BASKETBALL Selection Committee will again face Power vs. Potential dilemma

[SpaceRaider]

Blue Raiders are mentioned quite frequently throughout article.

Selection Committee will again face Power vs. Potential dilemma

 

[MTFNBY5]

Some really good articles are giving MT good pub. We are on the cusp of becoming that "National Team" that Davis keeps mentioning. Just gotta "keep keepin' on" and not blow the chance which lies before us.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Some really good articles are giving MT good pub. We are on the cusp of becoming that "National Team" that Davis keeps mentioning. Just gotta "keep keepin' on" and not blow the chance which lies before us.

Just a little off the subject, but the "not blow the chance which lies before us" is the theme which I keep hoping gets finally broken for so many of our sports. I was sitting yesterday afternoon at the baseball game in the top of the fourth inning watching Northwestern taking a 3-0 lead, while the largest home opening crowd (1825) I have seen was in the stands, and pretty much that thought, was running through my mind through the first two outs of the bottom of the 4th inning, when the Blue Raiders exploded for 8 runs, all after the first two outs, and it seemed after two strikes on the batters. I would love more of this kind of thing in all MT sports. I still have the dread that this talented men's basketball team will stumble and lose the opportunities that lie before it.

 

[SpaceRaider]

another article with Middle Tennessee mentioned:

After conference realignment, mid-majors worry about NCAA prospects

excerpt:

...Hinson, whose Salukis scrimmaged Middle Tennessee State at the outset of the season, said MTSU was the best team they have played this season other than Louisville. “It would be a travesty” if the Blue Raiders, who are 24-4 overall, 14-1 in Conference USA, do not make the field, Hinson said. But he also said he expected they would be left out if they do not win the conference tournament.

“It’s Robin Hood,” Hinson said. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Until you find a different evaluation process or expand the tournament, you’re gonna have this every stinking year.” ....






.

 

[Stonesraider]

The fact Witchita State is still referred to as a mid major says it all. I realize their conference but they average more in attendance and probably have a better NCAA tourney record than half the SEC schools. Basketball is a little better than football as far as the "small schools" getting chance but it's still a racket. The media loves the mid major label because it holds certain schools to a class when in a lot of cases the mid major school has a larger student population, averages more in attendance, and has a better basketball program.

To hear the media talk last year it was like we had a student population of 5K and just moved up from division II. The MSU win was a great upset but more a result of bad seeding than a tiny school beating a giant. Our team showed that when they didn't run around the court celebrating.

 

[sWiley]

Let's see how the tournament plays out. At some point, you have to ask yourself, do we really deserve to be in the NCAA tournament if we can't even win the CUSA tournament, which is one of the poorest league in basketball this year?

I say if we lose in the finals, then it's a decent argument we belong in the NCAA's. But if we lose in the quarters or semis, then we have no business in the NCAA tournament IMO. If we can't even make it to the finals of the CUSA tournament then we don't belong. Just my opinion.

Let's see how it plays out. Our guys will get what they deserve/earn.

 

[dukewayne]

Let's see how the tournament plays out. At some point, you have to ask yourself, do we really deserve to be in the NCAA tournament if we can't even win the CUSA tournament, which is one of the poorest league in basketball this year?

I say if we lose in the finals, then it's a decent argument we belong in the NCAA's. But if we lose in the quarters or semis, then we have no business in the NCAA tournament IMO. If we can't even make it to the finals of the CUSA tournament then we don't belong. Just my opinion.

Let's see how it plays out. Our guys will get what they deserve/earn.

Hopefully MT will win out and it will be a non-issue. Otherwise, I'm not so sure MT gets what they have earned or deserved. If MT get what they've earned, they would likely already be listed as an almost certain bid barring losing their last 4 games straight. As it is, most know MT is an NCAA level team that most suspect will be screwed if MT doesn't win the conf tourney.

To quote a famous recent phrase, "it's a rigged system." Usually on places such as this board, it is referred to as P5 bias.

 

[dukewayne]

The fact Witchita State is still referred to as a mid major says it all. I realize their conference but they average more in attendance and probably have a better NCAA tourney record than half the SEC schools. Basketball is a little better than football as far as the "small schools" getting chance but it's still a racket. The media loves the mid major label because it holds certain schools to a class when in a lot of cases the mid major school has a larger student population, averages more in attendance, and has a better basketball program.

To hear the media talk last year it was like we had a student population of 5K and just moved up from division II. The MSU win was a great upset but more a result of bad seeding than a tiny school beating a giant. Our team showed that when they didn't run around the court celebrating.

Another factor regarding this same sports media and their paid pundits is their huge fat contracts w/ the P5 conferences. It seems to me that an argument could be reasonably made that these media networks and pundits have financial incentives to promote P5 teams. Sure the media punditry do not make the selections, but it's pretty hard to argue against the idea that they heavily influence the environment in which the selections are made.

 

[sWiley]

.....

 

[MTFNBY5]

dukewayne: All you had to do was to watch/listen to the commentators on the UCLA/Arizona game last night to confirm your last post. (Naturally one of them was Jay Bilas - shill for all things "power" conferences) Talk all game (it was a good one until UCLA sprinted out late) was about which "power" teams were on the bubble and how many each "power" conference would get in. If any mention was ever made of any "non-Power" bubble teams I didn't hear it. I could have missed it (doubtful) since I had my laptop in my lap (isn't that what they are for? LOL) watching the Rice/La Tech game streaming on CUSAtv.

 

[MT Glenn]

I don't really think it's much of a dilemma for them. They'll put the power-conference team in, and sleep like babies.

 

[dukewayne]

dukewayne: All you had to do was to watch/listen to the commentators on the UCLA/Arizona game last night to confirm your last post. (Naturally one of them was Jay Bilas - shill for all things "power" conferences) Talk all game (it was a good one until UCLA sprinted out late) was about which "power" teams were on the bubble and how many each "power" conference would get in. If any mention was ever made of any "non-Power" bubble teams I didn't hear it. I could have missed it (doubtful) since I had my laptop in my lap (isn't that what they are for? LOL) watching the Rice/La Tech game streaming on CUSAtv.

I didn't watch the Zona and UCLA game. ESPN, right? I assume since you mentioned Bilas. Plus, I thought I saw ads for that game earlier in the day.

ESPN is really bad about such things. ESPN is shameless in their bias.

Interestingly, I've read business news reporting on talk of possibility of Disney dropping ESPN since ESPN has become such a drain financially.

At least CBS Sports does not seem quite as bad as ESPN regarding the bias and the NCAA tourney. Not that I'm saying CBS Sports is great or anything...just not as bad.

 

[SpaceRaider]

FanRag Bracketology: the (non-)case for the mid-major