SelectionSunday
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2008
- Messages
- 26,595
- Reaction score
- 7,076
- Points
- 113
Something like this.
Take the top 50 non-Power 5 programs (no ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC teams allowed) from the previous season's NET (or KenPom) and play each other on the first Saturday/Sunday (Feb. 6/7) of February. Ideally it would be better to have the top 50 of the current season, but logistically it makes more sense to set the matchups ahead of the season so opponents are etched in stone. Sure, there would be matchups where teams aren't nearly as good as they were the prior season, but there still would be plenty of good Quad 1/Quad 2 matchups where teams could enhance their tournament resume.
As a guide, here's what it would look like using the top 50 non-Power 5 teams (excluding Gonzaga) from last season (in order of best to worst NET):
# 1 Saint Mary's (WCC) vs. #50 UC-San Diego (Big West)
#2 Utah State (Pac 12) vs. #49 FAU (American)
#3 Saint Louis (Atlantic 10) vs. #48 Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley)
#4 Santa Clara (WCC) vs. #46 **UC-Irvine (Big West)
#5 VCU (Atlantic 10) vs. #47 San Francisco (WCC)
#6 South Florida (American) vs. #45 Seattle (WCC)
#7 New Mexico (Mountain West) vs. #44 UAB (American)
#8 San Diego State (Pac 12) vs. #43 Bradley (Missouri Valley)
#9 Tulsa (American) vs. #42 North Dakota State (Summit)
#10 McNeese (Southland) vs. #41 UIC (Missouri Valley)
#11 Akron (MAC) vs. #40 Pacific (WCC)
#12 Boise State (Pac 12) vs. #39 St. Thomas (Summit)
#13 Belmont (Missouri Valley) vs. #38 Davidson (Atlantic 10)
#14 Miami U (MAC) vs. #37 Saint Joseph's (Atlantic 10)
#15 Dayton (Atlantic 10) vs. #36 Murray State (Missouri Valley)
#16 Nevada (Mountain West) vs. #35 Sam Houston (Conference USA)
#17 High Point (Big South) vs. #34 UNLV (Mountain West)
#18 Wichita State (American) vs. #33 Hawaii (Mountain West)
#19 Grand Canyon (Mountain West) vs. #32 Liberty (Conference USA)
#20 Yale (Ivy) vs. #31 UNC-Wilmington (Coastal)
#21 Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) vs. #30 Cal Baptist (Big West)
#22 Utah Valley (Big West) vs. #29 Wyoming (Mountain West)
#23 Colorado State (Mountain West) vs. #28 George Mason (Atlantic 10)
#24 Stephen F. Austin (Southland) vs. #27 George Washington (Atlantic 10)
#25 Hofstra (Coastal) vs. #26 Illinois State (Missouri Valley)
Note
** #46 UC-Irvine & #47 San Francsico swap opponents to avoid Santa Clara playing conference foe Dons
Take the top 50 non-Power 5 programs (no ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC teams allowed) from the previous season's NET (or KenPom) and play each other on the first Saturday/Sunday (Feb. 6/7) of February. Ideally it would be better to have the top 50 of the current season, but logistically it makes more sense to set the matchups ahead of the season so opponents are etched in stone. Sure, there would be matchups where teams aren't nearly as good as they were the prior season, but there still would be plenty of good Quad 1/Quad 2 matchups where teams could enhance their tournament resume.
As a guide, here's what it would look like using the top 50 non-Power 5 teams (excluding Gonzaga) from last season (in order of best to worst NET):
# 1 Saint Mary's (WCC) vs. #50 UC-San Diego (Big West)
#2 Utah State (Pac 12) vs. #49 FAU (American)
#3 Saint Louis (Atlantic 10) vs. #48 Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley)
#4 Santa Clara (WCC) vs. #46 **UC-Irvine (Big West)
#5 VCU (Atlantic 10) vs. #47 San Francisco (WCC)
#6 South Florida (American) vs. #45 Seattle (WCC)
#7 New Mexico (Mountain West) vs. #44 UAB (American)
#8 San Diego State (Pac 12) vs. #43 Bradley (Missouri Valley)
#9 Tulsa (American) vs. #42 North Dakota State (Summit)
#10 McNeese (Southland) vs. #41 UIC (Missouri Valley)
#11 Akron (MAC) vs. #40 Pacific (WCC)
#12 Boise State (Pac 12) vs. #39 St. Thomas (Summit)
#13 Belmont (Missouri Valley) vs. #38 Davidson (Atlantic 10)
#14 Miami U (MAC) vs. #37 Saint Joseph's (Atlantic 10)
#15 Dayton (Atlantic 10) vs. #36 Murray State (Missouri Valley)
#16 Nevada (Mountain West) vs. #35 Sam Houston (Conference USA)
#17 High Point (Big South) vs. #34 UNLV (Mountain West)
#18 Wichita State (American) vs. #33 Hawaii (Mountain West)
#19 Grand Canyon (Mountain West) vs. #32 Liberty (Conference USA)
#20 Yale (Ivy) vs. #31 UNC-Wilmington (Coastal)
#21 Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) vs. #30 Cal Baptist (Big West)
#22 Utah Valley (Big West) vs. #29 Wyoming (Mountain West)
#23 Colorado State (Mountain West) vs. #28 George Mason (Atlantic 10)
#24 Stephen F. Austin (Southland) vs. #27 George Washington (Atlantic 10)
#25 Hofstra (Coastal) vs. #26 Illinois State (Missouri Valley)
Note
** #46 UC-Irvine & #47 San Francsico swap opponents to avoid Santa Clara playing conference foe Dons