College basketball 2009-10 running thread No. 1

And I will release the hounds by saying that, as a fan, I would rather see ODU get a shot to win a game or two over a team like Louisville who has had chances all season to prove themselves.

 

You mean a Louisville team that beat Syracuse, pretty much a lock for a number one seed, twice.

 

You mean Louisville, who swept the No. 1 team in the nation? You mean Louisville who finished FOUR games above .500 (technically two games if you think about it but the way sports writers write it up, 11-7 is four games above .500) in the best league in the country? You mean Louisville, who finished tied for fifth in the best league in the country and was a last minute collapse against Pittsburgh away from being one of the top four seeds?

I get your point, but Louisville is a terrible example of a not worthy bubble team from a major conference because they DID prove they belonged.

You win 11 games in the Big East, you are doing something right.

 

There are five or six teams worse than Louisville that are considered "in" right now. Maybe more.

 

The same group that lost to UNLV, Charlotte (at home), Western Kentucky (at home), Seton Hall, St. John (by 20) and Marquette (by 20).

The Cuse twice and UConn once are the only top-20 wins they have.

ODU beat Charlotte by 33.

 

Probably a bad example, but I am always for giving an ODU a shot over an underachieving power school.

 

You can make a pretty good argument that Seton Hall fits into a similar group with ND, Georgetown and Marquette.

 

I have no problem with that -- but Louisville is a tournament team.

And considering what they lost to graduation - I wouldn't exactly call the Cardinals "underachieving" by any stretch.

 

Here's what I've got for my Selection Sunday Challenge picks, which I change every day:

Big East (8): Syracuse, West Virginia, Pitt, Villanova, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame
ACC (7): Duke, Maryland, Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech
Big 12 (7): Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma State, Missouri
Big Ten (4): Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin
Mountain West (4): New Mexico, BYU, UNLV, San Diego State
SEC (4): Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss
Atlantic 10 (3): Temple, Xavier, Richmond
Pac-10 (3): Cal, Washington, Arizona State
Conference USA (2): UTEP, Memphis
WCC (2): Gonzaga, St. Mary's

LAST FOUR IN: Washington (13), Ole Miss (13), Georgia Tech (12), St. Mary's (12)
BUBBLE BURST (in something of an order): UAB, Wichita State, Dayton, Rhode Island, Florida, UConn, Mississippi State, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Seton Hall, William & Mary, Minnesota, South Florida, Illinois

My last four out suck and speak to the weakness of the bubble this season. I suspect the Pac-10, warts and all, will get multiple bids (though despite what I have now, I'm pretty sure a Washington-Arizona State semifinal will be an elimination game). Of the ACC's seven seeds, only Duke (1), Maryland (5) and Clemson (7) are in the top eight, and I suspect Georgia Tech and/or Wake Forest will fall out if a mid-major lock loses in its tournament. A-10 looked like they could have six at one point, but not the way Dayton and Rhode Island are playing; at this point, I'd take St. Louis over both because of better conference record and last 10 record, crap RPI be damned.

 

MM II: I see only two teams from the Pac-10, although I agree with your comment about the Pac-10. If UW and ASU win their openers, their semifinal is probably an elimination game. Cal is probably in regardless of what happens in the tourney.

Pac-10 still could get three if my darkhorse, the Arizona Wildcats, run the table and win the tournament. They pulled out a couple of wins this past week, so who knows?

 

There will be probably less difference in quality between the 1 seeds and the 7-10 seeds in this tournament than in any in history.
There will damn sure be less difference in quality between the 7-10 seeds and the 12-14 seeds than in any tournament ever.
Case in point, Villanova. On Valentine's day, they were a 1 or a 2. Now what are they? And who can tell that they won't morph back into their good selves come March 18?

 

I was preaching that 40 pages ago. Strange year in college hoops. Strange year.