(11-30-2017 05:47 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: Nope. At- large bids aren’t for the likes of the MAC. One of those teams would need to win out their OOC, lose no more than one or two MAC games and lose in the MACC final. Even then, unlikely. The Nama team was probably worthy and didn’t get a sniff.
But if I keep saying this every year, eventually I'll be right.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, the MAC has the 7th best RPI rating right now, as a conference. The conferences ahead of us are PAC 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big East.
Naama's team didn't beat a single top 50 RPI team, which I've read that the committee emphasizes heavily. This year Dayton, Western Kentucky, or any number of other MAC teams (Buffalo, Central, Ohio, Ball State) could end in the top 50, so we will have opportunities. (Currently Buffalo is 12, and Western Kentucky is 21.)
Last year, with 6 conference losses, we got a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. The worst at-large teams usually get a 10 or 11 seed, so we were good enough last year to be at large. I understand that, with a loss in the conference finals, we would not have been good enough. But if we had lost 4 conference games last year and then lost in the conference finals, that would have done it.