Big East vs. AAC

[lange10]

Look, I'm not here to say we need to leave the AAC for the Big East, because I still have faith in Diaco that he can turn our football program around. However, one thing is clear to me after last nights selection show...

The committee CLEARLY believes the BE is equivalent to a P5 conference and has no respect for the AAC what so ever (2 years in a row now).

Nova: 1 seed - deservingly so
Gtown: 4 seed - 4 seed at 21-10?!?
Xavier: 6 seed - 21-13 and they earn the same seed as our conference's top team that finished 27-6
Providence: 6 seed - 22-11
Butler - 6 seed - 22-10
SJU: 9 seed - 21-11 is a fair seed and a seed the others should have received. At least closer to 8/9.

SMU: 6 seed - 27-6 and a 6 seed. Should've been 4, at worst 5.
Cincy: 8 - whatever, I dislike Cincy. Goodluck with Kentucky.

Between Temple getting snubbed hard and these insanely high seeds BE teams received, it is clear we're not going to get respect anytime soon. Rooting for Bobby D REAL hard to get us to .500, a bowl game, and some P5 conference to take us in. Need out ASAP because 27-6 for a 6 seed scares the out of me.

 

[tzznandrew]

Out of conference, SMU played 4 teams that looked like they would be legitimate: Indiana, Arkansas, Gonzaga, and Michigan. Michigan turned out to suck.

Guess which one SMU beat?

Is Xavier over-seeded? Sure. But that conference beat teams OOC. Temple beat Kansas. That's really the one OOC game the whole conference could hang it's hat on. And that is reflected in our seeding.

 

[Jerry1714]

BE had the #2 RPI, not hard to figure out why they were over seeded. AAC was 8th, not hard to figure out why there were under seeded (maybe)

NBE did not get the same respect last year when their RPI was much lower. Had PC not won the BET they were a 3 bid league with a team in the playin game.

 

[Penfield]

BE won games out of conference and the AAC (including us) laid a big fat egg.

 

[Slasher]

Cincy beat NC State and San Diego State, both solid tournament teams.

 

[Penfield]

Cincy beat NC State and San Diego State, both solid tournament teams.

But they also lost to Xavier late in the season which didn't help the league.

Temple beat Kansas, but lost to UNLV & St Joes. I would say thats more bad than good.

 

[junglehusky]

BE won games out of conference and the AAC (including us) laid a big fat egg.

But that totally destroys the ESPN NCAA conspiracy theories. That's no fun.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Temple beat Kansas. The committee didn't care about wins and losses or anything else. If you were a bubble school from a P5 or Big East, you got a bid, and if you were from the AAC or MWC, you did not. If you were a really good mid-major, you got a play in game.

 

[tzznandrew]

Cincy beat NC State and San Diego State, both solid tournament teams.

And Cincy got in.

But, I mean, if you're pointing to 2 8 seeds as evidence that this team actually won some games...I don't know what the tell you.

 

[Northbound]

Come on it's not even close. The BE is a vastly superior conference in every way when compared to the AAC. That fact sucks, but it's also true.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Come on it's not even close. The BE is a vastly superior conference in every way when compared to the AAC. That fact sucks, but it's also true.

ZLS disagrees. He thinks the AAC is better because the handful of AAC games that were not on public access or wherever ESPN dumped them got decent ratings on ESPN. That is pretty much his whole argument.

 

[UConn990411]

ZLS disagrees. He thinks the AAC is better because the handful of AAC games that were not on public access or wherever ESPN dumped them got decent ratings on ESPN. That is pretty much his whole argument.

You should be in prison for how many dead horses' bodies you've beaten.

 

[CTBasketball]

Temple beat Kansas. The committee didn't care about wins and losses or anything else. If you were a bubble school from a P5 or Big East, you got a bid, and if you were from the AAC or MWC, you did not. If you were a really good mid-major, you got a play in game.

No this is incorrect. The Big East won games out of conference, and a bunch of good games at that. Those that made the Tournament beat VCU, Michigan, Syracuse, Illinois, Temple, UNC, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Miami.

AAC teams that made the tournament beat San Diego State, NC State, and Wyoming.

Its not even an argument as to why the Big East got the seeds they did and how many teams made it. The only problem I have is Georgetown and Butler's seed. The Big East was treated so well because they were a good conference this year, if not the best in out of conference play. The AAC was disappointing on all fronts, as were other mid-major conferences and that is why the seeding and play-in games are affected as such.

 

[Penfield]

If we want to have this debate its Power Conference vs mid-majors. People seem to think the Mid-Majors got the shaft but they also seem to still lump Big East in with the other Power Conferences. Big East had a good year so I can see why.

My main beef is UCLA & Texas getting in. I think the BE teams that got in deserve it. Seeding doesn't seem to matter as much anymore. Its more about getting in or not.

 

[upstater]

Let's compare SMU to the BE teams seeded 6 and higher to see which conference is underseeded/overseeded.

Cincy, unfortunately, has a date with UK so they're a gonner. Bilas seems convinced they wont even get past Purdue.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

No this is incorrect. The Big East won games out of conference, and a bunch of good games at that. Those that made the Tournament beat VCU, Michigan, Syracuse, Illinois, Temple, UNC, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Miami.

