Hilltopper Posted March 4, 2005 Report Share Posted March 4, 2005 I'm In San Antonio today and Isee this opinion piece in the local rag. http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columni....10325e780.html What a joke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy989 Posted March 4, 2005 Report Share Posted March 4, 2005 Mike Finger: This year's NCAA becomes watered-down product Web Posted: 03/04/2005 12:00 AM CST San Antonio Express-News There was a time, believe it or not, when the NCAA tournament was an exclusive affair. Now it seems like everyone except John Chaney is welcome. Sending a "goon" into a game to wreak havoc and break limbs apparently isn't enough to secure a Big Dance invitation. But you might be amazed at what does merit an at-large berth these days. Lose six times in the far-from-daunting Mid-American Conference? Start placing those NCAA tournament ticket orders, Akron. Drop four games in a row, including an embarrassing debacle against woeful St. John's? Hop on board, Georgetown — we have plenty of room. Feeling a bit ashamed of a record that includes 10 defeats without playing a single Top 25 foe? Don't worry, Creighton — we'll take you anyway. Mix in a few unimpressive victories around ugly losses to Pac-10 also-rans Arizona State, Washington State and Oregon State? Hey, Stanford, you're a lock. How did this happen, you ask? Usually by the end of February, there are about three dozen teams having emerged as clear-cut tournament-caliber powers. That group then produces the bulk of the NCAA at-large berths, and the rest of the field is filled out by conference tournament champions. This year, though, the pool of obvious March dancers has dwindled to about 25 or so. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why this happened. It could be because all the teams from No. 25 to No. 65 are beating each other up. Or maybe many conference bottom-feeders are improving so much that there aren't as many easy victories anymore. Whatever the reasoning, the trend is good news for teams such as Texas and Iowa State, two Big 12 squads putting together seasons that would have made them hard-pressed to get into previous NCAA tournaments. UT has lost six of 11 games since losing P.J. Tucker to academic troubles, and the Longhorns are coming off one of their worst losses of the season, at home against Oklahoma. But even without beating Oklahoma State on Saturday, UT still should be able to back into the NCAAs with a simple first-round victory at the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. For this year's NCAA tournament committee, there simply aren't a whole lot of other options. Take a look at the Express-News' latest "Big Dance" Card, our weekly projection of the at-large invitees. ISU still makes the cut this week after dropping back-to-back games to Texas A&M and Nebraska. Miami-Ohio is in after suffering two bad losses of its own last week. George Washington, which has lost two of its last three and is only 10-5 in the below-average Atlantic 10, somehow stays on the list. And if those teams seem unqualified, you should take a look at some of those that didn't get in. A&M, for instance, has hope for a bid despite going 2-6 on the road. But just because the quality of the bubble teams is down doesn't mean there won't still be controversy on Selection Sunday. A team that doesn't get invited will think it has a better case than one that does, and it probably will have a point. But just once, it would be nice to go through the entire evening without hearing a coach whine about being passed over. After all, if you didn't do enough to remove all doubt about your worthiness to be in this year's field, you don't have anyone to blame but yourself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- mfinger@express-news.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted March 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Thanks for posting the entire article. I wasn't sure if the link would work for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Morgan Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Everyone needs to e-amil this guy.....what an idiot. Here's my e-mail to him: "Lose six times in the far-from-daunting Mid-American Conference? Start placing those NCAA tournament ticket orders, Akron. " Have you seen a single MAC game this year? Probably not or you would retract your statement. Fact of the matter is, the tournament is still an "exclusive affair," except that it no longer "EXLUDES" quality teams from quality conferences. Gone are the "good ole' days" when year in and year our there were always 8 Big ten teams, 8 ACC teams, 8 PAC ten teams, ect. Suppose your a graduate of one of those "exclusive" conference schools? Anyway, your article sucked, only wanted to respond to your "cheap shot" at the MAC and Akron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted March 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Thanks JP, this is a one sport town(Spurs24/7). There was also a large article comparing the romances of Dennis Rodman and Madonna vs Tony Parker and Eva Longoria on the SPORTS PAGE!!!!! Makes the LeBron coverage in our market look sane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipboy Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 F him. Everyone talks about the RPI being messed up. Well the RPI is actually right for once. Years past the MAC would be 8-9 entering league play and end up 13 after playing each other. How can you go down playing each other? A few years ago Ball State drills 2 top 10 teams and loses to Duke by around 10. Once they dropped 4 conference games, everyone said they were done. too many losses. Put every team in the tournament and I guarantee you that the MAC would have 3-4 teams every year in the final 64. I don't even watch the NCAA tourney anymore. The past has made me bitter. Even with the RPI this year, they will probably choose to ignore it. And the league is probably screwed again this year. Kennedy does not start until Sept 05 as part of the committee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipsrifle Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Didn't he write an article about how somewhere some local refs fixed a college Football game so that the home team would be ensured of a bowl game in their own stadium? The result of which was one team that sat home over bowl season while a team they defeated and finished ahead of in their own division played in a bowl? Oh, wait, he convienently overlooked that part. I'm sure if the refs called a fair game that evening he would have written an article about how crappy the MAC was and didn't deserve all those teams playing in bowl games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Morgan Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Got a response from Mr. Finger today.....here it is: Mr. Morgan, Not sure if you noticed, I also wrote that Georgetown, Stanford, Texas and Iowa State probably don't deserve bids, either. Last time I checked, they were all in the traditional power conferences. The point was that teams with weaker resumes than ever have a shot at the tournament. And yes, losing six games in the MAC is a weak resume compared to those of previous bubble teams. But if you want to think I'm biased, go ahead. Have a nice day, Mike Finger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingZip Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Gotta agree with Finger on this one baby... and the way the Zips lost today the NIT would have to think twice about taking Akron without the Zips AT LEAST making it to the MAC Semifinals. I think this was the biggest loss of the season in terms or margin and it could not of come at a worse time. Let's hope Can't State can hold on and win against OU so the path to the Semifinals is easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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