2011-12 NCAA Men's Basketball Thread

[RyanMcD29]

I'd like to see the NCAA tournament have 31 teams in it. If you're not the best team in your conference, you're not the best team in the country.

Oh great, apparently the football playoff argument's somehow transcended to basketball.

So Kentucky, Syracuse, UNC, Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, etc. don't deserve to be in the tournament but Mississippi Valley State and Vermont do? Unless we're going by regular season champs, but then you're still screwing over a whole chock-full of teams.

(unless you're kidding, of course)

[Cujo]

I'd rather be Iona or Jerry Rice U. tonight than whoever eventually wins the "Not In Tournament".

Philosophically, I agree, but it would sure be hard being Iona or MVSU today...

Iona and MVSU (and all schools who made the field of 68, for that matter) still got to experience the thrill of winning their confernece tournaments and/or the excitement of having their names called on Selection Sunday. Even when you factor in losing a play-in game in the worst fashion possible, it still tops ANYTHING those teams could've done in the NIT.

[Burmy]

Anybody else noticed that in both the Opening Round and the First Four, at least one HBCU has had to be relegated to that(and in most cases, they lose)?

I think the NCAA should be under investigation for possible Title VI violations...

[dfwabel]

Anybody else noticed that in both the Opening Round and the First Four, at least one HBCU has had to be relegated to that(and in most cases, they lose)?

I think the NCAA should be under investigation for possible Title VI violations...

The MEAC and the SWAC historically have the worst RPIs of the automatic bid conferences. Oftentimes the regular season champ does not win the conference tournament. Mississippi Valley won both, but Norfolk State was the #2 seed. As a whole, the SWAC rarely gets double digit wins in non-conference play.

Southland (Lamar) and America East (Vermont) are also always near the bottom too.

[sc49erfan15]

Anybody else noticed that in both the Opening Round and the First Four, at least one HBCU has had to be relegated to that(and in most cases, they lose)?

I think the NCAA should be under investigation for possible Title VI violations...

The MEAC and the SWAC historically have the worst RPIs of the automatic bid conferences. Oftentimes the regular season champ does not win the conference tournament. Mississippi Valley won both, but Norfolk State was the #2 seed. As a whole, the SWAC rarely gets double digit wins in non-conference play.

Southland (Lamar) and America East (Vermont) are also always near the bottom too.

This. Counting out independents, the MEAC and SWAC were the bottom two conferences in 2012. Many years, the two teams with the lowest RPI are HBCUs, but the NCAA seeded one in the play-in game (er, Opening Round ) and one in the First Round just to avoid that type of connotation.

[pmoehrin]

I'd like to see the NCAA tournament have 31 teams in it. If you're not the best team in your conference, you're not the best team in the country.

Oh great, apparently the football playoff argument's somehow transcended to basketball.

So Kentucky, Syracuse, UNC, Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, etc. don't deserve to be in the tournament but Mississippi Valley State and Vermont do? Unless we're going by regular season champs, but then you're still screwing over a whole chock-full of teams.

(unless you're kidding, of course)

Its bad enough all the conferences are completely screwed up now because of colleges chasing football money. College football can keep their crappy 40+ year outdated bowl system to themselves.

As for the "conference title only" idea, it was tried and it didn't work because you could have two top ten teams playing for a tourney bid while Austin Peay is locked in.

[Cujo]

I would imagine that regular season champs would "try less" during the conference tournament if they already knew they had an automatic bid locked up. Of course those teams would want to stay fresh and avoid injury heading into the NCAAs. In the end, this will never happen because these conferences wouldn't want to harm the integrity of their individual tourneys.

[thespleenenator]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

[ninersdd]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

[Kevin W.]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

Therefore running into the same problem that football (read: the SEC) has.

[pmoehrin]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

Therefore running into the same problem that football (read: the SEC) has.

Pretty much but I have/had no issue with the 65 team field.

As I've said a couple times if they wanted to expand the field to 96 and give auto bids to regular season conference champs I would be all for it, but the big conferences would never go for it and that's the only way I would be in favor of expanding the tournament.

[dfwabel]

Don't run a pool if you are a fifth grader.

NOTE: This kid is in the fifth grade and manuscript is that poor? WTF? I understand that the bracket leaves little room, but even his name is like he just learned how to use a pencil.

