NCAA Bracket Travesty

by **DieHardMSUFan** » March 9th, 2011, 11:40 am

Will Villanova and Marquette seriously get in over MSU?

Go look at their bodies of work. Both are 9-9 in the Big East, which is decent...a lot of wins agains the bottom feeders with one or two decent in coference wins. Both played complete joke out of conference schedules just to get their win totals up.

Nova got knocked out of the first round of the Big East tourney by USF...are you kidding me? They lost 7 of their last nine games, with the only two wins against Seton Hall and DePaul. Who would even want them in a tourney?

Marquette had three good out of conference games, Duke, Gonzaga and Wisconsin, and lost them all. The rest of the teams they played were awful and they beat them all, again to get the win total up.

Why in the world would a tournament committee even want to put these two teams in over a mid major that won 25 games and won their conference title. Nobody in the general public will be cheering for Nova or Marquette, but the whole nation cheers for a mid major to pull a first round or two win.

To me it is a joke that those two teams would make it in before MSU. Also, note that Lunardi's last four in are all from major conferences.....what a shock. Same story over and over again...Mich St beat a bunch of puds out of conference, lost to the good teams out of conference, .500 in conference. Colorado, same story.

There is a definate recipe for the selection of major conference teams, and it is BS.

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by **PowderBlue** » March 9th, 2011, 11:43 am

You are absolutely right.

But it's driven by money. As a casual fan who doesn't know jack, who would you rather watch: Missouri State, Villanova, Marquette, or Alabama?

I definitely agree with you though.

by **bigdawg** » March 9th, 2011, 11:46 am

The problem is that they get to play 10 games a year in conference against top 25 teams. If they win 2, that's the reason they get in. They aren't any better sometimes but they have something on their resume that smaller schools rarely get simply because they get the opportunity. I agree it sucks.

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » March 9th, 2011, 11:49 am

It feels like a conspiracy almost. You're preaching to the choir. If we get snubbed again, man I don't know what I will do. Those Big East bottom feeders are all jokes so is everyone in the Big XII but Kansas and Texas. We should be ahead of most of those teams and maybe we will. Who knows at this point, right? At this point what can we do to cause change? I've emailed some of the committee members the last few days but haven't heard back other than just stock answers like from Dan Beebe and the Big Sky dude. I suggest we all get serious in our email campaigns, tell them why Missouri State belongs and heck Wichita too if you like. Be respectful, but get your point across: "This system is a joke and you had better be working on justice for the little guys."

Also call major media radio stations like the 101 in StL or 810 in KC and just tell them why the Valley deserves more. Eventually if we put our hearts into this, we can cause change. Maybe it won't get Missouri State in this year but it'll help down the road. We just need people in the media to be on our side and expose the system for the hypocritical, buddy-buddy, joke that it is. If we don't raise a fuss we will continue to be unjustly left out. Take a stand Valley fans!!!

by **BirdmanBB** » March 9th, 2011, 11:54 am

DieHardMSUFan wrote:Will Villanova and Marquette seriously get in over MSU?

Why in the world would a tournament committee even want to put these two teams in over a mid major that won 25 games and won their conference title. Nobody in the general public will be cheering for Nova or Marquette, but the whole nation cheers for a mid major to pull a first round or two win.

To me it is a joke that those two teams would make it in before MSU. Also, note that Lunardi's last four in are all from major conferences.....what a shock. Same story over and over again...Mich St beat a bunch of puds out of conference, lost to the good teams out of conference, .500 in conference. Colorado, same story.

There is a definate recipe for the selection of major conference teams, and it is BS.

I understand that it is tough to see your team put together a good season and then be shot down, but that is the reality of things.

While I agree that Villanova probably doesn't deserve to make it, there are probably other teams that are more worthy of getting in over MSU. Villanovas best road win is at Cuse. I know the committee always likes to look at how a team finishes the season and they finish with 5 losses, two of which were on their floor and one being in the big east tourney. The did beat Cincinnatti and Louisville early in their season schedule, but they did not improve to beat St. Johns or Syracuse at home at the end of their season. For that reason I don't think they should be in.

As for your comment about the general public cheering for mid-majors, Butlers run and the championship made last years tourneys one of the lowest rated if not the lowest rated.

