9 Seed vs. Colorado

[upstater]

So you think beating a team who did not make it to the NIT and a Temple team with an RPI of 63 and Kenpom of 86 moved us up 13 spots? Really?

The seeding and teams who made it made it clear UConn was in whether they beat Cincy or not.

Lunardi was closer to the truth than I gave him credit for. Lesson learned. UConn's seed closely tracked RPI rather than BPI.

Also, realize something: look at when I posted that. Long before Tulsa made the tournament. So, you're kind of answering with the hindsight of knowing Tulsa got in.

Let me ask you: did you expect Tulsa to get in? Because had I known Tulsa was getting in, I wouldnt have written that.

 

[upstater]

Tulsa's inclusion proved that we were already dancing regardless of the Cincy outcome, in my opinion...

Yah, but I wrote that before Tulsa got in. I wasn't the only one fairly shocked that they did. In fact, some of the Tulsa players were shocked.

 

[polycom]

We can't overlook Colorado... a team that shoots the 3 ball well will always be a problem for us because of the way we guard the 3 point line.

 

[Jerry1714]

Did I think Tulsa was going to get in? No. No one did, I bet their team and coaches did not even watch the selection show.

But I said before the Cincy game I thought we could get in without winning that game despite Lunardi's incorrect hype of it being an elimination game. Being the #1 9 seed showed that we probably were in before it, and seeing Tulsa get in confirms we were.

ESPN must have got in the ear of Lunardi with the UConn/Cincy game, and with LSU. He had LSU in the first four out as recently as Saturday morning, they did not make the NIT.

 

[UConnDan97]

Yah, but I wrote that before Tulsa got in. I wasn't the only one fairly shocked that they did. In fact, some of the Tulsa players were shocked.

I'm not criticizing what you wrote. I'm confirming that we were in. If it's worth anything, I think that the selection committee got it right. I'm normally one that supports the high-performing mid-major over the middling major. But if you look at some of the teams that were "in" based on Joe Lunardi, you would start to scratch your head.

Monmouth, for example: Here's a team that found a way to lose to Canisius, Army, Manhattan, and Iona twice. I'm sorry, but that's not "high-performing mid-major".
St. Bonaventure: Losses to Hofstra, Duquesne, Siena, La Salle, and Davidson.

At some point, you can't just say that it's due to their strength of schedule. At some point, it's just that they didn't even dominate a poor schedule...

 

[allday2345]

If some people could please stop overlooking Colorado straight to Kansas that'd be great. K thanks

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I think I figured out the selection committee's reasoning:

The AAC lost a bid with SMU's ban so they gave another AAC school (Tulsa) a spot in the tournament. The ACC lost a bid with Louisville's self imposed ban so they gave another ACC school (Syracuse) a spot in the tournament.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I know it sounds crazy but we match up well with both Colorado and Kansas . Kansas plays Ellis at center major minutes, we can just trout out Miller to match up with him. Colorado really doesn't have much fire power on the perimeter.

I don't think we match up well in the back court with Kansas. J.Williams made that point and I tend to agree with him. Our guards would probably struggle in what would amount to a road game. I would rather see Virginia or Oregon of the 1 seeds.

Thoughts? Thanks...

 

[UConnNick]

Does not bode well for Temple. The AAC champ is a 9 seed?

Look at Cal Bears. 23-10, and a 4 seed.

The AAC is dreck, basically, according to the committee

EDIT: Temple is in as a 10.

Had UConn not won the first 2 games, I think UConn would have been out.

I also think UConn may want to reconsider the tough 7 game P5 OOC schedule. It may not be worth it anymore.

If Tulsa, Cincinnati and Temple were already in the field prior to the AAC tourney, then I don't see any way that UConn wasn't. I see no way any of those teams could have been out, so logically UConn had to be in. Tulsa certainly didn't distinguish themselves with a blowout loss to the 6 seed in the quarterfinals, so they must have already been considered in no matter what they did in the tourney.

