Tournament Committee = Thumbs Up Their Asses!

L45B · Post by **L45B** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:05 am

Ok ok, i could care less about Virginia Tech and Illinois. Tough shit. But how the hell does this committee get away with giving the top two teams in the field the two toughest roads to the Final Four?? Makes no sense at all. What's the criteria for sticking Ohio State and West Virginia as #2 seeds in Kansas and Kentucky's bracket, respectively? Money? Tv ratings? Complete fucking joke. While we're at it, why not pit KU & UK as possible FF opponents? Like they did that year when the fucking morons slotted UK & UMass in the FF.

Who the hell makes up this stupid committee anyways? Any Wimbledon officials in the group? Jesus, this shit pisses me off. Rant over.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:09 am

That Midwest region is freaking stacked.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:11 am

L45B wrote:Ok ok, i could care less about Virginia Tech and Illinois. Tough shit. But how the hell does this committee get away with giving the top two teams in the field the two toughest roads to the Final Four?? Makes no sense at all. What's the criteria for sticking Ohio State and West Virginia as #2 seeds in Kansas and Kentucky's bracket, respectively? Money? Tv ratings? Complete fucking joke. While we're at it, why not pit KU & UK as possible FF opponents? Like they did that year when the fucking morons slotted UK & UMass in the FF. Who the hell makes up this stupid committee anyways? Any Wimbledon officials in the group? Jesus, this shit pisses me off. Rant over.

Soo...what's the problem?

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:05 am

L45B wrote:While we're at it, why not pit KU & UK as possible FF opponents?

They'll be Final 2 opponents, maybe.

Not so sure about Kentucky, but I'm damn sure about freaking Kansas.... and I despise them.

If you don't pick Kansas to cut down the nets, you haven't been paying attention.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:24 am

War Wagon wrote: If you don't pick Kansas to cut down the nets, you haven't been paying attention.

kind of how i feel. but, they've blown it before. (Peirce/LaFrenz: Collison/Heinrich).

Terry in Crapchester · Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:40 am

You'd have to go back to 1986 for the last time two teams from the same conference matched up before the Elite 8 (Kentucky-Alabama in the Sweet 16 that year). This year, the way the Selection Committee seeded the teams, the Big East has the possibility of not one, but two, such matchups -- West Virginia-Marquette in the East Regional, and Villanova-ND in the South Regional.

The way the seedings broke, six of the eight Big East invites wound up in the bottom half of the bracket. But I've heard that in the past, the Selection Committee would consider moving teams up or down one seed to prevent this sort of thing. Had they done that, the most likely candidates to move into the top half of a bracket would've been West Virginia (2 -> 1) and Pitt (3 -> 4). Obviously, though, the Selection Committee chose to make this the Big East's problem rather than their own.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:13 pm

The committee is constantly talking out of both sides of its mouth. They say they don't look at conferences, they look at individual teams, yet they're so focused on avoiding conference matchups as much as possible. Competitive balance of each region should be the most important thing, along with seeding teams properly. Neither one of those should take a hit because the committee doesn't want to see team A play team B in the Sweet 16, or whatever.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:25 pm

And it's also apparent that the committee wanted to ensure that Duke had as easy a path as possible to the Final Four. And yes, it's all about the TV ratings. The contract is up for negotiation.

Mook · Post by **Mook** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:52 pm

I don't think there were any terrible errors made by the committee....the Midwest looks pretty tough on the surface and is probably the most difficult region but it isn't that bad. Michigan State is a mess right now and Maryland,although playing good ball probably isn't a team any really good team would "fear". Now, the bottom half of the Midwest looks pretty stacked with Ohio State and Georgetown. And hell, Ok State and Tennessee own a combined three wins against Kansas and Kentucky this year, that's not too shabby. I do think it's tough to set this thing up with not being able to match teams from the same conference up early, making sure the seedings are somewhat in order. Seems like a nightmare and I think they did a pretty good job. As for the bubble teams, when is one of these "expert" announcers going to state the obvious to them that if you want to be in the tournament win more games!!! Christ sakes, it isn't that hard. If a team has to wonder if they are in the tournament, then they don't deserve to be in the tournament and should consider themselves very fortunate if they get in.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:07 pm

Mook wrote:Michigan State is a mess right now

Not really. This is really getting overblown by the media.

