Lunardi's Latest after Sundays Games

[ssckelley]

What bothers me is that Iowa finished alone in 6th place in the toughest league in the country and we will probably miss the Dance in favor of one or two teams that finished below the Hawks. In fact, they finished two and three seeding spots below them. That, to me, is what isn't fair. But it is what it is and the Hawks just need to deal with the hand dealt.

GO HAWKS!!!

Yep and the reason for that is because Iowa scheduled and beat 7 teams with an RPI above 200 in the non conference.

 

[99topdawg]

My problem is that, if the selection committee only uses the RPI as its computer rankings, it totally screws Iowa. While Iowa has an RPI of 75, its ranking in the Massey, Sagarin, KenPom, and BPI are 53, 35, 31, and 49, respectively. The 5 total average to be 48.6, which certainly would not hurt their case to get in nearly as much as the RPI.

Temple, on the other hand, has an RPI of 38, while the other 4 that I listed above has them at 54, 57, 70, and 57.

Virginia is 66 in RPI and 40, 27, 19, and 41 in the others.

There are others like this as well and it is the same with all of the computer rankings. I don't see why they don't use some sort of computer average or at least consider others (which they don't do, according to the NCAA website).

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

The tournament is a great thing...its not perfect, nor is the system...but it produces amazing entertainment every single year.

Some may not like the selection process this year, because Iowa is more than likely going to be left out.

But when you sit back and look at what Iowa did, or didn't do in the OOC, then you see those five close losses in league play and if Iowa would have just gone 2-3 in those games, or 4-4 in the eight games they played in Big Ten decided by four points or less (they went 2-6), there's your answer; the man in the mirror.

While I get that Jon and don't disagree, how can the committee validate MTSU with ZERO top 50 wins, 1 top 100 win and stockpiling wins in the Sun Belt yet not Iowa? If Iowa gets punished for their non-con SOS that was just half of their schedule when MTSU essentially has that type of schedule for ALL their games but Iowa has 4 top 50 wins, 16 wins against everyone else I don't get that.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Yep and the reason for that is because Iowa scheduled and beat 7 teams with an RPI above 200 in the non conference.

Iowa also had an easy big ten schedule.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

While I get that Jon and don't disagree, how can the committee validate MTSU with ZERO top 50 wins, 1 top 100 win and stockpiling wins in the Sun Belt yet not Iowa? If Iowa gets punished for their non-con SOS that was just half of their schedule when MTSU essentially has that type of schedule for ALL their games but Iowa has 4 top 50 wins, 16 wins against everyone else I don't get that.

Well said. I thought it was all about who you've beaten, and MTSU hasn't really beaten anybody. Obviously I'm biased towards Iowa and want them to get in, but if "who you've beaten" is going to be the criteria, then apply it consistently, yes? If MTSU had scheduled some of the big boys in their non-con and had beaten a couple of them, then fine. I'd say they're deserving. But if they just feasted on RPI opponents 200-300 all season long (like Iowa did for just a handful of games) then why are they more deserving?

Yes, I agree with Jon that the selection process isn't perfect. Particularly if the RPI is the one and only computer ranking that it looks at.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Iowa also had an easy big ten schedule.

There's no such thing as an "easy" Big Ten schedule. It's only easy relative to what some other teams in the league had to face.

The Big Ten needs a round-robin type of schedule. But as the league continues to grow, this doesn't seem likely.

 

[DexterMorgan]

There's no such thing as an "easy" Big Ten schedule. It's only easy relative to what some other teams in the league had to face.

The Big Ten needs a round-robin type of schedule. But as the league continues to grow, this doesn't seem likely.

Iowa had an easy big ten schedule relative to what other teams in the league had to face.

I guess both Minnesota & Illinois only had 1 additional game against the top 4. Better non-cons though...obviously.

 

[Cydkar]

While I get that Jon and don't disagree, how can the committee validate MTSU with ZERO top 50 wins, 1 top 100 win and stockpiling wins in the Sun Belt yet not Iowa? If Iowa gets punished for their non-con SOS that was just half of their schedule when MTSU essentially has that type of schedule for ALL their games but Iowa has 4 top 50 wins, 16 wins against everyone else I don't get that.

