College basketball 2009-10 running thread No. 1

I think, especially these days of mediocrity and watered down talent parity, seeding is highly overrated and basically is only meaningful in deciding how easy a teams first game is.

These days there isn't much difference between an 8 seed and a 5 seed so being a 1,2,3 or 4 -- you still get a mostly similar second game.

 

I thougt the 2-2-1 trap collapsing to the man-to-man for most of the 1st half really took Duke out of its game and Mike K didn't adjust until about 4 minutes left in the 1st half, which is when they closed the gap.

This was a very surprising win for long time Terps fans who waited for the inevitable collapse in the last 2 minutes and a buzzer beating win by Duke. When Shreyer was called for the phantom travelling violation, which is usually called on Duke's opponent towards the end of a game, thought Maryland might actually have the gods on their side tonite. The 1st Omen being Vitale was not calling the game.

Maryland can be an elite 8 team this year.

 

If I was a college coach, I would rather be an 11 or 10 seed than an eight or nine seed.

You basically have a death game in the second round as an eight or a nine. As an 11 you can at least get your momentum going a little bit before hitting a real heavy hitter.

 

I'm interested to see how many teams people think the Big East will get. Is Notre Dame in with a win against Marquette on Saturday? If South Florida beat UCONN to get to 9-9 in conference play and then wins two games in the conference tournament, are they in or will an RPI probably in the high-50s do them in.

 

Duke probably deserves a No. 1 seed, though Kansas State and Ohio State can still build their cases should the Blue Devils stumble against the Tar Heels or in the ACC tournament. The ACC might not be filled with heavyweights this season, but there aren't exactly DePauls or Nebraskas cluttering the bottom of the standings. A pretty solid league from top to bottom.

Re: Big East, no way it gets nine. Just too many of those bubble teams playing each other enough that I don't see how all the borderline teams would make the cut. UConn could easily miss after that loss last night. USF and Cincy are also out unless they win the conference tournament. I'll go with eight -- Louisville and Notre Dame in, UConn out. But the Irish better not stumble anytime soon, because there's nothing all that great about the non-conference schedule.

 

All 16 get in. Don't you know anything about hoops - the Big East rules!!!!! [\Floridanewbie, shameless Georgetown fanboy loser expert]

If you look at the league Syr, Villanova, Pitt and WVU are all in.

I would assume Georgetown is in but if they lose their last one, they are only 9-9 and if they go one and done in the Big East, I'm not sure that they shouldn't be at least a little nervous on selection sunday.

Louisville could make it easy by beating syracuse tomorrow (or whenever it is) -- that gets them 11 Big East wins and 20 wins overall and that makes them a lock.

I think Marquette is going to get in.

Notre Dame could make it easy by winning at Marquette to get to 10 Big East wins -- a loss and I think they are probably nervous until Selection Sunday as well.

I think you can turn out the lights on everybody else in that conference.

So if I had to guess I'd say it will look like this....

Syracuse, Villanova, Pitt, WVU, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette and Notre Dame

 

Oz, I take your point about the ACC being pretty solid top to bottom. And yes, there is no Depaul or Nebraska in the ACC.

But the Big East is better than the ACC by an order of magnitude, even WITH Depaul bringing up the rear. I don't think you can argue that the worst team's craptitude (in a 16-team league) really undermines the solidity of that league.

The ACC has 11 teams. The 11th-place team in the Big East is UConn, which is the soap in the proverbial bubble.

The 12th team? Cincy, which beat Maryland, lost by two to Gonzaga and by four at Xavier.

Even Rutgers, in 13th, has some quality in-conference wins (Notre Dame, Georgetown) that speak to top-to-bottom depth. (The Knights de Scarlet Satin did get waxed by NC, I concede).

14th-place St. Johns was competitive at Cameron Indoor and won at South Florida and Notre Dame.

 

The ACC has 12 teams. Understandable mistake, seeing as Virginia has played more like a Big South team of late.

 

Never said the ACC was better than the Big East. Just saying this year in the ACC, there are no truly bad teams, which helps explain the SOS and RPI numbers.

According to kenpom.com, the worst ACC school is Virginia at 78. The Big East has Providence (84), Rutgers (142) and DePaul (165) while the Big 12 has Iowa State (79), Colorado (85), Texas Tech (87) and Nebraska (97). It may not be top heavy, but there's some quality even at the bottom of the ACC this season.

Winning a major conference -- even if it's tied with Maryland -- does mean something. Unless you're talking about the Pac-10 this season.

 

Fair enough.

I guess I should have just said: There are as many good teams in the Big East as there are teams, total, in the ACC. (even with my inability to count to 12)

I'm a UW hoops fan (the Seattle version), so what do I know? ;D

 

You're too kind. N.C. State was rejected for membership by Division II Conference Carolinas. Pfeiffer and Mount Olive would truck the Pack. Maybe Anderson and Limestone, too.

 

That's right. I forgot UVa actually swept State this year. Yikes.