Mook · Post by **Mook** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:33 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
Mook wrote:Michigan State is a mess right now
Not really. This is really getting overblown by the media.

I'm not really talking about the media stuff........I'm talking about a team that is 5-5 their last 10 games and who doesn't really own a marquee win all year. They have lost to Florida, Texas and North Carolina in OOC play. In conference they don't have any great wins either. The win at Purdue was after Hummel's injury and they lost to Ohio State on their homecourt. Finally, losing to Minnesota in the conference tournament is a bad loss to end the season.

The stuff the media is talking about doesn't hide the fact that this Michigan State team has underachieved and hasn't defeated a high level opponent all year. In that regard, I think Michigan State is a mess........add in any of the other stuff and it doesn't add up to a team poised to make a big run. Michigan State is more likely to lose to New Mexico State than wind up in a Regional Final game this year.

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:01 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Not really. This is really getting overblown by the media.

Yeah. The media is in hysterics over their meteoric descent from the heavens...

Anyways. Good thing they had Penn St... twice and Indiana down the stretch or we may be talking 2-8 in their last 10 instead of 5-5.

They aren't as good as most people thought they were through the first 20 games. Not even close. One and done. Maybe none. I picked them to lose to NM ST. Although I must admit, as confirmed Big 10 hater... I may be a bit biased.

SunCoastSooner · Post by **SunCoastSooner** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:46 pm

How in the blue blazes of fucking Hades was Floriduh allowed into this field? Are you fucking kidding me? No, fucking seriously, this has to be like an early April fool's joke by the committee and we're going to see someone else actually show up on the court for the game, right?

A team that's ranked 56th in the RPI, went 3-8 against other top 50 RPI teams with none of those three wins on the road or neutral court? A team that got shellacked by double digits five times. A team that lost to the likes of Richmond, Southern Alabama, and Vanderbilt (twice)? A team that played in a conference that's suckkitude was only surpassed by the Pac Ten (barely) and still finished fourth... in their division!!!

Biggest fucking travesty in the NCAA field that I have seen in over half a decade. They should be lucky to be a mid-tier NIT contestant!!!

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:52 pm

For once, I totally agree with the man with the $950k house. Florida is a fucking travesty. I wonder who cock Billy sucked to get that favor.

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:08 pm

Screw_Michigan wrote:For once, I totally agree with the man with the $950k house. Florida is a fucking travesty. I wonder who cock Billy sucked to get that favor.

Damn. It's 950K? I thought it was a mere 900K.

Is this anything like a ~~$65~~ $105 Polo Shirt?

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:32 pm

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:
MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Not really. This is really getting overblown by the media.
Yeah. The media is in hysterics over their meteoric descent from the heavens...

Anyways. Good thing they had Penn St... twice and Indiana down the stretch or we may be talking 2-8 in their last 10 instead of 5-5.

They aren't as good as most people thought they were through the first 20 games. Not even close. One and done. Maybe none. I picked them to lose to NM ST. Although I must admit, as confirmed Big 10 hater... I may be a bit biased.

I figured Mook was referring to the suspension of Chris Allen and other off court "issues" ... which really aren't issues at all. I've heard as recently as this morning from the media that Allen isn't going to play on Friday, even though Izzo has already debunked that. As for their inconsistent play and underwhelming resume, I can't defend any of that. It's all true. However, history shows that you're a fool if you automatically rule out MSU in March. Tell me...what happened the last time they were a 5 seed?

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:57 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Tell me...what happened the last time they were a 5 seed?

Uhm. My spreadsheet only has 4 gigabyte capacity. I don't store this level of data.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:02 pm

Good, I'd be worried otherwise.

-Cuddles Analytics

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:13 pm

Dude. You're totally stealing my cookies. And... eating the data stored on them. :o

BASTAGE.

Terry in Crapchester · Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:18 pm

Screw_Michigan wrote:For once, I totally agree with the man with the $950k house. Florida is a fucking travesty. I wonder who cock Billy sucked to get that favor.

