Yet Another Mid-Majors Got Jobbed Column

[Captain Kangaroo]

Mid-majors get tough lesson

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS — Charlie Coles thought Miami of Ohio’s resume was strong enough for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament: a 19-10 record, the Mid-American Conference regular-season title, No. 29 in the RPI and a schedule strength of 49.

It didn’t impress the 10-member selection committee, and the RedHawks coach is worried about the message being sent to the MAC, which got just one team in the 65-team field despite five teams ranked in the top 55 of the RPI.

‘‘What it says is that the committee has never, ever respected our league,’’ Coles said Monday, one day after the brackets were announced.

As usual, the six power conferences — Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern — dominated the field. They accounted for 31 of the 65 teams, including 25 of 34 at-large bids. Add soon-to-be Big East members Louisville and Cincinnati, from Conference USA, and the numbers increase to 33 and 26.

That left only eight spots open for teams in conferences like the MAC and Atlantic 10. Three of those were swallowed up by upset winners in the conference tournaments — something committee chairman Bob Bowlsby suggested Monday played a key part in some teams being left out.

‘‘The committee thought there were better teams, but I would also suggest that some of the upsets may have affected the MAC teams, including Miami and Buffalo,’’ Bowlsby said.

But the annual debate about life in a mid-major league didn’t end with that explanation.

A year ago, Saint Joseph’s earned a top seed. This year the Hawks (19-11) were doomed by a RPI of 60 and a 3-8 nonconference schedule.

Wichita State (20-9), of the Missouri Valley Conference, was left out despite an RPI of 47. Three other teams were taken from the MVC — Southern Illinois, Creighton and Northern Iowa.

Northeastern (24-9), of America East, didn’t even appear on the NCAA’s list of other teams considered despite an RPI of 42.

Bowlsby has talked frequently for the past two years about evaluating each school’s complete resume, including conference RPI ratings.

According to the NCAA’s own numbers, the MAC was the 10th strongest league this year. Conference USA, which ranked ninth, got four bids. The Mountain West and Western Athletic, which ranked 11th and 12th, each had two teams make it.

‘‘You may eliminate somebody by their nonconference schedule or their road record. Those are things that are difficult to separate,’’ Bowlsby said. ‘‘You can play yourself out of a bad seed, but you can’t play yourself into the tournament. That’s the harsh reality.’’

It’s also what Miami, Buffalo, Can't State and Akron are dealing with now. Buffalo (22-9) was No. 32 in the RPI, Can't State No. 52 and Akron No. 55.

But it wasn’t just the MAC that was disappointed.

‘‘My only hope was that the A-10 has historically done well in the tournament,’’ Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said. ‘‘I hoped it would have two representatives. When you’re on the razor, you have to give a reason to put you in and a reason to keep you out.’’

Coles, who is in his second stint as a MAC head coach, understands the predicament for schools like Miami.

If you don’t win a large number of games or earn the league’s automatic bid, you must bring something else — like a potential first-round draft pick. Coles had that in Dan Majerle at Central Michigan and in Wally Szczerbiak at Miami. Szczerbiak’s last season at Miami, 1999, was also the last time the MAC had an at-large team make the NCAA field.

‘‘I think it takes a little star power, and a little location power,’’ Coles said. ‘‘People want to talk about Northern Iowa getting in, but what about the big boys? Some teams play 10 or 11 home games and go 7-9 or 8-8 in the conference. Did they overachieve? I don’t think so.’’