March 16, 200917 yr Arizona had no significant road wins outside the conference, which supposedly was one of the deciding factors in determining the last ones in. They also lost 5 of their last 6 games. I would think that someone such as St. Mary's deserved the bid over Arizona. St Mary's didn't have the wins nor did they play the OOC that AZ did.
March 16, 200917 yr Auburn's OOC hurt them. Combine that with a bad conference and you get to go to the NIT.No doubt. The only frustrating part is the inconsistency of it all. You always hear that they evaluate your full body of work... fair enough. On the other hand they say that finishing strong (last 10-12 games) is an important measuring stick. Zona looked horrible the final 3 weeks and Auburn finished really strong. So do you evaluate a team on where they are at the end of the season, or what they did the entire season?? It is a really fascinating debate if you think about it.
March 16, 200917 yr Author St Mary's didn't have the wins nor did they play the OOC that AZ did. How many top 50 teams will play St. Mary's on their home court? The system is not really equitable for the "mid major" teams and I think that it takes away from the tourney.
March 16, 200917 yr No doubt. The only frustrating part is the inconsistency of it all. You always hear that they evaluate your full body of work... fair enough. On the other hand they say that finishing strong (last 10-12 games) is an important measuring stick. Zona looked horrible the final 3 weeks and Auburn finished really strong. So do you evaluate a team on where they are at the end of the season, or what they did the entire season?? It is a really fascinating debate if you think about it. AU's last 10 probably was discounted due to it being SEC teams. Its hard to ignore the victories that AZ had.
March 16, 200917 yr How many top 50 teams will play St. Mary's on their home court? The system is not really equitable for the "mid major" teams and I think that it takes away from the tourney. Then ST Mary's has two choices. 1. Let pride keep them from scheduling top teams on the road. 2. Suck it up, go on the road, beat some teams, gain recognition. They chose #1 and are home. Pride is not always a good thing.
March 16, 200917 yr In fairness to St. Mary's and scheduling, they did play at SIU and at Oregon and got victories. It is not their fault they underperformed. St. Mary's also had a bad loss to UTEP.
March 16, 200917 yr AU's last 10 probably was discounted due to it being SEC teams. Its hard to ignore the victories that AZ had. While I know they were SEC teams, they were still teams from a major conference. It is not as if they were cruising through the OVC. In the end, if Auburn would have beaten Tennessee on Saturday, they are most likely in the dance.
March 16, 200917 yr St. Mary's also had a bad loss to UTEP. That one cost them twice. It was a tournament and a win would have got them a game against Wake...
March 16, 200917 yr You completely ignored the part about their OOC schedule and wins. The committee seems to be telling teams that you can compensate for a bad conference by stepping up (unlike UK ) and playing a tough OOC schedule. AZ did - beat some high quality teams. That's why they are in. It seems that OOC matters with one team and not another. SOS for OOC games: Davidson - 2 Wisconsin - 62 Arizona - 94 Tulsa - 99 St Mary's - 118 San Diego State - 129 New Mexico - 132 Kentucky - 136 Maryland - 145 Minnesota - 242
March 16, 200917 yr It seems that OOC matters with one team and not another. SOS for OOC games: Davidson - 2 Wisconsin - 62 Arizona - 94 Tulsa - 99 St Mary's - 118 San Diego State - 129 New Mexico - 132 Kentucky - 136 Maryland - 145 Minnesota - 242 A couple of problems with the above: 1. SOS for a small number of games is not a strong measurement. Its too easily inflated up or down. It takes actual insight to look at who the teams are and where did they play. 2. OOC is only one factor. AZ played in a better league than Auburn or St Mary's.
March 16, 200917 yr 1. Wisconsin 2. Arizona 3. Minnesota Can anyone make a strong case for these teams? Is the Big 10 strong enough to warrant 7 teams in the field? Wisconsin really shouldn't have been in IMO. They did play a tough OOC schedule, but they didn't pick up any big wins besides Virgina Tech. They only beat 2 ranked teams all season, Illinois and Ohio State. Their record was solid at 19-12, but they didn't have enough quality wins for me to say they deserved a spot. Arizona deserved to get in. They played a pretty tough OOC schedule and had some very nice wins. Wins over Gonzaga, Kansas, and San Diego State looked impressive. The thing that hurt them was once that got into conference play they couldn't hold together a solid stretch. They started 2-5 in Pac 10 play, but finished up at 7-4. Arizona is a good basketball team, when they are playing well they can play with just about anybody in the country. Hill, Wise, and Buddinger is a nice 3 man combo. I like Arizona and they could really make some noise in the tournament. Minnesota deserved to get in. Sure they didn't play the schedules of Wisconsin and Arizona, but they had some very nice wins. They beat Louisville, who we all know is the number 1 overall seed in the tournament, they beat North Dakota State, 26-6 on the year and could upset Kansas, Bowling Green, who is a post season team, and Cornell another NCAA tournament team. I know those teams don't stack up to the games Arizona played, but still it isn't a bad schedule. I notice a lot of people tend to think that Minnesota finishing 7th in the Big 10 should be enough to put them in the NIT. The Big 10 was very good this season. They had a lot of teams who had quality wins and good records, they put 7 teams in the dance. Minnesota deserved it, Tubby has done a great job up there. This is the team I was most happy for once I saw the selection show. I knew people would think, well how did they get in? They deserved it. They won nice games, a good record, and they deserved it.
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