BASKETBALL CUSA Tournament
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
Maybe slightly off topic, but I wish the conference would go to something more similar to the ovc conference tournament. I like the idea of substantially rewarding teams for their regular season performance.
When you are at the bottom of the conference standings, does much of anyone really get that enthused about the conference tournament?
When you are at the bottom of the conference standings, does much of anyone really get that enthused about the conference tournament?
I've always thought tournaments should be limited to six or less
Marshall and so miss advance. I think Marshall has as good as shot as anyone to make it to the title game.
Yup. I'd be ok with 10 out of 14. But I agree, it shouldn't be everyone.
I mean theoretically, there could be a 7-25 USM team (12-25 winning it all) representing the conference in the NCAA. I'm all for a Cinderella but that is a bit ridiculous in my book. Regular season should be rewarded more.
Just curious, the two players that everyone refers to about missing this season, are they still going to have eligibility left for next season?
Its 100% about money. Location bids to host the tournament. As an offset to that bid, you are having each school send someone (team, family, a few students/fans, school admin) into the town for at least 1 or 2 nights that provides money for lodging, food, shopping, etc. That’s the only reason to bid and that’s why everyone gets invited.
In reality, conference tournaments make no sense for 1 bid leagues. Why risk your best team getting beat on a 1-off fluke night? It makes more sense to send the best team from the regular season or at the most have a tiebreaker playoff game.
If we had a conference where our regular season winner was guaranteed an at large spot and we had some bubble schools for an at large trying to play in, it makes sense.
Instead it’s all about money for the Judy’s of the world.
So what about the best regular season team that is heavily reliant on and loses their best player at the end of the year? They still deserve to advance even if they're not as good of a team as they were earlier in the year?
Personally I think all teams deserve the chance- and yes if a true Cinderella can win 4-5 games in a conference tourney then it's as fair as it can be..
What I would limit is the first/second round of games being held at some major venue... I like having 8 teams at one neutral site- let the other games be played at highest seed home court to setup the final 8 pairings.. is it really an advantage for the top seeds with BYEs to have to prepare for 2 teams depending on who advances? It isn't an advantage for higher seeds to play their first game in an arena where the lower seeds have played multiple games and sort of have a home court advantage in terms of knowing the arena/shooters more dialed in on the new surroundings, etc.. these are some reasons why we see upsets in the earlier rounds.. if you want to reward the higher seeds don't let lower seeds have those types of advantages..
I 100% see your point. I'm just of the mindset that a conference tourney is post season. Playoffs so to speak. And not everyone should get in to the playoffs.
You do bring up a very good point on the court situation with regards to being used to it already, as well as a team like us really having less than 24 hours to prepare, however it often is that way in the NCAA itself as well.
5:30CST
Rice vs Charlotte
6:00CST
Marshall vs Louisiana Tech
8:00CST
Old Dominion vs UTEP
8:30CST
Southern Miss vs Florida Atlantic
Rice vs Charlotte
6:00CST
Marshall vs Louisiana Tech
8:00CST
Old Dominion vs UTEP
8:30CST
Southern Miss vs Florida Atlantic
When there are uneven brackets or an odd team (13 or 15 teams)- it wouldn't hurt my feelings to trim it to 12 teams as I don't disagree with some trimming of the fat so to speak.. winning 4 games in 4 days or 5 games in 5 games is incredibly difficult and none of the truly terrible teams have ever done that.. the 3 worst teams (FIU, UCF, Fairfield) to make the NCAA tournament were each 8-17 going into their conference tourneys... complete list here..
1995- FIU went 11-18, won 3 games in 3 days in the TAAC tourney
1996- UCF went 11-18, won 3 games in 3 days in the TAAC tourney
1997- Fairfield went 11-18, won 3 games in 3 days in the MAAC tourney
1985- Lehigh went 12-18, won 3 games in 3 days in the ECC tourney
1999- Florida A&M went 12-18, won 4 games in 6 days in the MEAC tourney
As for the prep time, teams get at least one day off between NCAA tourney games to prepare and it applies to all teams across the board equally so that's common ground unlike the conference tourney dynamics...
In my opinion, this is what makes March Madness special. For the overwhelming majority of the conferences, every team plays until they lose.
However, it drives me crazy when a P5 team gets an at-large bid that has a .500 or worse conference record. Would much rather see UAB or NT get in versus Florida St or Michigan.