AAC teams that made the tournament beat San Diego State, NC State, and Wyoming.

Its not even an argument as to why the Big East got the seeds they did and how many teams made it. The only problem I have is Georgetown and Butler's seed. The Big East was treated so well because they were a good conference this year, if not the best in out of conference play. The AAC was disappointing on all fronts, as were other mid-major conferences and that is why the seeding and play-in games are affected as such.

LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, Okie State, UCLA. That is an awful lot of suck getting at-large bids, while Temple who beat Kansas and had an RPI in the 30's stays home.

 

[CTBasketball]

LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, Okie State, UCLA. That is an awful lot of suck getting at-large bids, while Temple who beat Kansas and had an RPI in the 30's stays home.

I always said Temple got snubbed. The reason as to why, is because UCLA and Texas generate more views and money than Temple.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I always said Temple got snubbed. The reason as to why, is because UCLA and Texas generate more views and money than Temple.

I would be surprised if that was true. No one cares about any sport in LA unless the team is Top 10. And that doesn't explain Ole Miss, LSU and Georgia, which have no following in basketball.

And if that is the argument, why should any of these other schools spend a nickel on basketball at all?

 

[Penfield]

UCLA draws interest from everyone besides their own "fans"

 

[Windsorlocks]

I posted this article elsewhere. But it was perhaps more appropriate here. It may be a mute point to even think the BE is going to expand at all. Although the Catholic 7 talked about 12 teams as a future target, the Big 12 and BE both demonstrated this year that a 10 team league may be in an advantageous position on Selection Sundays by being a 10 team league. Smaller is better. They are trying to rebrand themselves as still relevant, and getting the majority of their teams into league play with good RPI's is how they got 6 bids. Now they have to justify the RPI's. The committee did see them as a strong league. Their RPI was 2nd to the Big 12. They're not stupid. If the 10 team double round robin format keeps sending 60% of their teams to the Dance, why expand? And their schools have basketball tradition; if it works this year, they'll keep recruiting.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/02/22/small-conferences-big-12-big-east/23842465/


"What helps 10-team leagues — and hurts mega-conferences — this time of year is conference play and its format. The Big 12 and Big East play double round-robin conference schedules; each team plays everybody in its league twice, home and away.

"What really helps our league is we have really good teams in our league," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "You can play a double round-robin and if you didn't have good teams in your league, it could hurt you. What really helps us is there's (six) teams ranked in the Top 25 and seven teams in the top (41) in the RPI. That's bound to help you. But it could affect you adversely if the teams aren't that good."

 

[tzznandrew]

I always said Temple got snubbed. The reason as to why, is because UCLA and Texas generate more views and money than Temple.

Supposedly SOS mattered a lot this year, rather than specific wins.

Well, Texas had a SOS of 15.
Oklahoma State had one of 18--and I know nelson is pitching Tulsa, but OKState dismantled Tulsa.

LSU, Ole Miss, and Georgia? Well, I can't quite justify these, although LSU did beat West Virginia out of conference...and Ole Miss Cincy. Those would classify as the second best and third best OOC win in the AAC, in all likelihood.

UCLA? This was a huge curve-ball. Who the hell have they beaten? Utah and Oregon?

 

[CTBasketball]

Supposedly SOS mattered a lot this year, rather than specific wins.

Well, Texas had a SOS of 15.
Oklahoma State had one of 18--and I know nelson is pitching Tulsa, but OKState dismantled Tulsa.

LSU, Ole Miss, and Georgia? Well, I can't quite justify these, although LSU did beat West Virginia out of conference...and Ole Miss Cincy. Those would classify as the second best and third best OOC win in the AAC, in all likelihood.

UCLA? This was a huge curve-ball. Who the hell have they beaten? Utah and Oregon?

I agree. Not even in our 3 day long Bubble Watch thread did we include UCLA or Ole Miss. Blasphemy.

 

[businesslawyer]

BE had the #2 RPI, not hard to figure out why they were over seeded. AAC was 8th, not hard to figure out why there were under seeded (maybe)

NBE did not get the same respect last year when their RPI was much lower. Had PC not won the BET they were a 3 bid league with a team in the playin game.

Wait -- that would imply that leagues for the most part get the respect they earn in November and December, as opposed to the respect granted them on the Boneyard or by prejudices of the Committee? Who knew.

The AAC is getting punished for too many conference games with just horrific RPI teams. We can argue that the difference between beating an RPI 135 team and an RPI 225 team should be irrelevant for at-large contenders anyway, and I tend to agree with that, but instead of blowing hot air about it the conference has to get the performance of our bottom half up to a higher level.

 

[zls44]

ZLS disagrees. He thinks the AAC is better because the handful of AAC games that were not on public access or wherever ESPN dumped them got decent ratings on ESPN. That is pretty much his whole argument.

Pretty much every single AAC game anywhere outrated 90% of BE games. Even ESPNU games.

The nation has spoken: they would rather watch the AAC. By a lot.

 

[businesslawyer]

Come on it's not even close. The BE is a vastly superior conference in every way when compared to the AAC. That fact sucks, but it's also true.

This year, it's performance was vastly superior. Last year, the top half of the AAC was clearly better than the top half of the Big East.

Win games. Then you're arguing about your seeding, instead of losing too many and complaining about not being invited at all.