Final "Field of 65" Projection (3/13/10)

Donate To GopherHole
3 reasons Illini didn't get in

Obviously, I would have selected Illinois (with no Big 10 bias), but I don't think it's any kind of a grave injustice. Ditto for Virginia Tech (despite its horrific nonconference sked I do see some logic behind Hokie griping) and especially Mississippi State (they have no case) not getting in. Bottom line is I don't have any issue with Florida getting in.

Truth is, I had Florida as a lock up until they lost in the quarterfinals of the SEC tourney. Then I had second thoughts, moved them back to the bubble. I should have stuck with my initial instinct, though, in fairness, I did the same with Virginia Tech (moved from lock to bubble) and ended up being right on that one.

In the end, I think Illinois didn't get in for 3 reasons:

(1) The Selection Committee couldn't justify taking a team with a RPI in the 70s (#74);

(2) The way they finished, losing 6 of their last 8; and

(3) Perhaps most importantly, the loss to the Gophers at home in late February, when both teams had a ton on the line. It's pretty obvious to me that -- all things being equal -- if the result of the Gopher-Illini game was flip-flopped, the Illini would be in the NCAA and we'd be in the NIT.
 



Yes, based on seed, they were were one of the "Last 3 In". ... #12 seeds Utah State & UTEP were followed by the #11 Gophers. So that means I valued the Gophers just slightly higher (they weren't one of my last 4 in) than the Selection Committee did.

#10 seeds Florida, Georgia Tech and Mizzou were next.
 

Another quick question for you, SelectionSunday. If Kansas is the #1 overall seed, why don't they play the winner of the opening round game Tuesday. Is that game not between the worst two teams in the tournament? Or are all 16s considered equal so they don't place the teams 1 vs 64, 2 vs 63, etc?
 


Kansas is playing in a Thursday-Saturday pod, Duke is playing in a Friday-Sunday pod. They always put the play-in winner in a Friday pod to give them an extra day.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Yes, based on seed, they were were one of the "Last 3 In". ... #12 seeds Utah State & UTEP were followed by the #11 Gophers. So that means I valued the Gophers just slightly higher (they weren't one of my last 4 in) than the Selection Committee did.

#10 seeds Florida, Georgia Tech and Mizzou were next.
Click to expand...

What do you think of this?

I think we are extremely lucky Kentucky won. I have a feeling if MSU had won, they would have replaced us. Even though we have a higher seed than USU and UTEP, I have the feeling they made the decision they were in either way for winning their regular season.

We'll never know, but for time only, I say, "Thank God for UK!"
 

An interesting point. It's also possible they just would have replaced Florida (a #10 seed) with Mississippi State.

I'm glad we'll never have to find out.
 

Just because Florida was a 10 and we were an 11 does not mean that we were on the cutting line before Florida. The committee determines what seed you are, and then can bump you up one or down one depending on matchups. Also SS, did you notice that the committee put Marquette and West Virginia in the same Sweet 16 region. That is usually a no-no.
 



jjgopher said:
Also SS, did you notice that the committee put Marquette and West Virginia in the same Sweet 16 region. That is usually a no-no.
Click to expand...

Andy Katz was b@#$%ing about this and actually Notre Dame is in the same position with someone as well... He did say though he thinks the reason is that they had no other option and were fine doing so since Marquette and WV only played once and ND and whoever it was only played once as well.
 

Oh yeah, Villanova and Notre Dame also in the same sweet 16 region. The Big East has 8 teams in, so you figure one team in every sweet 16 region, but instead there are 2 s-16 regions with no Big East team. Really really weird
 

Gopherholefan said:
Andy Katz was b@#$%ing about this and actually Notre Dame is in the same position with someone as well... He did say though he thinks the reason is that they had no other option and were fine doing so since Marquette and WV only played once and ND and whoever it was only played once as well.
Click to expand...

They had options. The Big East only got 8. Someday they will get 9 and they will have no choice. But they could have placed on Big East team in each half of the brackets and not had this situation. Lazy and breaking thier own rules, IMO>
 

I spose if they really really thought Marquette and Notre Dame were 6's the only option would be to move them up to 5's, which IMO is too high for both of them, or down to 8's, which I think both should have gotten anyways
 



Yes, I noticed they did that with the Big East on a couple occasions. Obviously, it must not be a rock-solid bracket guideline. I would have preferred they put them in 8 different brackets, but it's not a big deal to me. Gotta' win 6 games either way.
 

IMO Marquette and ND are over seeded, however, w/ 8 teams to jockey around and rules to follow, I think BEast errors are going to happen (sometimes overseeding, sometimes underseeding....although its hard to find an overrated BEast team according to the media, lol)

Selection, nice job as always...who would've thunk Florida over Illinois?? maybe Miss St over Illinois since they played UK so tough in the SEC championship...I just didn't see the Gators coming!!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom