Running 2016-17 College Rings Thread

If the case is built in quality wins, they've got a perfectly fine case with the most top-25 and Top-50 RPI wins. If it's built on conference finish, they're SOL.

They probably end up a 2 based on fifth-place optics, but if you go by the framework the committee has used in the past, there's a moderately viable case.

 

West Virginia has played three fewer top-50 teams than Duke has beat. It also lost to three teams outside the top-120.

See, I'm looking at the resume, not what a team did yesterday. (I'd agree the fifth-place optics probably has them at a No. 2, but I think there's a case.)

 

I think it's a three-team race for the championship, and those three teams are Duke, Arizona and UNC, in that order. Maybe Villanova or UCLA gets it done. Maybe Kentucky. I don't see anyone else winning.

 

So Kansas has no shot?

 

Gonzaga and Wisconsin are Final 4 caliber. Florida State is sneaky good. Virginia's defense will get them 2 or 3 wins, maybe that 4th.

 

Kansas has a very good shot too.

 

Gee: Just don't see it from them this year. Pure gut. I have nothing to back that up.

Songbird: As someone who has probably watched more UVA than anyone, I don't think they can sustain enough offense for four games. Notre Dame showed the blueprint for shutting down Kyle Guy - throw some size at him and he can't get his shot off. I know it's all about matchups, but I'll consider it a success if they survive the first weekend. Maybe that changes if Isaiah Wilkins kicks his bout with Ebola, but the offense just isn't there.

 

Fair enough. A hunch is always defensible.

 

That's the beauty of it!

 

Virginia will lose early and look bad doing so.

 

I don't think it is an unreasonable standard to say you can't be one of the top four teams in America if you can't be one of the top four in your league.

 

There is a logical inconsistency in the idea that losing in their conferences tournaments shouldn't hurt the one seeds of Kansas and North Carolina at all, but that winning its tournament (three admittedly outstanding wins) should help Duke be a number one, too.