Who says that they have?

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Iowa had an easy big ten schedule relative to what other teams in the league had to face.

I guess both Minnesota & Illinois only had 1 additional game against the top 4. Better non-cons though...obviously.

Yeah, that's what I just said. My point is that it's still not an EASY schedule, no matter how you slice it. Indiana 2x, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin 2x, Minnesota 2x.. There's nothing easy about that - it's just that other teams had it even worse. IMO that really only matters if you're looking at conference standings.

The non-con is what really needs to improve, and next year, it sounds like Iowa will have a much tougher conference schedule as well. If ILL and Minnesota can get into the tournament because they had alot of big wins, despite 8-10 league records, then Iowa should have the same opportunity next year (and hopefully will do better than 8-10). So guess I'm not really worried about it. I'm looking at it as "more opportunities".

 

[DexterMorgan]

Yeah, that's what I just said. My point is that it's still not an EASY schedule, no matter how you slice it. Indiana 2x, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin 2x, Minnesota 2x.. There's nothing easy about that - it's just that other teams had it even worse. IMO that really only matters if you're looking at conference standings.

The non-con is what really needs to improve, and next year, it sounds like Iowa will have a much tougher conference schedule. If ILL and Minnesota can get into the tournament because they had alot of big wins, despite 8-10 league records, then Iowa should have the same opportunity next year (and hopefully will do better than 8-10). So guess I'm not really worried about it. I'm looking at it as "more opportunities".

Yeah really just using it as a comparison to Minnesota and Illinois.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Yeah really just using it as a comparison to Minnesota and Illinois.

I agree that they had tougher schedules than Iowa did. So their 8-10 compared to Iowa's 9-9 isn't really quite apples to apples.

(I still think Iowa is a better team straight up than Minnesota is, though. At least, they are playing like it.)

 

[volhawk50]

Iowa also had an easy big ten schedule.

What 1977 said. Iowa had an easy conference schedule relative to some other Big Ten teams, but a harder conference schedule than everyone else. There is no such thing as an easy Big Ten schedule.

 

[bws258]

he probably still has Minn in ... the loser of the Ill/Minn game should be OUT

 

[Section136]

he probably still has Minn in ... the loser of the Ill/Minn game should be OUT

I really hope this is the case. Just a gut feeling but I think that Minny would have a better chance of being left out than Illinois if they lose the 8/9 game.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I agree that they had tougher schedules than Iowa did. So their 8-10 compared to Iowa's 9-9 isn't really quite apples to apples.

(I still think Iowa is a better team straight up than Minnesota is, though. At least, they are playing like it.)

I think going 2-1 against Minnesota and Illinois is comparing apples to apples.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I think Illinois is in with the gift from Indiana and the win at Gonzaga...even if they lose to Minnesota. I think Minnesota moves to the bubble with a loss to Illinois.

 

[eveningnewsteam]

he probably still has Minn in ... the loser of the Ill/Minn game should be OUT

I think Illinois would still be in if they lose, but if Minnesota goes down, they should be out. Minnesota should be out anyway at this point, they are a terrible basketball team.

 

[golfingwags]

Who says that they have?

Agreed!

Let's stop complaining about MTSU getting in the tourney when they haven't yet....personally I do not think they get in with 1 top 100 win.

 

[bws258]

This is a frustrating part of the NCAA tournament. To me, the lower tier conferences ought to have their automatic bid reserved for the league play conference title winner. It keeps more qualified teams out of the tournament and/or often keeps the best team from that conference from making the tournament if they don't win the tournament. It's hard to know where to draw the line on who is a top tier vs. lower tier conference, I realize, but a team like Liberty shouldn't be automatically allowed in just because they got on a short hot streak, and won their (fake) conference tournament.

Don't blame the NCAA for this, the Conferences are free to decide how their official champion is determined, and they have all (except the IVY) elected to make that their tournament winner.

 

[ddiction]

I have no problem with any conference getting an automatic bid for their tournament winner. If it weren't for that, most of their conference's own fans would lose interest completely by midseason. As long as the tournament produces a bid, there's at least a sliver of hope for the fans of every team and a motivation for them to keep following the games. It's good for basketball in general.