 

[James]

I don't think we match up well in the back court with Kansas. J.Williams made that point and I tend to agree with him. Our guards would probably struggle in what would amount to a road game. I would rather see Virginia or Oregon of the 1 seeds.

Thoughts? Thanks...

I heard that point. Frank Mason , devontae graham, and selden don't really scare me. having said that, im more concerned to how we play vs Colorado.i really don't want to sit around thinking about a theoretic Kansas matchup when we could easily be thrashed by josh Scott n co.

Colorado is big , Kansas is small( 3 guard offense is small). Both pose different problems in the scouting department but aren't necessarily way more talented. It's not like we have to face an first round NBA player or great pro (somebody like Royce white).

 

[Devland]

I don't know if this has been posted. We were the 36 overall seed (the last 9 seed).

 

[upstater]

I don't know if this has been posted. We were the 36 overall seed (the last 9 seed).

It's a decent ranking for UConn's season BUT do the tourneys not count anymore?

UConn's wins didn't send them ahead of Cincy.

 

[upstater]

I'm not criticizing what you wrote. I'm confirming that we were in. If it's worth anything, I think that the selection committee got it right. I'm normally one that supports the high-performing mid-major over the middling major. But if you look at some of the teams that were "in" based on Joe Lunardi, you would start to scratch your head.

Monmouth, for example: Here's a team that found a way to lose to Canisius, Army, Manhattan, and Iona twice. I'm sorry, but that's not "high-performing mid-major".
St. Bonaventure: Losses to Hofstra, Duquesne, Siena, La Salle, and Davidson.

At some point, you can't just say that it's due to their strength of schedule. At some point, it's just that they didn't even dominate a poor schedule...

Lunardi had Monmouth out. I think he always does this every year. Includes teams he intends to knock out early in the week, to drive ratings for ESPN, then his final predictions are close to the committee's. Of course he had Tulsa in first 4 out. But I think almost everyone is taken by surprise by Tulsa.

 

[boba]

You got hosed. Worst possible potential 8/9 scenario for you.

I think Knsas is sighing with relief if Colorado holds chalk line. But UConn in the second round is every #1 seed's nightmare.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I don't know if this has been posted. We were the 36 overall seed (the last 9 seed).

If that's true, based on the S Curve shouldn't we have been with Texas Tech and Oregon? Or do they not consider the S Curve that far down?

 

[Devland]

If that's true, based on the S Curve shouldn't we have been with Texas Tech and Oregon? Or do they not consider the S Curve that far down?

I don't know but this seeding chart is from the NCAA website. I know they avoid rematches with regular season opponents in the first round and you can't play on your home floor. Maybe this was a result of them having to adjust the bracket somewhere because of something like this.

 

[housekeys]

Game time is 11:30am Mountain. This could be an issue for the team [ not to mention to all of us fans at work]. Extremely early and we might need to get a few cob webs out of our heads before we get into it. I hope Ollie takes the early start time into account and plans accordingly. Clearly we are doooomed.

 

[BUHusky]

Game time is 11:30am Mountain. This could be an issue for the team [ not to mention to all of us fans at work]. Extremely early and we might need to get a few cob webs out of our heads before we get into it. I hope Ollie takes the early start time into account and plans accordingly. Clearly we are doooomed.

Well considering Des Moines is in the Central and not Mountain time zone, it will be a 12:30 PM game locally. I think they'll be fine. Noon games are sometimes sluggish but tend to find their flow after a bit.

 

[KemBuckets21]

A lot of mountains.

"Rocky Mountains don't seem that rocky to me. That John Denver is full of $h*t man!"

 

[storrsroars]

ESPN must have got in the ear of Lunardi with the UConn/Cincy game, and with LSU. He had LSU in the first four out as recently as Saturday morning, they did not make the NIT.

LSU declined the NIT. They would've been a 2 seed most likely.

 

[jayteeman]

Not so sure I agree with a 9 seed....the adam bomb has rejuvenated this team.
All is forgotten and we have now become the top 25 team where we should have been at the outset.
Nobody wants a piece of this team right now....Colorado is gonna have their hands full with the pace this team can bring.
A confident athletic opponent that is constantly in your space is a scary thing to face in a one and done.......not to mention the UCONN mojo.....Des Moines better be ready for some severe weather coming from the east.