To me, yes they deserve it.
IMO, we should reward excellence for the entirety of the season over getting hot for 1 week in March.
Just using the first example you gave College of Charleston was 15-1 in conference, 22-5 at the end of the regular season and won the conference by 4 games. Head and shoulders the best team in TAAC. But get upset by SE Louisiana in the conference tourney and we end up with a garbage FIU team that sucked all season, had no business in the NCAAs, getting hot for 1 week and then they get to go get stomped by UCLA by 36. It’s borderline criminal to me that teams play 4 months for essentially nothing.
I do not want to see a team with a losing record play in the tournament f national championship and I don’t want to see 17-14 P5 school either.
It’s just an opinion though and I know others will disagree.
I get your point- perhaps a poor example though- CoC wasn't eligible to play in the TAAC tourney or the NCAA tourney- they didn't lose, they never participated until 1997. Several of those John Kresse teams that were eligible were the standard of getting snubbed though if they didn't win their league tourney.. Again, I get your point though...
Last edited:
Some people like the 7-22 team getting in for the Cinderella.
I just feel for schools that are good all year and 1 bad night takes away the opportunity.
But I hope we steal UNT’s spot this year.
Speaking of that, it goes to show you how some of the writers are. All the brackets I've seen have UNT winning it all. But all thr articles I've read focusing on CUSA, are calling for UAB.
Preaching to the choir- my junior & senior year at UNC Avl we were that team.. Regular Season Champs both years and we couldn't finish the deal in conference tournament play.. me and my teammates (CNM was a freshman my senior year) have had to live with that- but still I wouldn't change it.. we had our chance, it was a fair chance, we simply didn't win.. back then there wasn't the NIT autobid so kids these days still have more opportunity in that scenario.. only a handful of teams don't end the season with a loss..
I think the regular season should mean something. While I think it should be just the top 2 or 4 teams playing for the spot, I’d be okay with anyone .500 or better in conference. This year there are 8 in CUSA that meet that. Rank them based on conference record 1-8 and reseed each round. Example:
1) UNT
2) UAB
3) MT
4) LT
5) UTEP (head to head over FAU)
6) WKU
7) FAU
8) Charlotte
Let’s say UNT, UTEP, MT and FAU win then we would reseed and it would leave this:
1) UNT
2) MT
3) UTEP
4) FAU
1) UNT
2) UAB
3) MT
4) LT
5) UTEP (head to head over FAU)
6) WKU
7) FAU
8) Charlotte
Let’s say UNT, UTEP, MT and FAU win then we would reseed and it would leave this:
1) UNT
2) MT
3) UTEP
4) FAU
How would you account for uneven scheduling in league play if teams are close to .500 or a game difference in the standings? I.e the East was arguably easier than the West.. or Middle played the 2 best West teams this year in NT & UAB while others in the East (FIU/Charlotte) did not? MT played those 2 games on the road vs WKU who played those teams at home.. So scheduling isn't even across the board in league play so it seems a difficult metric to apply.. I think you can cap the number teams but capping it at .500 is problematic to say the least..
As for re-seeding after each round- that is ridiculous to me & a logistical/planning nightmare for teams and fans alike when playing on consecutive days, if it matters that much just award the regular season winner and don't let anyone else compete.. how many advantages are necessary as a reward for the regular season? Playing less games is an advantage.. hosting in other leagues is an advantage.. some leagues you get a BYE and you get to host.. but once whatever bracket is established you gotta just let it play out- that's life!
Uneven scheduling has no bearing because that is prevalent in every sport league. Most CUSA teams play each other at least once in the season. If you can’t manage a .500 record you don’t deserve a chance. If the number of teams was uneven I’d add the next highest.
Reseeding gets rid of teams ability to have an unfair ability to plan for other teams. It would make it to where everyone would find out who they were playing at the same time. How is it a logistical nightmare? You have time slots setup and fans are there already. It would be a nightmare if it were not a centralized tournament but that is not what CUSA has. I don’t care what other conferences do because we aren’t in those. Pretty much every “advantage” you come up with in our setup I can give a reason why it isn’t.
I understand you’re an athlete so you have a personal connection to this game. I’m just a fan that really doesn’t care. Looking at it objectively, why play a regular season at all if it doesn’t matter?
Wow. That is tough. I respect your attitude and what I consider the old school "taking it like a man." You know, you know the rules and that is the way it worked out without complaining.