Lunardi only projects what he thinks the committee will do. He is not the committee, so I would't "hate the player, but hate the game."

Personally, after watching the CAA championship, I think if there are any leftover bids to be handed out, I think VCU is more deserving than MSU. Looking at things like SOS and the strength of the valley, it is going to be a pretty tough sell to get MSU in even as the regular season champ. I think the valleys was ranked 15th at one point. I also think if you put a team like Villanova in the valley, they would probably have a similar record as MSU and if you put MSU in the big east, they would probably have a similar outcome as Villanova.

Simply, if the valley doesn't choke in the MVC/MWC challenge and the bracketbuster or if MSU beat Valpo then I think you guys are in. Right now you need a whole lot of luck.

by **bigdawg** » March 9th, 2011, 12:00 pm

I'm trying not to be a jerk but I don't think MSU getting left out this year is a snub. They had lots of chances to win their way in and failed on almost every occasion.

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » March 9th, 2011, 12:02 pm

Let's do a little blind resume test:

Team A: 25-8, RPI of 42, 14-8 against top 200 RPI, won a conference title, has a couple of great CBS storylines with their coach in particular, winner of postseason tournament in 2010, also school was biggest snub in Tournament history previously.

Team B: 21-11, RPI of 37, 17-11 against RPI top 200, losers of 4 in a row, played below seed last year in the NCAA Tournament.

Team C: 18-12, RPI of 76, an awful 10-12 against RPI top 200, also underachieved with likely NBA lottery pick.

Which team do you take? Clearly it would be between A and B I would think. Yet B is seen as a lock and C is getting ESPN love too while A is an after thought.

by **BirdmanBB** » March 9th, 2011, 12:09 pm

CaseyGarrisonforPrez wrote:Let's do a little blind resume test:

Team A: 25-8, RPI of 42, 14-8 against top 200 RPI, won a conference title, has a couple of great CBS storylines with their coach in particular, winner of postseason tournament in 2010, also school was biggest snub in Tournament history previously.

Team B: 21-11, RPI of 37, 17-11 against RPI top 200, losers of 4 in a row, played below seed last year in the NCAA Tournament.

Team C: 18-12, RPI of 76, an awful 10-12 against RPI top 200, also underachieved with likely NBA lottery pick.

Which team do you take? Clearly it would be between A and B I would think. Yet B is seen as a lock and C is getting ESPN love too while A is an after thought.

Those points you made about MSU are not and should not be considered. Butler made the National Championship last year, but at one point many experts had them out, but they played their way back on a weak bubble (MSU did not). Can I get a little more information though? What are all of those teams records against the top 50, top 100 and top 150. What are their best wins and what are their worst losses? Where were those games played (home, away, neutral)? What are those teams in conference SOS, out of conference SOS and overall SOS?

by **bigdawg** » March 9th, 2011, 12:10 pm

I'd love for you to make it but who did you beat? None of the other stuff you mentioned matters. Top 200 doesn't matter. Top 25 or 50 matters. So give me the same three schools with those criteria and I'll bet you see why those schools might get in first.

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » March 9th, 2011, 12:12 pm

BirdmanBB wrote:
CaseyGarrisonforPrez wrote:Let's do a little blind resume test:

Team A: 25-8, RPI of 42, 14-8 against top 200 RPI, won a conference title, has a couple of great CBS storylines with their coach in particular, winner of postseason tournament in 2010, also school was biggest snub in Tournament history previously.

Team B: 21-11, RPI of 37, 17-11 against RPI top 200, losers of 4 in a row, played below seed last year in the NCAA Tournament.

Team C: 18-12, RPI of 76, an awful 10-12 against RPI top 200, also underachieved with likely NBA lottery pick.

Which team do you take? Clearly it would be between A and B I would think. Yet B is seen as a lock and C is getting ESPN love too while A is an after thought.

Those points you made about MSU are not and shouldn't be considered. Can I get a little more information though? What are all of those teams records against the top 50, top 100 and top 150. What are their best wins and what are their worst losses? Where were those games played (home, away, neutral)?

I appreciate your request, but I'm not going to take the time to accumulate all that other info. It shouldn't be hard to figure out who the other two teams are for those that are really interested.

Just out of curiousity why should those points not be considered? BCS teams can get a bump for those things, why can't we?