 

[Balker]

Lunardi had Monmouth out. I think he always does this every year. Includes teams he intends to knock out early in the week, to drive ratings for ESPN, then his final predictions are close to the committee's. Of course he had Tulsa in first 4 out. But I think almost everyone is taken by surprise by Tulsa.

Yeah -- he definitely does this. He tries to stack the bubble with as many big fan-base teams as he realistically can to drive clicks. Monmouth being in the first four out doesn't bring out the crazies nearly as much as Syracuse being there.

 

[intlzncster]

LSU declined the NIT. They would've been a 2 seed most likely.

So weak. Some of our best seasons have been spring-boarded off NIT campaigns.

 

[Balker]

So weak. Some of our best seasons have been spring-boarded off NIT campaigns.

It really is a pretty lame thing to do. But then look at us last year, Boatright was "injured" and watched the team lose in the first round to ASU. If Simmons is just going to sit out to avoid injury, is it really worth getting beat by some mid-major in the NIT? The team was bad with him, it's really bad without him.

 

[UConnNick]

I'd be afraid that in future years, if you're on the bubble, some committee members might hold it against a team that declines to participate in the NIT. It wouldn't have mattered when it wasn't owned by the NCAA, but now that it is, snubbing it is like snubbing the NCAA. It's also a couple more weeks of practices, and LSU could use the practice.

 

[caw]

So going by the discussed in another thread RPI, KPI, BPI, Sagarin, Kenpom and LRMC, St Mary's, Valparaiso, SDSU, Florida and South Carolina were replaced by Tulsa, Syracuse, Oregon St, Michigan and Temple (in order).

The majority of averages were within 2 seed lines of actual.

Wichita State got a -5, Gonzaga a -4, Vanderbilt a -4.

Utah got a +3, ND got a +3, USC got a +3 and Colorado got a +3. See a PAC12 pattern?

Add in Oregon State with a plus 5 or 6 and that's 4 overseeded PAC12 teams.

Oregon and Cal got a plus 1 which is arguable. Arizona oddly was a -2.

Either these metrics aren't capturing the PAC accurately or that conference was majorly overseeded.

The AAC had Cinci at -1, UConn at -2 and then Temple and Tulsa at either plus two or plus three.

Considering Vanderbilts minus 4, and the exclusion of Florida and South Carolina, you can argue the SEC got screwed the most.

 

[Balker]

PAC12 was definitely overvalued end to end, outside of Arizona's random snub. Oregon State was particularly bad... KP of 60 with a 7 seed? 19-12?? What?

But Temple might be the most overseeded team in the tourney. KP of 86 getting an at-large and 10 seed? I don't know why everyone is so worked up over Tulsa, Temple is just as bad, if not worse. They got blown out by so many teams and did nothing out of conference.

 

[caw]

PAC12 was definitely overvalued end to end, outside of Arizona's random snub. Oregon State was particularly bad... KP of 60 with a 7 seed? 19-12?? What?

But Temple might be the most overseeded team in the tourney. KP of 86 getting an at-large and 10 seed? I don't know why everyone is so worked up over Tulsa, Temple is just as bad, if not worse. They got blown out by so many teams and did nothing out of conference.

Temple was at least on the bubble. Same as Oregon State. Oregon State was much more poorly seeded.

 

[huskyharry]

Bilas is also predicting a Colorado victory. ..we are doomed, DOOMED for sure!

 

[upstater]

In doing my brackets last night, I was pretty shocked by the B12. I know it's not big news, but I like basically all their teams but Kansas and Texas Tech.

I'm a big Iowa State fan. I like West Virginia. Oklahoma with Buddy Hield? Very good teams all around.

OK, Texas has looked sloppy of late, so not much belief there, but that conference went through wars this year, and they are battle-tested. Too bad their champ might be facing the heart of a lion soon.