Comments on: NCAA Tournament Bubble Watch: 1/22/08

By: John

John — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:36:12 +0000

@ Dex. I understand that Davidson played those teams close and I think perhaps the NCAA should mandate a rule stating that those types of games should be played at Davidson or whatever school it is(only 1 of those games I meant to say.) and I understand it is difficult to beat those schools, but is N.C. State that good? Davidson should be able to beat them(Mercer did win at USC as an example.) I think a major problem is that the Big East expanded and squeezed out the mid-majors. The commitee prefers a 8th or 9th place team from the Big East instead of a team like Davidson(or Appalachian State last year.) The Big East should have never been allowed to expand that much. Now teams like Davidson are forced to play neutral site games against multiple top teams with realistically knowing they won’t win all of them. It hurts their overall profile come Selection Sunday because they get no credit for beating their lousy conference opponents. This is a situation that needs to be fixed. And I was stunned that Indiana lost to Connecticut. Worst i’ve seen them shoot all year. They beat Wisconsin they’ll win the Big Ten. And yes, it is about time we(Florida) were ranked, and #19 no less. Not bad for a team supposedly ”rebuilding”(more like reloading.)

By: Dex

Dex — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:46:55 +0000

@ John, thanks for the reply. I may have gone a little far in saying that Davidson is more deserving than Vanderbilt, but I still think that they are at least deserving of consideration. Let me tell you why. Davidson has beaten 13 teams by an average of nearly 23 points a game. They’ve played 3 teams on the road who are ranked in the top 12 of the RPI rankings, and top 5 in the AP and Coaches polls. They’ve averaged losing by 6 points and have lost every game on the road against quality opponents, excluding Western Michigan. Not to mention, the’ve won 9 straight since losing to NC State. Vanderbilt has only won 3 road games and has lost 3 games by an average of 16 points, one of which was to a struggling Kentucky team who has lost to San Diego (by 9) and Gardner Webb (by 16), both at home where they beat Vandy. You can take most teams in the country and they wouldn’t beat UCLA, UNC, or Duke at home, let alone play them as well and Davidson did. All I’m saying is to give them a little credit. I’m not saying that they should be given a bid, I just believe that they should be considered. Also, I agree that all of the Mid-Majors you mentioned are deserving of consideration, but I never said that Davidson was more qualified than any of them. And I am not a Davidson fan. I am a huge Indiana fan and I was happy to see that Florida finally made the polls this week.

By: John

John — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:09:23 +0000

@ Dex. I am all for the little guy(mid-major.), even though I am a Florida fan. My season begins in the SEC Tournament, so I have time to check out the mid-major scene. There are other teams much more deserving in the mid-major pool then Davidson, and to say they are more deserving then Vanderbilt is outrageous. The following teams warrant more consideration then Davidson: Rhode Island(wins at Syracuse, vs Providence and UAB.), Dayton(wins at home vs Pittsburgh, at Louisville vs Akron and Rhode Island.), Massachusetts(wins at Syracuse, Boston College.) not to mention Akron, Kent State, South Alabama, Western Kentucky, Charlotte, UNLV, BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State etc. I don’t know if you are a Davidson fan or not, but win the conference tournament or else you won’t make the field. And one final note: Davidson will NOT go undefeated in conference play. Watch the NC-Greensboro game on ESPN2 coming up soon. That is the team that will beat Davidson and ultimately win the conference(because of Kyle Hines.) Davidson gets this much attention because they are a name program on the mid-major level and they have a name player(Stephen Curry.)There are other mid-major programs that deserve more attention then the Wildcats.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:14:22 +0000

The SEC will get 5 at the most but it will probably end up being 4.

By: Dex

Dex — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:42:17 +0000

I am curious why no one is giving Davidson any respect. I actually think that the Wildcats are more qualified for a bid than Vanderbilt. I realize that they did not win one of their games against UNC, Duke, UCLA, or NC State. But it must be considered that every one of those games was on the road and they lost by a combined total of 23 points. I guarantee that Vandy would have done no better. Who have the Commodores beaten? Vanderbilt’s highlight would probably be a home win against UMass, and yet they are considered a lock. It is not unlikely that Davidson will run the table in the SoCon and win the conference tournament, but if they somehow did not, I believe that they should be seriously considered for an at-large bid.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:17:46 +0000

The real story on the SEC Big East Challenge is that the dregs of the SEC played. LSU, South Carolina, Alabama and Auburn are four of the worst teams in the conference.

David, we talked last year about Mississiippi State. In the end they were probably one of the last three or four teams out of the tournament, then made it to the NIT Final Four. After a struggle in the early part of the season, the Bulldogs have won nine straight and have games at Arkansas and vs Tennessee in the upcoming week.

In the end, I think we will see six SEC teams in the tournament: Tennessee, Vandy, Florida, Mississippi State, Mississippi, and Kentucky. Arkansas will be a near miss.

By: Dex

Dex — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:47:54 +0000

As good as the Atlantic 10 has been so far this year, I don’t think that they will get more than three teams in come tournament time. For one, the Big East, Big 12, and Pac 10 are going to take a large portion of the at-large bids and this really hurts the chances for smaller conference bubble teams. Also, there is always the possiblility that teams such as Butler and Memphis may not win their conference tournaments, creating even fewer spots for teams that may be deserving. Butler has already shown its vulnerability twice in conference play and although Memphis has been incredible, there are some quality teams in Conference USA who will be itching to play the part of David come March. In my opinion, the A 10 will get three teams in, and only because of the overall strength of the conference. Teams that have a legitimate chance, such as Rhode Island, Charlotte, Duquesne, and St. Joseph’s will cancel each other out in the end because there will be no teams left with at-large deserving records. I believe that in the end, Xavier is a lock, Dayton is on the good side of the bubble, and UMass slides in because of their overall strength of schedule. Sorry Rams.

By: Andrew Force

Andrew Force — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:32:49 +0000

I tend to agree about the SEC. I think the SEC is way down in the last few years actually. Remember when Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas were top 15 teams?

UK might get back there soon with their recent run of success, but 4 middle of the pack SEC teams barely mustered 1 win against middle of the pack Big East teams in that odd Big East/SEC Invitational.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:20:11 +0000

I don’t get this love for the SEC. Even the CUSA has a winning record against the SEC. Only Vandy and Tennessee are proven teams, yet they are losing to unranked Kentucky. That does not do the SEC very well when San Diego (unranked, #2 in WCC) can go into Rupp and win while the much overhyped and ranked teams (#3 in polls, 1st in SEC East) at the time Tennessee and (#16 in polls, 2nd in SEC East) Vandy cannot. I’m just glad the pollsters don’t seed the tournament.

By: David Mihm

David Mihm — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:56:11 +0000

Thanks, John, that is great information. Everyone else, the page John is referring to is linked here. Interesting that Butler is allowed to host two years in a row... So, because Drake and St Mary's have already played this season, I'd now expect the Gaels to host Kent State or Creighton. It would seem cruel to make Davidson or Siena travel all the way out to the Bay Area...