[thespleenenator]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

That already happens in College football with getting 6 wins. And USF and WVU loaded up on weaklings OOC, and still only managed 20 and 19 wins respectively.

[ninersdd]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play

Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

That already happens in College football with getting 6 wins. And USF and WVU loaded up on weaklings OOC,

and still only managed 20 and 19 wins respectively.

What I was talking about is if say Washington, Oregon, or Arizona scheduled 12 or so cupcakes out of conference which would be easy wins, and thanks to the weak Pac-12, reach the 25 win threshold. Would they deserve to make it in over other teams you played tougher schedules and thus had slightly worse records then the teams mentioned?

[thespleenenator]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play

Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

That already happens in College football with getting 6 wins. And USF and WVU loaded up on weaklings OOC,

and still only managed 20 and 19 wins respectively.

What I was talking about is if say Washington, Oregon, or Arizona scheduled 12 or so cupcakes out of conference which would be easy wins, and thanks to the weak Pac-12, reach the 25 win threshold. Would they deserve to make it in over other teams you played tougher schedules and thus had slightly worse records then the teams mentioned?

If they scheduled 12 patsies, they would still have to win 13 games in conference to get 25 wins. 25 wins is not easy. Nobody in the Pac-12 did it this year (if Cal loses to USF), and they didn't exactly schedule super hard teams OOC (save Washington, but they lost those games). I don't think the game would change that much to be honest. And I'm not saying only teams with25 wins get in. I'm saying that would be an autobid. So it would still benefit you to schedule hard games incase you don't get to 25, or if you want a better seed. I don't see the flaw in this.

[crashcarson15]

I'd like to see the NCAA tournament have 31 teams in it. If you're not the best team in your conference, you're not the best team in the country.

Oh great, apparently the football playoff argument's somehow transcended to basketball.

So Kentucky, Syracuse, UNC, Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, etc. don't deserve to be in the tournament but Mississippi Valley State and Vermont do? Unless we're going by regular season champs, but then you're still screwing over a whole chock-full of teams.

(unless you're kidding, of course)

Honestly, the tournament's too big. 48 teams and we'll call it a day?

Also, while they're great entertainment, conference tournaments are stupid. "Oh yeah, you just played 16 regular season games? Well, they mean nothing now!"

[rams80]

Anybody else noticed that in both the Opening Round and the First Four, at least one HBCU has had to be relegated to that(and in most cases, they lose)?

I think the NCAA should be under investigation for possible Title VI violations...

The MEAC and SWAC are typically the two worst conferences in Division I. It's not a violation for putting teams where they should be.

[rams80]

I think 25 wins should be an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. That way, we won't have schools like South Florida, or West Virginia, getting in, and can reward teams like Oral Roberts, or Drexel, or Wagner (who went 25-6 and didn't get invited to a post season tournement).

OK, so you reward teams for getting to play mostly weaklings, while teams like USF and WV get to play

Syracuse, Cincy, Louisville, G-Town, etc game in game out in conference. If that happened, expect teams to load up on the crappy teams out of conference cause it wouldn't who they would beat as long as it got them to 25.

That already happens in College football with getting 6 wins. And USF and WVU loaded up on weaklings OOC,

and still only managed 20 and 19 wins respectively.

What I was talking about is if say Washington, Oregon, or Arizona scheduled 12 or so cupcakes out of conference which would be easy wins, and thanks to the weak Pac-12, reach the 25 win threshold. Would they deserve to make it in over other teams you played tougher schedules and thus had slightly worse records then the teams mentioned?

If they scheduled 12 patsies, they would still have to win 13 games in conference to get 25 wins. 25 wins is not easy. Nobody in the Pac-12 did it this year (if Cal loses to USF), and they didn't exactly schedule super hard teams OOC (save Washington, but they lost those games). I don't think the game would change that much to be honest. And I'm not saying only teams with25 wins get in. I'm saying that would be an autobid. So it would still benefit you to schedule hard games incase you don't get to 25, or if you want a better seed. I don't see the flaw in this.

Because we don't want to give autobids to small schools that will only schedule 250-340 RPI teams non-Conference and then ride 1 or 2 good players to 25 wins overall. Those wins don't mean much in the greater scheme of things.

[rams80]

Good Lord the Pac 12 is a hot mess.

[ninersdd]

Good Lord the Pac 12 is a hot mess.

Is USF that good or is Cal that bad? Seriously, this is embarrassing.