Graham Hays from ESPNW article on automatic bids

[Centerstream]

How to fix Championship Week: Reward regular-season champs with automatic NCAA bids

Too often a team, most commonly a mid-major, dominates and wins its regular-season race but fails to win its league's NCAA bid. That isn't what's best for March Madness.

www.espn.com

 

[Centerstream]

Personally I think whichever team from the conference has the best W/L pct (including the tournament games) should get the automatic bid. But it will never be accepted. It is a shame that a team could go undefeated in the regular season and then lose in the tournament and be shut out of the Big Dance. Sorta defeats playing great during the conference schedule... But wait, it only happens to Mid Majors and "Lower" Conferences, so that makes it ok as long as Tennessee gets selected or the 9th SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12 team is selected. $$$$
I think it is also a crime when a "favorite" team loses in their tournament and there are no consequences, seeding wise. Seeding is based (but obviously without much emphasis) on how the team is currently doing - well, if you lost your last game, then...

 

[Wbbfan1]

If Regular Season Champions get the automatic NCAA tournament bid, then there's no reason to host a Conference Post Season Tournament. What I propose to help the Mid Majors, since P5 Conferences receive multiple bids is that if the Regular Season Conference Champion doesn't win the Post Season Tournament then that conference gets a minimum of two bids. The committee could add a requirement that the Post Season conference Tournament winner must have a Winning Conference Record to get the second bid. This would result in P5 Conferences getting fewer bids, but it would expand the NCAA Tournament to more Mid Majors.

 

[UcMiami]

I believe the conferences themselves define who is the auto-bid. Ivies for example never had a conference tournament.
The idea of a tournament title defining the bid also means that in some cases a team that really develops late in the season having struggled early has a chance or a team that built a big conference lead and then fell apart late has to still prove themselves - things that happen maybe as often as the obvious best team losing. Or a conference gets a surprise extra bid when a Gonzaga loses and still goes to the dance. And what about a conference that has a 15-1 and 14-2 team - does the 14-2 team deserve a chance to prove themselves?

It is not all mid-majors that are strictly a one bid conference - currently Creme has 4/5 (BE) mid-majors with two+ teams.

 

[Plebe]

I believe the conferences themselves define who is the auto-bid. Ivies for example never had a conference tournament.
The idea of a tournament title defining the bid also means that in some cases a team that really develops late in the season having struggled early has a chance or a team that built a big conference lead and then fell apart late has to still prove themselves - things that happen maybe as often as the obvious best team losing. Or a conference gets a surprise extra bid when a Gonzaga loses and still goes to the dance. And what about a conference that has a 15-1 and 14-2 team - does the 14-2 team deserve a chance to prove themselves?

It is not all mid-majors that are strictly a one bid conference - currently Creme has 4/5 (BE) mid-majors with two+ teams.

This. It's their choice. If the coaches feel strongly enough about the issue, they can lean on their ADs and whomever else to change how the auto bid is designated.

I made peace with the fact that a one-and-done, survive-and-advance test is hardly an inappropriate way to determine which team from a one-bid conference gets to move on to the big advance-and-survive dance. If the regular-season champion face-plants in the conference tourney, they still have a title and a banner they can be proud of -- and their season doesn't have to be over because they'll get the WNIT auto bid. It's really not the end of the world.

 

[cbraarj]

Limit the major conferences to a max of 5 teams auto bid but it doesn't mean you get that many every year. Only a max per conference to get in.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Limit the major conferences to a max of 5 teams auto bid but it doesn't mean you get that many every year. Only a max per conference to get in.

Some of the auto bid teams are terrible as is, and you're proposing to significantly increase the number of such teams in the field? Why?

 

[cbraarj]

Some of the auto bid teams are terrible as is, and you're proposing to significantly increase the number of such teams in the field? Why?

Keep letting Tennessee in like the last 3 years when they shouldn't have! For what? Mid- major who is supposed to win their tournament and loses. They still get in. 6 teams is enough for major conferences. Make sure you are in top 6 thats all.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Keep letting Tennessee in like the last 3 years when they shouldn't have! For what? Mid- major who is supposed to win their tournament and loses. They still get in. 6 teams is enough for major conferences. Make sure you are in top 6 thats all.

Okay, I'm fine with Tennessee getting left out. Just don't like arbitrarily capping all conferences at 5 max. The 6 Pac 12 teams that would've been in this year definitely deserved it. Also a bit of a problem w/ mega-conferences. In a 10 team league 5 would be half their members, but a 14 or 15 team conference that percentage drops significantly. Just seems like you'd be leaving some of the best teams out if you only allow 5 from any conference.

 

[Alydar]

Okay, I'm fine with Tennessee getting left out. Just don't like arbitrarily capping all conferences at 5 max. The 6 Pac 12 teams that would've been in this year definitely deserved it. Also a bit of a problem w/ mega-conferences. In a 10 team league 5 would be half their members, but a 14 or 15 team conference that percentage drops significantly. Just seems like you'd be leaving some of the best teams out if you only allow 5 from any conference.

I doubt that. In any given year a list of maybe 8-10 teams nationally would include the "best" teams. Once you get past the top 5 of any conference you don't find any team that would be among the best. Better than most others? Sure, but the drop off of talent in any year starts quickly down the list in wcbb.

 

[chrissaran]

Princeton would have been a dark horse. Fantastic coach and team.

 

[Plebe]

Okay, I'm fine with Tennessee getting left out. Just don't like arbitrarily capping all conferences at 5 max. The 6 Pac 12 teams that would've been in this year definitely deserved it. Also a bit of a problem w/ mega-conferences. In a 10 team league 5 would be half their members, but a 14 or 15 team conference that percentage drops significantly. Just seems like you'd be leaving some of the best teams out if you only allow 5 from any conference.

Maybe that would be a good way to encourage large conferences to split up into smaller conferences where they'll have balanced schedules

 

[cohenzone]

If Regular Season Champions get the automatic NCAA tournament bid, then there's no reason to host a Conference Post Season Tournament. What I propose to help the Mid Majors, since P5 Conferences receive multiple bids is that if the Regular Season Conference Champion doesn't win the Post Season Tournament then that conference gets a minimum of two bids. The committee could add a requirement that the Post Season conference Tournament winner must have a Winning Conference Record to get the second bid. This would result in P5 Conferences getting fewer bids, but it would expand the NCAA Tournament to more Mid Majors.

At one time, in the men’s tournament, the ACC was the only league that held a conference tournament and that winning team got the bid. Many thought it unfair because it discounted the regular season. It was even worse (?) then, because only one team per conference, the conference champ, could go to the big dance. The field was much smaller. It’s why the NIT was still pretty impressive.