I know this has been heavily debated.. but this is from Joe Lunardi himself.

Derrick (Fort Gordon, GA)
What's the deal with Belmont? 21st in Pomeroy's ratings, 36th in Sagarin's, but no bubble love for them. If they somehow slip up in their conference tournament, would they get an at-large bid?

Joe Lunardi (4:12 PM)
Great question, Derrick. I do believe Belmont would get legitimate consideration in this scenario (although I'm no doubt in the minority on that topic).

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I was one of the many that was on the "not a chance" side of this debate. So I stand corrected, I guess there is a "chance"... still not sure on how high. Although I honestly don't see how a 29 win team does not make the tournament (assuming we lose to ETSU in the finals).

SoS is why you won't make it. I have been watching ESPN, and they throw up bubble teams resumes. Teams with RPI's in the 40...with SoS in the top 40 and debate those teams.

Right now Belmonts RPI is 55 with a SoS of 253. That won't cut it.

Yeah but we've all seen the "eye ball test" make some seemingly irrational decisions before...

If you all had beat Tennessee, this may have been a different discussion. I wish 2 A-Sun teams would make the tournament. It's just not going to happen.

(You guys are going to win it anyway.)

(02-28-2011 04:35 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  If you all had beat Tennessee, this may have been a different discussion. I wish 2 A-Sun teams would make the tournament. It's just not going to happen.

(You guys are going to win it anyway.)

True.. although I would have rather had the Vandy win.

After watching Belmont play and compare them to the other teams in the conference as well as many ACC and SEC teams I have watched this year - It would be a shame for Belmpnt to not make the NCAA whether they win the tournament or not. If VT makes the tournament over Belmont it is a shame. They are not that good. Even though they beat Duke - We nearly beat VT and we are pretty bad.

Had you guys beaten Vandy their fans would've committed suicide.

No signature wins....definitely don't see it happening.

Nope, not when the Big East needs to fit a 12th team in

(03-01-2011 11:53 PM)boomdrizzle Wrote:  Nope, not when the Big East needs to fit a 12th team in

Biggest OOC win = Miami/Ohio?

At-large bid very doubtful on that basis. Not impossible, but doubtful.

Im not sure if Belmont is even being mentioned as a bubble team.

They have to win to get in.

The Belmont situation is a classic example of the fact that what makes a team "tournament-worthy" and what makes a team "good" are very, very different.

Belmont is one. Marquette is the other.

If Belmont ended up in the NIT they would be extremely dangerous. Could go deep.

Or their bubble would be burst and they'd get boatraced in the first round.