College Basketball 2011-2012

[Funketown]

I actually wouldn't be opposed to simply letting the winner of the regular season play in the NCAA tournament rather than the tournament winner. It would certainly get better teams from the weaker conferences into the tournament.

[Menotti80]

I think people need to take a step back and really think about what Jay Bilas was saying. He is not trying to keep teams like Butler, VCU, Davidson, Cornell & others our of the tourney. He is trying to keep the "Western Kentucky's" from weakening the field. The odds of one of these mid-majors winning that get a 16 seed or 15 seed is less than 1%. Jay's point is that if you let the best 68 teams into the tourney, the VCUs and Davidsons will still get into the tournament, as would most of the regular season conference winners. I dont think there would be any less mid-majors in the tourney each year and I dont think there would be any less cinderella stories. I guarentee if you asked Jay Bilas if he'd rather see like a Colorado State & VCU in the tourney vs a Seton Hall & Northwestern, he would pick the smaller schools.

 

I think it should be conference regular season winners, and maybe still play the conference tourneys and have the non-power conference tourney winners that aren't the regular season champs play in another 3 day tourney the next weekend for 1 or 2 more auto bids.

 

This would get rid of 2 more weak bubble teams. It would also give there a chance to be some truly cinderella teams.

[fondybrewfan]

If you are going the top 68 overall teams; I have a hard time believing that the conference winners in say the bottom 10 conferences are actually going to be considered.

 

I don't care that Western Kentucky is in the field and I wouldn't rather see Arizona or someone like that. Those middling Big 6 conference teams were given ample opportunities against good teams to get wins and they didn't. Just because these smaller schools beat the teams on there schedule shouldn't be a negative. Besides these smaller schools are given no opportunities to improve there SOS or RPI because they only good teams they will play in NC will be on the road and it is tough as hell to win on the road even for the big boys.

 

I like seeing a representative from every league in the tournament and if it were changed to the Top 68 then I think the deck would be stacked pretty heavily against them other than the usual 10 or so mid majors that normally make it.

[bjkrautk]

If you are going the top 68 overall teams; I have a hard time believing that the conference winners in say the bottom 10 conferences are actually going to be considered.

...

I like seeing a representative from every league in the tournament and if it were changed to the Top 68 then I think the deck would be stacked pretty heavily against them other than the usual 10 or so mid majors that normally make it.

 

That's not the argument as I understand it. Those people who want a change to the NCAA formula want to see the winner of the regular season title for the smaller conferences receive the conference's automatic bid, rather than the winner of the post-season tournament.

 

Their rationale being that the "last teams in" under the current formula aren't the 14-16 seeds....which is why the play-in game winners don't always go against the 1 seeds in the first round anymore. VCU is the poster child for this argument, since they beat USC to become the 11 seed in that bracket, after Old Dominion won the CAA Tournament. From First Four to Final Four, largely because of one loss in the post-season tournament.

 

The flip-side of that would be a team that wins the regular season title with a key player who got injured late in the year. While they would still get the automatic bid, the argument would be that they're not as good as when they were in the regular season, such that the team playing better at the time would make for a better tournament matchup.

 

2009-2010 Purdue finished in a 3-way tie for the Big Ten lead (with Ohio State & Michigan State), but lost Robbie Hummel. Ignoring that thie BT is a power conference, and that all 3 teams were able to get at-large bids, if Purdue were the only team getting the bid....they were not the best team in the conference when the NCAA Tournament was taking place.

 

Additionally, the magic of early March is that -- no matter how bad your season was -- you've still got a shot to make the big dance. Giving the Automatic Bid to the conference leader takes away a lot of the interest from the conference tournaments.

 

(Not to mention, I believe it's up to the individual conferences. Looking at last year's field, the Ivy League sent their regular-season winner in Princeton; everyone else sent their Tournament Champ. I know that the Big Ten winner used to get the automatic bid before they instituted a conference tournament....which meant more tickets sold, and more nationally-televised games. Conferences prefer the tournament winner method, because they get more money that way.)

[brwrsfan]

 

(Not to mention, I believe it's up to the individual conferences. Looking at last year's field, the Ivy League sent their regular-season winner in Princeton; everyone else sent their Tournament Champ. I know that the Big Ten winner used to get the automatic bid before they instituted a conference tournament....which meant more tickets sold, and more nationally-televised games. Conferences prefer the tournament winner method, because they get more money that way.)

 

This is correct, each individual conference can do whatever they want. Your two examples are perfect - Ivy League doesn't have a tournament (they do have a playoff though if they tie) and the Big Ten was one of the last conference to adapt a tournament. So it's up to the conferences, but they all make quite a bit of money from the tournaments and without the auto-bid on the line, there would be very little interest in them outside of the major conferences. I don't see much changing.