2rd. Not that there should be a "quota" for any conference, but if the Selection Committee really, really wanted a fourth team out of the Meatgrinder, Mississippi State was a better choice than Florida.

M Club · Post by **M Club** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:04 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote: Not really. This is really getting overblown by the media.

signed,
mclub

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:07 pm

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:56 pm

War Wagon wrote:And it's also apparent that the committee wanted to ensure that Duke had as easy a path as possible to the Final Four. And yes, it's all about the TV ratings. The contract is up for negotiation.

I had the stopwatch out, waiting for someone to come up with something like this. Nice try, but that's giving Duke a lot more credit than they deserve. Look, CBS has a logical and deadly serious competitor in the Disney company. Between ABC and more importantly the various ESPN networks, and Disney’s deep pockets, CBS is going to have to work hard to keep the tournament. The simple fact of a strong competitor will guarantee that the NCAA gets a good price for its crown jewel, far more than would a deep run by Duke.

I like how Duke has flown under the radar all season and all of a sudden, it's time bust out the neuroses/obsessions, logic be dammed!

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:42 pm

Mustang wrote:The simple fact of a strong competitor will guarantee that the NCAA gets a good price for its crown jewel, far more than would a deep run by Duke.

I like how Duke has flown under the radar all season and all of a sudden, it's time bust out the neuroses/obsessions, logic be dammed!

What? $6 Billion for 11 years wasn't good enough?

Let me spell it out real simple for you. Duke has 3 white starters, the tourney will garner better ratings from the more casual fan, ie: Whitey, if Duke makes a deep run, preferably to the Final Four... so that the NCAA can squeeze every last drop of ~~cum~~ cash from the corporate dicks who will be buying the ~~whore~~ cash cow next year.

Why do you suppose there's talk of expanding the tourney to 96 teams? And if and when they do, Duke will get preferential treatment then, as now.

Arch Angel · Post by **Arch Angel** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:32 pm

I wonder what information Coach K has over the committee to be gift- wrapped a Final Four appearance for his boring team?

They have the weakest, #8, #4, #2 team in the field? I can understand them slamming Kentucky to prevent Coach $Calipari$ from making it and then putting KY on probation afterwards, but come on Kansas shouldn't be punished like that.

In saying that, I hope Rick Pitino has a hot date after the game so he can have his team play urgently and torpedo Duke in the second round.

Terry in Crapchester · Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:46 pm

Arch Angel wrote:I wonder what information Coach K has over the committee to be gift- wrapped a Final Four appearance for his boring team?

Not picking on you, Arch, but you're about the 10th person to say that in here. I don't think Duke necessarily has a cakewalk to the Final Four.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a Big East fan, but it seems to me that any of the Big East teams in the South Regional could, at least potentially, knock off Duke. Of course, the issue with those teams is consistency.

As for Villanova, the key question is, which team shows up? The one that showed up for the first 90% of the season? Or the one that showed up for the last 10% of the season? The former is a legitimate Final Four threat, the latter, of course, is something else.

As I said previously, I'm picking Louisville over Duke in the second round. Of all the 8/9 seeds, I think Louisville is the best positioned to knock off a 1 seed in Round 2, with the possible exception of Gonzaga.

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:03 pm

So let me get this straight. Since Duke has 3 white guys in the starting lineup, somehow that makes them a more television draw? Wow. By that logic, the NHL would kill in the ratings. I recall Duke getting good TV numbers back in the day of the Hills, Antonio Lang, Brian Davis, Elton Brand, William Avery, Jason Williams, Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier. Oh, wait........the last two were mixed race. Maybe that changes things. Maybe it was just a good tournament. Good grief......way to reduce tv ratings down to race. Yeah, I can see it now.....fans everywhere are jumping on Duke's bandwagon because they got three white guys in the lineup!!!! Amazing. Tournament ratings have been quite good in the past few years and Duke hasn't been within a sniff of the FF. Maybe if Duke gets more black guys in the lineup (see next year's recruits so far?), then their "popularity" will go down??????? And do these same people that are rooting for Duke (all them white folks) also root for Cornell, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, BYU, and Vandy? Plenty of white guys on those squads, you know.

