What the Selection Committee just did to the AAC

[VAHuskyFan]

Was "their job." Last year SMU got screwed. This year everyone got what they deserved.

Here's the thing. This was not a good year for the AAC. Too many WTF non-conference losses by too many teams at the top of the conference.

• We managed to lose to Yale on our home court.
• Temple got beat by UNLV (who is terrible) and suffered a few blowout losses.
• Cincinnati lost to Nebraska (100+ RPI/BPI).
• Tulsa lost to SE Oklahoma State, which just . . . <facepalm>. (Not only is SE Oklahoma State a DIVISION II team, they are a very bad Division II team. They are a .500 Division II team that lost to another Division II team by 27 points.)
• SMU, to their credit, didn't have any terrible losses. But their best non-conference win was Wyoming. That's just not going to cut it.

Our RPIs were all inflated because games against Division II teams don't count. So according to the RPI, Tulsa's loss to SE Oklahoma State never happened. Except, of course, it DID happen and the Selection Committee took that into account.

I have to think some of the early OOC head-scratchers were just plain bad luck. Avoid a bit of that bad luck next year and the AAC should be in much better shape next Selection Sunday.

 

[HuskyBoi]

The AAC got robbed. I think we all understand that. We seriously have to leave lol

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Look at LSU, UCLA, Georgia and Ole Miss, and then STFU. The NCAA jumped 30 RPI spots to grab power conference teams. Don't talk about how Temple or CSU DESERVED what happened to them.

 

[willie99]

just stop, bubble teams are bubble teams because they all have holes in their resumes, they all have warts on their face.

the final selection of bubble teams has absolutely nothing to do with everything you mentioned, it has everything to do with conference affiliation of committee members. It's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in the not so distant, but it's something nobody wants to talk about because it's the 500 pound gorilla in the room.

 

[willie99]

The 2014-15 NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee is chaired byUtah State AD Scott Barnes. He will be the one tasked with doing the television interviews and defending the 68-team field after it is announced on the Selection Show on CBS.

Barnes' Vice Chairman is Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione. He will serve as chairman for the 2015-16 season.

Here is a complete list of the rest of the 2014-15 NCAA men's basketball tournament committee:

• LSU AD Joe Alleva
• Michigan State AD Mark Hollis
• Conference USA associate commissioner Judy MacLeod
• Creighton AD Bruce Rasmussen
• Northeastern AD Peter Roby
• UNC-Asheville AD Janet Cone
• Stanford AD Bernard Muir
• BYU AD Tom Holmoe

 

[ConnHuskBask]

That is a BS post, check out the other teams resumes on the bubble.

Temple was absolutely jobbed.

Tulsa and UConn don't belong in the discussion unless you want to put other P5 teams resumes from the NIT to compare.

 

[willie99]

bubble teams that got in

LSU? just their AD was in the committee
UCLA? conference represented
GA & Ole Miss? that LSU AD was popular and powerful. I'm guessing that dude wined and dined everybody all year long.
TX? just the Vice Chairman getting more money for his conference
OK St? see TX
The commissioner was able to land 2 at large bids for his conference. I'm guessing he came close to securing 4 bids for the Mountain West, but had to settle for 3.
BYU? another AD
IN? Mich St AD

using Joe Lunardi's bubble teams represented on the committee were 9-1 in getting in. Every bubble team from every major conference which had representation on the committee made the tournament.

 

[BoatShow]

18-13. I don't get it

 

[willie99]

bubble teams left out

Temple
Mia FL
CO St
Murray St

bubble teams without representation on the committee went 0-3

CO St was the only exception to the rule. There just weren't enough bubble spots to accommodate them. The committee would have to leave a LOCK out to let them in. and that lock would have come from another major conference. I guess the scum thought that might be a little too far to reach, so the couldn't make the MWC a four bid conference. (although I'm sure there was some talk about leaving Cincy out too. No way they would screw with an ACC bid)

 

[CTBasketball]

The committee, and the numbers, value getting blown out at #1 Kentucky rather than beating a top 75 RPI team at home.

That's why the SEC got so many teams, their SOS is inflated because of Kentucky. When your schedule allows you to play the #1 team in the country up to 3 times, and get destroyed in all games, it doesn't hurt your RPI at all and begs your SOS to go as close to zero as possible. That's all common knowledge though. It just masked how good the SEC actually is.

 

[junglehusky]

I really, really do not have the energy to care if any non-UConn AAC team got 'jobbed'.

 

[jibsey]

Was "their job." Last year SMU got screwed. This year everyone got what they deserved.

Here's the thing. This was not a good year for the AAC. Too many WTF non-conference losses by too many teams at the top of the conference.

• We managed to lose to Yale on our home court.
• Temple got beat by UNLV (who is terrible) and suffered a few blowout losses.
• Cincinnati lost to Nebraska (100+ RPI/BPI).
• Tulsa lost to SE Oklahoma State, which just . . . <facepalm>. (Not only is SE Oklahoma State a DIVISION II team, they are a very bad Division II team. They are a .500 Division II team that lost to another Division II team by 27 points.)
• SMU, to their credit, didn't have any terrible losses. But their best non-conference win was Wyoming. That's just not going to cut it.

Our RPIs were all inflated because games against Division II teams don't count. So according to the RPI, Tulsa's loss to SE Oklahoma State never happened. Except, of course, it DID happen and the Selection Committee took that into account.

I have to think some of the early OOC head-scratchers were just plain bad luck. Avoid a bit of that bad luck next year and the AAC should be in much better shape next Selection Sunday.

