Or will the fact hat 3 or 4 A-10 teams are put in the Dance this year perpetuate this unfair assessment of the leagues teams?
Just food or thought as we see who gets in and who is left out tonight. Have fun!
Hey Tom
Great posting. Miami Ohio did have a strong schedule this season. The SOS of 50 is very solid (and for some reason I thought it would be even better than that) Unfortunately for them they struggled mid-season, losing 6 out of 8 games to go 8-10 after 18 games. Lost a lot of close games and thus the 17-15 record.
You did however leave out the Villanova win for St Joseph's for best wins non-conference. The four wins over Xavier and UMass and that Nova win will be what gets them in. Then again, if Georgia and/or Illinois win, St Joe's might be out.
Posted by: Gary Moore | March 16, 2008 at 02:30 PM