Pretty weak issue here.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:11 pm

Mustang wrote:So let me get this straight. Since Duke has 3 white guys in the starting lineup, somehow that makes them a more television draw?

Yes, absolutley. Wasn't my post clear enough for you? Are you "straight" now?

By that logic, the NHL would kill in the ratings.

The NHL? Nobody gives a fuck about the NHL 'cept a few (save it, Screwey and Goobs)... which network carries NHL games, Versus? Yeah, Versus. They squeeze the NHL in between rodeo and motorcross. How much do they pay for those rights? How long is the contract?

Yeah, nice "logic" you've got going on here.

I recall Duke getting good TV numbers back in the day of the Hills, Antonio Lang, Brian Davis, Elton Brand, William Avery, Jason Williams, Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier.

Regrettably, you missed Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and a slew of others.

Tournament ratings have been quite good in the past few years.

You got some numbers to back that up?

Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Which part of "contract year" don't you understand? Contract year in a bad economy when every major sponsor in every major sport has been tightening purse strings.

And do these same people that are rooting for Duke (all them white folks) also root for Cornell, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, BYU, and Vandy? Plenty of white guys on those squads, you know.

How many Final Fours have those aforementioned teams been to?

Pretty weak issue here.

Weak or not, the "issue" is real and it's a pretty good bet that Duke will somehow make the FF.

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:20 am

So basketball ratings are all tied into race. Guess we'll disagree.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:34 am

we'll agree to disagree, Mustang.

Big difference.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:37 am

Christ, Wags, you are a god blamed moron.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:45 am

excellent arguement you make there, Mgo.

Care to refute any points?

More important, did you take Duke to the FF?

If not, well... I know who the moron is.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:53 am

War Wagon wrote:More important, did you take Duke to the FF?

Fuck no, I didn't. I got Puke one and done.

But Whitey, even you have to admit it's a HUGE FUCKING STRETCH to say white boys are driving TV ratings and getting Puke favorable seeds. That's just retarded. They're successful, more successful than many programs, and for much longer. Do they get calls and favors? Of course. But they're not getting them because of their white boys. And you know it.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:03 am

We'll see...

If proved wrong, I'll come correct.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:06 am

What the hell are you talking about? They haven't even made it past the Sweet 16 since 2003. Rigged, my ass.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:10 am

No shit, I'm like 55-45 toward Duke getting favors. Of course they do, but they still gotta capitalize, and they haven't been doing that lately.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:20 am

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:What the hell are you talking about? They haven't even made it past the Sweet 16 since 2003.

The NCAA hasn't been in a contract year for the tourney since 1999.

Do the math.

Terry in Crapchester · Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:15 pm

From an historical standpoint, the biggest advantage the selection committee has given to both Duke and North Carolina has been pod seeding. In most years, it seems that there's a pod site in North Carolina, and the pod format has allowed the selection committee to send both of them to North Carolina without placing them in the same regional. So in most years, both Duke and North Carolina have de facto home games in the first and second round.

Yes, other teams have benefitted from the pod format as well (notably, Syracuse does this year by playing its first and second round games in Buffalo, only 150 miles away, since prior to the pod format they would have had to play in either San Jose or Spokane in the first and second round this year). But nobody has benefitted, year in and year out, to the extent that Duke and North Carolina have.

Of course, this year is an exception to the rule. There are no pod sites in North Carolina (Duke still gets to go to the closest pod site to campus in Jacksonville), and North Carolina failed to take care of business in the regular season.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:33 pm

War Wagon wrote:The NCAA hasn't been in a contract year for the tourney since 1999.

Do the math.

Oh. Of course. Keep your dumbfuck tinfoil takes to yourself. I ain't readin' em.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Fri Apr 02, 2010 5:00 pm

Mook wrote:In that regard, I think Michigan State is a mess........add in any of the other stuff and it doesn't add up to a team poised to make a big run. Michigan State is more likely to lose to New Mexico State than wind up in a Regional Final game this year.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:history shows that you're a fool if you automatically rule out MSU in March. Tell me...what happened the last time they were a 5 seed?

Sup, Mook?