For the most part the teams in our conference only get to play teams with numbers next to their names in Nov and Dec. Until we have 3 or more nationally ranked teams in conference we will run into the same thing year after year. Conference USA had the same deal. So this is a conference recruiting and quality problem made worse by the fact that just a few teams stockpile the best recruits year after year. The solution which is easier said than done is to lift the top of our conference into the top 25. Realistically that is us, Temple, SMU, Cincy and Memphis. Even if we have 3 teams in the bottom of the top 25, those are schedule strengthening games. This year 1 low 25 ranked team?

 

[Jerry1714]

It has nothing to do with the AAC, it has to do with the power 5.

They do it every year. A10 and MVC got screwed on their seeds this year worse than the AAC did.

The last 4 teams out were Richmond, Temple, Colorado St, and Old Dominion. See a theme?

Hell, they would have took out Dayton if we had won. Dayton should be an 8 seed.

 

[willie99]

I really, really do not have the energy to care if any non-UConn AAC team got 'jobbed'.

UConn loses money

 

[Windsorlocks]

This month old USA Today article explains the formula used by both the Big 12 and Big East to wind up ranked 1 and 2 respectively in league RPI:

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

The first key to success is keep it at 10 members. This allows for an 18 game double round robin regular season.

The second key is your teams schedule a tough OOC schedule. The Big East did that and their teams did well. Thus the majority of members started league play with solid RPI's. Once they had that, easy to get quality wins and hard to get bad losses. You have protected your league RPI by having most of your teams begin league play with solid RPI's.

As the article above describes, smaller is better if it allows your league to max the benefits of the RPI system used on Selection Sunday. The BE, while it might have had 12 members as a future option, inadvertently perhaps discovered a 10 team league can be optimal for gaming the RPI. It's high risk/reward obviously. But in 2015, that's why the BE and Big 12 ranked as the top two leagues in RPI.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I really, really do not have the energy to care if any non-UConn AAC team got 'jobbed'.

Great point. Just because every non-P5/BE team got bent over yesterday does not mean something like that would ever happen to UConn, right?

 

[MDHusky]

It definitely is all about the schedule, SOS, non-conference games, the RPI, and your conference affiliation.

In comparing some of the bubble teams, look at their record versus teams ranked outside the top 100 RPI:

Colorado St: 21-1
Old Dominion: 18-5
Temple: 15-2
Richmond: 12-4

In all cases too many wins versus bad teams and not enough quality wins.

For the teams just making the cut, here's the record in games versus below 100 RPI:

Texas: 12-0
Indiana: 12-1
Oklahoma St: 9-2
UCLA: 15-3
Dayton: 18-1

UCLA was flat out not deserving of a bid. Dayton just barely made it because UConn didn't get the auto bid. Dayton was 6-6 versus top 100 RPI.

So the formula seems to be a schedule with 11-13 cupcake games and the remaining games versus top 100 RPI. The UConn schedule was not too far off.

I don't like to see teams make the tournament with losing conference records, however, the 2011-2012 Huskies look a lot like Texas and Oklahoma St with the 8-10 conference record.

 

[junglehusky]

Great point. Just because every non-P5/BE team got bent over yesterday does not mean something like that would ever happen to UConn, right?

I will care about Uconn getting left out in lieu of a clearly undeserving P5 team when UConn gets left out in lieu of a clearly undeserving P5 team. I will not care about it when it's Temple, SMU, Tulsa, Memphis, Tulane, etc.

 

[UConnSwag11]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12491368&ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

You would think they would have a little more respect after UConn won the Championship from the AAC as a under seeded 7. Smu deserves a 4 or a 5 minimum. No way you can convince me that Georgetown is a better team then SMU. And Temple deserved to get in over shittyy teams like UCLA Oklahoma St Indiana ect.

 

[MattMang23]

Temple got hosed.

Going into the selection show I would have said they are squarely on the bubble. After seeing UCLA taken, which was the most egregious selection, they were hosed. No other bubble team had any win nearly as good as Temple blowing out Kansas.

Nothing else happened to the AAC though that shouldn't have happened. We didn't have very good teams.

 

[zls44]

SMU did not deserve to get in last year if you actually were paying attention. Temple has a bigger gripe than SMU, who played nobody OOC.

 

[MattMang23]

SMU did not deserve to get in last year if you actually were paying attention. Temple has a bigger gripe than SMU, who played nobody OOC.

This.

 

[tzznandrew]

SMU did not deserve to get in last year if you actually were paying attention. Temple has a bigger gripe than SMU, who played nobody OOC.

Yeah, the more I've thought about it in the last 24 hours, the more I've realized that SMU was justly left out last year.

Temple should have been in, but when you're near that bubble line, it hardly matters. I think they were the second best AAC team, but their resume was not impressive outside of a win against Kansas. That win mattered, but so did their losses to Saint Joe's and UNLV. And the fact that they had 14 sub-200 wins. Sadly 9 of those were in conference!

 

[junglehusky]

Yeah, the more I've thought about it in the last 24 hours, the more I've realized that SMU was justly left out last year.

Temple should have been in, but when you're near that bubble line, it hardly matters. I think they were the second best AAC team, but their resume was not impressive outside of a win against Kansas. That win mattered, but so did their losses to Saint Joe's and UNLV. And the fact that they had 14 sub-200 wins. Sadly 9 of those were in conference!

Well those facts are hard to argue with but Aresco should be on Meet The Press raising hell ARGLE BARGLE BLARGGG