Looking ahead to Selection Sunday: Interesting cases for Selection Committee?

[SelectionSunday]

Some potential interesting cases for the Selection Committee if any of these current conference leaders fail to earn their conference's automatic bid. Obviously, a lot of different things go into the selection process, but I'm just using a few here:

Belmont (Ohio Valley)
Current Record: 17-5, 10-1
RPI: #18
Road/Neutral Record: 8-5 (61.5%)
Overall SOS: 51
Nonconference SOS: 4
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-1
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 5-4
Best 3 Wins: #28 Middle Tennessee, @ #64 Stanford, #66 South Dakota State (total = 158)
Bad Losses (RPI 101+): 1 (vs. #128 Northeastern)
Key Games Remaining: @ Tennessee State (Feb. 14), Ohio (Feb. 23)

Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt)
Current Record: 21-4, 13-1
RPI: #28
Road/Neutral Record: 8-4 (66.6%)
Overall SOS: 111
Nonconference SOS: 18
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-2
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 2-3
Best 3 Wins: #47 Ole Miss, @ #89 UCF, #106 Tennessee State (total = 242)
Bad Losses (RPI 101+): 1 (@ #172 Arkansas State)
Key Games Remaining: none

Memphis (Conference USA)
Current Record: 19-3, 8-0
RPI: #37
Road/Neutral Record: 6-2 (75%)
Overall SOS: 108
Nonconference SOS: 86
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 0-2
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 3-3
Best 3 Wins: #84 Ohio, #91 Harvard, #100 Loyola-Maryland (total = 275)
Bad Losses (RPI 101+): none
Key Games Remaining: @ Southern Miss (Feb. 9), Southern Miss (Feb. 23), @ Xavier (Feb. 26)

Louisiana Tech (WAC)
Current Record: 20-3, 11-0
RPI: #45
Road/Neutral Record: 10-3 (76.9%)
Overall SOS: 194
Nonconference SOS: 215
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-0
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 2-2
Best 3 Wins: #36 Southern Miss, #76 New Mexico State, #112 Denver (total = 224)
Bad Losses (RPI 101+): 1 (@ #223 McNeese State)
Key Games Remaining: Utah State (Feb. 28), @ New Mexico State (March 7), @ Denver (March 9)

Akron (MAC)
Current Record: 17-4, 9-0
RPI: #53
Road/Neutral Record: 6-4 (60%)
Overall SOS: 147
Nonconference SOS: 95
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-2
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 3-3
Best 3 Wins: #28 Middle Tennessee, #84 Ohio, #86 Western Michigan (total = 198)
Bad Losses (RPI 101+): 1 (@ #249 Coastal Carolina)
Key Games Remaining: North Dakota State (Feb. 22), @ Ohio (Feb. 27)

South Dakota State (Summit)
Current Record: 16-6, 10-2
RPI: #66
Road/Neutral Record: 7-6 (53.8%)
Overall SOS: 173
Nonconference SOS: 41
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-2
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 2-4
Best 3 Wins: @ #3 New Mexico, #71 North Dakota State, #106 Tennessee State (total = 180)
Bad Losses (RPI 101+): 2 (@ #235 South Dakota, @ #321 Hofstra)
Key Games Remaining: @ Oakland (Feb. 9), Western Illinois (Feb. 16), @ Murray State (Feb. 23)

***My 2 cents? If there were only 1 or 2 spots left, Belmont would be the obvious choice for me. Then I'd go with Memphis. The weakest of these 6, I think, is Louisiana Tech.

***If SDSU could just take away that one horrible loss to Hofstra, this would be a serviceable resume for a non-Big 6 bubble school. As it is, that loss along with the one to USD is likely too much to overcome, despite the road win at The Pit.

 

[ski-u-mah]

Too soon to say, but I do predict they earn their money this year. Crazy year.

 

[station19]

Too soon to say, but I do predict they earn their money this year. Crazy year.

No kidding. Who in their right mind would want to be on that committee this year?

Other than Selection Sunday of course.

 

[SelectionSunday]

As long as Dick "They're All In" Vitale isn't on the committee, we're good.

Dukie V is very good at yelling and screaming about who get screwed. But funny thing, he rarely, if ever, says who said "screwed" team(s) should have replaced in the bracket because he doesn't have the guts to hurt any feelings.

 

[station19]

As long as Dick "They're All In" Vitale isn't on the committee, we're good.

Dukie V is very good at yelling and screaming about who get screwed. But funny thing, he rarely, if ever, says who said "screwed" team(s) should have replaced in the bracket because he doesn't have the guts to hurt any feelings.

THAT'S THE LIFE OF A PROFITABLE PEOPLE PLEASER BABEEEEEEE!

 

[From the Barn]

And you didn't even touch Indiana State, Virginia, or Illinois.

 

[SelectionSunday]

And you didn't even touch Indiana State, Virginia, or Illinois.

We'll have plenty of time for them in the coming weeks. My gut thoughts?

Indiana State -- I like 'em because I value quality wins more than I punish a team for bad losses. Sycamores have some head-scratching losses, but hard to argue with wins over Ole Miss, Miami, Wichita State and Creighton. Liking the Valley's chances for 3 bids, provided the Sycamores and Wichita State just do what they're supposed to down the stretch.

Virginia -- Don't like 'em. Too many bad losses (6) offset their 3 top-50 wins. Plus, the ACC is kinda' middlin' this year. A loss to #318 ODU?

Illinois -- Get to 8-10 in the Big Ten, and I think the Illini are golden. Maybe even a sniffer's chance at 7-11?

 

[B1GSportsGuy]

As long as Dick "They're All In" Vitale isn't on the committee, we're good.

Dukie V is very good at yelling and screaming about who get screwed. But funny thing, he rarely, if ever, says who said "screwed" team(s) should have replaced in the bracket because he doesn't have the guts to hurt any feelings.

Mr. Vitale is a front running homer. He loves Duke, UNC, Indiana, and his good friends Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, etc. He pretends to "like" other teams and players. Last night he tried to congratulate and pimp Nate Wolters 53 point effort on Twitter only to call him Nate Walters instead.