Ohio draws Fla

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:18 am

Personally, I would have like to have seen Buffalo make it. Like them or not, they are a fun team to watch because of how they push the ball up the court. I really think they would have made it if not for being the #7 seed in the MAC. If they have the exact same record and credentials but are the two or three seed, then I think they get in. But the committee couldn't overlook the fact, that based on 18 conference games, Buffalo came out as the seventh best team.

But then again, I heard one of the talking heads mention that Iowa finished three games behind Indiana in the Big Ten, yet the Hawkeyes are in and the Hoosiers are not. Iowa was only 7-9 in conference play. I think Dickie V has always said that if you can't play .500 in your conference then no way should you get an at-large bid. Makes sense to me. (Not that I would put Indiana in the tourney though. Knocking out Iowa makes room for UB

)

So given Iowa being three games worse than Indiana in the Big Ten yet making the dance, I don't understand how Buffalo actually only being one game out of first but a seven seed in the conf tourney should have kept them out.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:30 am

Warthog wrote:Personally, I would have like to have seen Buffalo make it. Like them or not, they are a fun team to watch because of how they push the ball up the court. I really think they would have made it if not for being the #7 seed in the MAC. If they have the exact same record and credentials but are the two or three seed, then I think they get in. But the committee couldn't overlook the fact, that based on 18 conference games, Buffalo came out as the seventh best team.

But then again, I heard one of the talking heads mention that Iowa finished three games behind Indiana in the Big Ten, yet the Hawkeyes are in and the Hoosiers are not. Iowa was only 7-9 in conference play. I think Dickie V has always said that if you can't play .500 in your conference then no way should you get an at-large bid. Makes sense to me. (Not that I would put Indiana in the tourney though. Knocking out Iowa makes room for UB )

So given Iowa being three games worse than Indiana in the Big Ten yet making the dance, I don't understand how Buffalo actually only being one game out of first but a seven seed in the conf tourney should have kept them out.

It appears that the NCAA tournament committee always first checks to see if the conference regular season champion is in. If not, then the analysis doesn't go further.

This seems to be what kept Kent State out as a 36 a couple years ago. With an RPI of 36, Kent State was the most NCAA worthy team in the MAC. But Bowling Green, with a less impressive resume, was the regular season champ. (A third team -- I forget who off hand -- won the MAC tournament). It seems the NCAA tournament committee never really looked at Kent State, instead focusing on Bowling Green. The result: Neither team got in.

That may have happened again this year, with the selection committee locked in on Miami, to Buffalo's detriment.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:48 am

That makes a lot of sense Schade. But I honestly never thought Miami had a chance having only 19 wins and losing four of their last six games. That loss to Marshall kept them out I think.

BGSU-Ph.D. · Post by **BGSU-Ph.D.** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:57 am

Jay Bilas calls Ohio v. Florida one of the best first round match-ups and Andy Katz picked Ohio as a possible cinderella. Their a young team that has improved throughout the year. Let's hope that improvement continues and Florida does one of their typical first round flame-outs.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:52 am

Warthog wrote:That makes a lot of sense Schade. But I honestly never thought Miami had a chance having only 19 wins and losing four of their last six games. That loss to Marshall kept them out I think.

That was the problem. Miami's resume wasn't quite as good as Buffalo... and the committee may have been giving Miami a closer look.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:22 am

BGGrad01 wrote:
Schadenfreude wrote:Northern Iowa was more impressive than Alabama-Birmingham. That one irks me a little more. And you guys may be right about Iowa State...
Could not agree more. UAB was around that 70-80 RPI range, 5-1 in their last 6, but 5-5 in their last 10. The ONLY reason they got in was because of their success last year. If any of those morons on the committee says otherwise, they're lying.

Yeah, you can probably thank UK for UAB's bid. I believe UAB was still in a lot of people's minds because of their win over UK last tournament in the second round.