I don't get the Bracket Buster...

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:19 pm

... could someone please explain this thing to me? It doesn't really make any sense. Wouldn't Bracket Buster entail that the games that they come up with have some sort of effect on the invites to the NCAA tourney? It really doesn't seem to me that our match-up has anything to do with the post-season at all.

Anyhow, please start from the beginning and don't leave anything out. I'm not going to go into every detail of why I'm confused by this whole thing (because there are a lot of them). I apperciate it! (and yes, the mis-spelling was intentional...).

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:34 pm

It guarantees a team another game against another team that could A) give them a decent win, or B) give ESPN a good afternoon of TV. Since its played during conference play, and on a Saturday, no less, they have to let teams know they're included before the season, for scheduling purposes. Same reasoning behind giving team home dates before the season (with a return date, which has the potential to boost RPI in a future season). With so many teams involved, its impossible that every team "invited" is going to be a strong team for someone to match-up with. And the home games promised keep some matchups from being reality. Its only a few years old, I'm sure they'll work on some kinks if the conferences want to keep it going in the future.

I don't know the criteria they use to figure it out, since Wisc-Milwaukee is going to Hawaii, and one other midwest team is playing in Fresno, but its a fairly close matchup (RPI-wise) for us with a team we wouldn't normally play.

When you matchup mid-majors, especially in these numbers, there's no way everyone could play a game that would benefit their post-season hopes. So. Illinois would be the big one to knock off in this year's Bracket Buster, but that leaves out 30 or 40 teams that can't play them, and Kent that can.

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:59 am

Without the bracket buster, we don't schedule UIC in here this year. Given the trouble we having getting DI home games, I would think that guaranteed 1-1s with another DI team would be considered great for us, even if they aren't top flight DI teams. Its better than Bluffton.

The whole exercise is meaningless to the RPI, since the big conferences control the process and ensure that they get the majority of the money and tournament berths.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:10 am

TG1996 wrote:I don't know the criteria they use to figure it out, since Wisc-Milwaukee is going to Hawaii, and one other midwest team is playing in Fresno, but its a fairly close matchup (RPI-wise) for us with a team we wouldn't normally play.

When it comes to criteria for a game, I beleive RPI is close to being the number one criteria for the matchups. The game doesn't necessarily get you into the tourney, but it sure does give the selection committee something to eliminate your team from an at large if you do lose. This a great RPI matchup.

Team Rating v. Top 25 v. 26-50 v. 51-100
123. Arkansas LR (9- 8) 0.5255 1-1 0-2 0-1
124. Bowling Green (11-5) 0.5254 0-0 0-1 2-2

http://teamrankings.com/ncb/8powerratings.php3