[packfan79]

Well Marquette looked pretty bad tonight and got killed on the boards. I know Otule was a big that got knocked out for the year but every year it seems like the only thing they are missing is a big. Hopefully they can bounce back in the tourney.

[homer]

MU had 26 turnovers. Louisville had 19. Eek.

[Glennron]

I haven't been able to see a lot of Marquette games this year because I don't have Time Warner Cable, but that might've been the most frustrating game to watch except for the Vanderbilt game. They constantly tried to dribble through double teams and push the tempo when it just wasn't there. Hopefully they can still get a 3 and a favorable draw.

 

Also I really don't have a good feeling about Wisconsin tomorrow for some reason. Indiana playing well + it being in Indiana makes me fear an easy IU win. And not that it has any bearing on tomorrow's game but I know UW's recent history in the BTT isn't good.

[jjfanec]

The Big East tourney has been really bad basketball so far. Low scoring, or up-tempo turnover fests in the first few sets of games. Sloppy basketball all around. Marquette look uninspired to say the least. They had 3 guys with 6 turnovers or more

[GoudaBrew]

Well the Bruce Weber era in Illinois is over. Marquette fans - any worry that Buzz could be a candidate? Or is that really just a lateral step (at best) at this point? No clue what Marquette pays him now.

[Menotti80]

Not worried at all. It would be a poor career move for buzz to even consider that move

[patrickgpe]

Buzz is paid around 2 million a season. I don't think Buzz would be interested in Illinois. I have long assumed that if a job like Texas was available, he would be interested. I don't know why you would leave a solid program in the big east for a struggling team in the big 10.

[GoudaBrew]

Buzz is paid around 2 million a season. I don't think Buzz would be interested in Illinois. I have long assumed that if a job like Texas was available, he would be interested. I don't know why you would leave a solid program in the big east for a struggling team in the big 10.

 

 

Well, I ask because I'm sure Illinois would love to talk to Buzz and Tom Crean left Marquette for a struggling Big 10 team just a couple years ago (Indiana was a bigger mess then than Illinois is now although I admit Indiana's program has more historical prestige than Illinois). Buzz has built a good program though so I doubt he'd be interested.

[RockCoCougars]

Illinois is not a prestige job anymore. The most likely scenario is that a mid-major team will make a run to the Sweet 16/Elite 8 or better, and Illinois will hire their coach. Put me on the record for guessing Wichita State's coach, Gregg Marshall.

[Baldkin]

Bucky coming out shooting the lights out.... except for JT.

 

The way they have played the last month, I can really see them making a run in the tourney, depending on their matchups.

[Baldkin]

Sigh. I post, then they score 4 points in 8 minutes.

 

Taylor has a horrible half and they are still up 5. It just seems like he was trying to do too much that half. Also, I wish Bruiser would, y'know, do something on offense.

[GoudaBrew]

Wow, terrible half by Jordan Taylor. Good to see Rob Wilson continue to look confident. Bergerren really active on the boards and scoring down low as well.

[jjfanec]

Sigh. I post, then they score 4 points in 8 minutes.

 

It wasnt for lack of good looks. Taylor left 10 points out there on layups. Evans missed a couple free throws.

[Baldkin]

I agree. The pace they are playing at really seems to be messing with Indiana. It's almost like they expect the Badgers to not try to shoot at all in the first 20 seconds of the shot clock.

[patrickgpe]

Buzz is paid around 2 million a season. I don't think Buzz would be interested in Illinois. I have long assumed that if a job like Texas was available, he would be interested. I don't know why you would leave a solid program in the big east for a struggling team in the big 10.

 

 

Well, I ask because I'm sure Illinois would love to talk to Buzz and Tom Crean left Marquette for a struggling Big 10 team just a couple years ago (Indiana was a bigger mess then than Illinois is now although I admit Indiana's program has more historical prestige than Illinois). Buzz has built a good program though so I doubt he'd be interested.

i think indiana is a way better job than illinois, even with the sanctions that Crean dealt with. I agree some mid major coach will use a tourney run to land this job.

[Baldkin]

http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/blog/images/2007/03/30/tom_crean_dwight_2.jpg

[GoudaBrew]

Are you alluding that Tom Crean fathered Angela's baby?

 

Badgers are a little foul prone today. I feel like Ryan Evans might be really really good next year.

[Baldkin]

In Rob We Trust.

[fondybrewfan]

Holy Rob Wilson; he is having the best game of his career and it isn't even close

 

If he keeps this up I might have to reconsider my attitude towards Bucky in the NCAA tourney

[bjkrautk]

This is the Rob Wilson we got flashes of as a Freshman. Happy to see (hear) it, and I hope he can keep it going for the rest of the month.