I think there can be some value in a conference tournament beyond just adding the feel of March Madness. With the extremely rare mid-major at-large bid, I do think it would be better to lean the conference tournament towards those teams that performed best during the regular season.
I don't know all the details of those UNC-A teams and those seasons you mentioned, but I am arguing for exactly those kind of teams being better positioned with a bye or even two. Kind of like the ovc where the top two seeds are placed into the semifinals. That way, those two top teams are substantially rewarded for their regular season, yet they still have to win two games to go dancing. That also helps solve for problems like regular season shared titles or injuries to key players, etc etc.
Seeds 5-8 go to the play-in round where seeds 3 & 4 are waiting for them with a bye into the quarterfinal round. I like it a lot as it rewards 3rd and 4th place team with a bye and a double-bye for 2nd & 1st. It still allows the top 8 in the standings with a path to the Dance with distinct advantage to the top seeds that they earned throughout the regular season.
With the top 8, it eliminates the highly unlikely teams from the bottom of the standings from making it through in the freak occasion they win 3 or 4 in a row. This also addresses the responsibility the conference has to send one their very best to The Big Dance with their incredibly precious single auto-bid. Yea, a lower standings team could get hot for a few games in the conference tournament only to end up with a 16 seed in the play-in first four round based on their 10-19 overall record. That really hurts a conference compared to sending one their more consistently successful teams with say a record of 23-9 that will land a better 14 or 13 seed. It helps a conference to have one of their best teams best positioned for as much success as possible in the NCAA Tournament. Tournament success brings financial rewards to the conference as well as the boost to the reputation of the conference.
Those substantial boosts to the top teams in the regular season helps boost the spice of the regular season conference race in addition to helping reward those players that have earned it on the court. If I'm not mistaken, the ovc has had the occasion to get their 8 seed team, Austin Peay, to make a Cinderella run to the NCAA Tournament in this format in 2016 when I believe their regular season was right at 500. Usually one of their top seeds advances just like Murray St this season. Still it's no guarantee as the 2 seed Belmont lost in the semis this year. I'm just saying that the ovc format has demonstrated that a lot of high drama and excitement in the conference tournament can still happen. When their lowest seeded team did advance, it was still at least a team in the 500 range of overall record. Typically though, one of their top performing and overall deserving teams makes it to The Big Dance in their format, in my opinion.
Rice looking to down clt
Marshall is my sleeper pick to win it all.
Could probably cut the air with university presidents and Judy.
Marshall is my sleeper pick to win it all.
Could probably cut the air with university presidents and Judy.
Marshall looking terrible last 10 minutes. Poor shot selection forcing chuck a three.
rice advances.
rice advances.
That’s been the story with Marshall all year.. play teams close and then have major let downs.. they have talent but very little depth.. Lofton is having his way down low.. Herd are likely going home
NIT has Iona as a 4 seed. They should send a mediocre P5 to New Rochelle for a game with Rick Pitino, but watch them send Belmont.
Iona followed the Bama win up by losing to Belmont and lost to 3 sub .500 teams this year- a talented team that can beat and lose to anyone.. clearly had trouble playing down to several opponents.. only 4 teams finished above .500 in the MAAC (league record and overall)
For 3+ million a year over the next four years, I’d take an ass whippin’. Even a few more. 😂😂
LaTech punched WKU in the mouth to start the game.. 15-4 in the first 5 minutes.. WKU scratching back but still down 8 just before the half now..
NT similarly doubled up Rice in the first 10 minister or so and is coasting with 13 to play…
Momentum is whoever takes it..
NT similarly doubled up Rice in the first 10 minister or so and is coasting with 13 to play…
Momentum is whoever takes it..
Last edited:
I’m sure UNT loves playing at a “neutral” site only 28 miles from their home arena.
Thanks, Judy.
Bush league.
Thanks, Judy.
Bush league.
She is paid $438,200. Unbelievable.
LINK: “Riding the gravy train”
Scroll down a little farther through the Board Members. Hard to believe he gets $0 but I’m sure their CUSA meetings are nice affairs.😂
LINK: “Riding the gravy train”
Scroll down a little farther through the Board Members. Hard to believe he gets $0 but I’m sure their CUSA meetings are nice affairs.😂
I like it. No craziness in the tournament. 4 remaining all had over 20 reg season wins and at least 12 conference wins. Top 3 in West and top East team.
