Well, the airwaves and TV Land are full of talking heads pontificating about "The Bubble", and which crappy teams should and shouldn't be part of the field of 65. We here at Panther Rants will forego all the mind-numbing analysis and tell you who is in and who is out.
Will start at home, with the Big East:
West Virginia: Out. Weak power numbers (RPI 37, SOS 52) and their best wins are over a ridiculously overrated team of Weeping Creans and a Pitt team that is more fatigued than Robert Byrd after filibustering a civil rights bill.
Villanova: Out. Even weaker power numbers than WVU and losses to NC State, DePaul, and Rutgers automatically eliminate the Well Dressed Wrights from consideration.
Syracuse: Out. Great SOS, Horrible RPI, and a worse record than last year when they didn't get in. Thank god they have an entire roster full of five star recruits. They've also lost to Rhode Island and UMass (at home) and Ohio State. Shameful.
Atlantic Coast Conference:
Virginia Tech: Out. Poor record, baaaaad power numbers, and they lost to Penn State. In basketball. Yes, basketball.
Miami (FL): In. Strong power numbers and a win over Duke cancel out a marshmallowy soft OOC schedule.
Clemson: In, but why? Good power numbers, but not one win against team you'd even call above average. Plus, a loss to Charlotte, and no, not the team with 'Zo and 'Grandmama.
Maryland: Out. Poor record, poor RPI, and not finishing well down the stretch, victory over UNC can't put mascara on this tranny.
Big Ten:
Ohio State: Out. Poor record + poor conference + poor RPI = NIT. They also scored 48 points in a loss to Iowa. For you fans counting at home, that's 1.2 points per minute against a team that couldn't contain 10-20 Louisana-Monroe's offense in a loss.
Minnesota: Out. Maybe Tubby gets them to the dance in the future, but not this year. Bad record, awful power numbers and a loss to Illinois will always keep you out.
Big Twelve:
Kansas State: Out. Mediocre RPI, good SOS. Unfortunately, a poor record in a down Big Twelve (only Kansas and Texas are even remotely good teams), and they lost to a Missouri team with I think 3 players on scholarship who weren't suspended.
Baylor: In. Good power numbers despite the lack of a true quality win (no, beating Kansas State doesn't count). Big props to Baylor for scheduling Centenary, which I think is a seminary school.
Oklahoma: Out. Good power numbers offset by the lack of a marquee win coupled with losses to Colorado and Stephen F. Austin. They did beat Denver, unfortunately Camby and 'Melo were out with injury.
Texas A&M: In. Weak power numbers but good overall record and a win over Texas. Could solidify themselves with a win over Baylor tonight. Only question is what country was the Ouachita Baptist game played in?
Pacific 10 Conference:
Arizona: Out. I don't care if you play the toughest schedule in the country. Doesn't mean much if you don't beat anyone on the schedule. Too many losses, under .500 in conference play, a loss to Virginia which would be acceptable if Ralph Sampson was suited up, and swept by your biggest rival (Arizona State), which is never good for your tourney hopes, especially when they're on the bubble too. Speaking of.....
Arizona State: In. Weaker power numbers, but quality wins over great Xavier and Stanford teams.
Southern California: Out (unless they defeat Stanford in the regular season finale). Middling power numbers with one quality win on the road over UCLA. Mayo not really living up to the hype. Need to beat Stanford.
Southeastern Conference:
Kentucky: Out. Weak RPI offsets great SOS. Baaaaad home loses to San Diego, UAB, and Gardner-Webb. Wins over Tennessee and Vanderbilt can't offset those losses and piss-poor record.
Florida: Out. SOS that would make Joe Paterno chuckle. With a win tonight over Tennessee I may have said yes, but they just blew a double-digit lead at home. One quality win over Vanderbilt coupled with less than impressive victories over King Dons like North Dakota State, North Carolina (Central), and five bottles of cheap cologne.
Mississippi: Out. Andy Kennedy will do good things at Ole Miss, but not this year.
Arkansas: In. Middling power numbers but key victories over Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and fellow bubble resident Florida give the hogs over the nod over the Gators. Also, this guy simply must keep playing basketball as long as possible this year.
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12 comments:
fl is deffff gonna be in
After the way Pitt played Monday night, you may have wanted to include them on the "shouldn't" list.
-Mongo
Sure, every team with an RPI in the 20s and wins over Duke and Georgetown should be on the shouldn't list.
You should definitely spend more time worrying about the spelling on your NIT t-shirts this year.
That Duke victory seem so long ago, doesn't it?
It's not like you'll make it past the Sweet 16 even if you make the tournament?
We can always count on Pitt to choke it away in the NCAA's.
-Mongo
Well, when you make the tournament as often as a PItt or a Kansas, you'll sometimes have some disappointing losses. Obviously WVU, who makes the tournament each leap year, doesn't have as many disappointments.
Of course, I'd consider squeaking into the NIT to be more of a disappointment than losing in the Sweet 16.
Pitt is nowhere close to the same category as Kansas in basketball. Not sure where you got that from? Apples and oranges.
Then again, when WVU has been in the NCAA's, you don't see us bowing out to the likes of Pacific?
If we make it this year, that'll be three out of the last four. Ain't bad for a "football school" from little ole' West Virginny.
-Mongo
Hogwash. They are comparable no matter how much WVU fans it wasn't true. Similar winning percentages, similar tough losses in the NCAA tournament. Remember, Bradley beat Kansas one game before they beat Pitt.
And can you say Bucknell?
When WVU has a large enough sample size (again, making the tournament once every 12 years doesn't provide many opportunities to play poorly in the tournament), I'm sure we'll see some poor losses.
But I am glad to see Huggins in the Big East. Better to play against a real team than those crap offenses and defenses Beilein threw out on the floor. It will be nice to have a real rivalry on the hardwood with WVU, rather than being stuck having a rivalry with UConn and Syracuse.
3 out of 4, for those who reside in ole' West Virginny thats 75%!!
75% is still statistically significantly less than 100%.....
bitter bitter bitter.
First - WV and Vill are definieltly in. Also - you should want BE teams in the dance - it benefits us all.
Second - you have no logic - you say WV win over MU is crap, when in fact MU beat the crap out of Pitt and has on a consistent basis. We will beat the crap out of you again tonight to prove it.
To all the Pitt Haters: Who won the Big East Tourney!!
WVU is dancing in the sweet 16. Nice call on that one. Pitt who?
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