Admittedly, I don't watch much college hoops, but I stopped on an ESPN station showing the George Mason-Ohio game. They did a "blind resume" bit where they showed statistics from two teams (overall record, record against top 100 teams, last 10 games, etc.) and the announcer picked the one he'd pick to go to the "dance." Turns out they picked Ohio over Syracuse. The announcer then talked about how some teams make the dance on "brand recognition" rather than performance.
Anyway, even as a non-hoops watcher, I thought it was pretty cool.
Gee...an ESPN hack at an ESPN sponsored event attempted to inflate the meaning of said event by saying something stupid? I'm shocked.
I don't think Syracuse has done enough to earn an at-large berth, but to say Ohio has better credentials is absolutely ridiculous.
Syracuse: 47 RPI 12 SOS 4-9 vs. <100. Only one loss vs. 100+ and only one game vs. 200+
Ohio: 62 RPI 123 SOS 4-5 vs. <100. Four losses vs. 100+ and 6-3 vs. 200+
Syracuse is in the discussion for an at-large berth. Starting tomorrow, ESPN will forget that Ohio even exists.
No, the "ESPN Hack" actually said that (gasp) there is actually good basketball played all over America, not just at the big-name schools. I figure he'll be banished now by the BCS-pimps at the big sports desk to some backwater post for making such a galling observation.
What he pointed to - and he said he himself had participated in a selection group, given the data that the actual committee has to work with - was that when you remove the name of the school and look at the record vs. top 100 rpi, the 4-5 of Ohio and the record in the last ten games is better for that team (Ohio).
4 home court losses for syracuse and just 3 true road wins. And just 2 wins outside new york state for the orange. schedule enhanced rpi
off the top ohio has beat teams that could win the wac, ivy, mac and the 2nd best caa team plus an upper division acc team on the road and some decent squads like st johns and la lafayette. most of their losses were at the buzzer and a couple were without their second best player.
not a clear at large team but enough of a resume to get a real look if they finish strong
OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:4 home court losses for syracuse and just 3 true road wins. And just 2 wins outside new york state for the orange. schedule enhanced rpi
If you're just going to spout cliches, you may as well just stay out of the thread. An Ohio MAC team fan is the last person who should complain about a team playing too many games in its state. Since those don't count, that win at BUGS doesn't count, right? Every one who compiles rankings recognizes games at MSG as neutral games. UConn is closer to MSG than Syracuse is...why does no one give them crap about playing there?
And having no home losses doesn't mean anything if you don't play anyone at home. Invite St. Joe's, Rhode Island, UMass to play in your crib and let's see how you do. When you're done with them, play Villanova, UConn and Georgetown. And if you still haven't had enough home court losses yet, play Pittsburgh and Marquette as well.
Look, it's really simple:
SU: 12 SOS, 17-10
OU: 123 SOS, 18-9
You don't have a chance of getting an at-large. With a 123 SOS you better have a hell of a lot more wins than 18.
zibby Wrote:Since those don't count, that win at BUGS doesn't count, right?
I am all for not counting the game at BG.
i don't know. i've seen some ugly big east basketball. and some second division mac teams have beaten big east teams this yr. miami lost by 3 at l'ville. ball state played gtown fairly close. ou beat st johns on a neutral court. the big east recruits well but it's a team game. and a good mac team will do fine against most big east opponents.
zibby Wrote:Since those don't count, that win at BUGS doesn't count, right?
Go back and look again - OU did not beat BG on the road.
The Falcons were responsible for the first "Fire TOS" thread on the Bobcat forums
The excat stats they used on the TV were the following (I have the Tivo paused with it on the screen during the ESPNU replay):
Team #1
17-9
RPI #59
4-5 vs. RPI top 100
8-4 in last 12 games
Team #2
17-10
RPI #47
4-9 vs. RPI Top 100
5-7 in last 12 games
Team #1 was Ohio, #2 was Syracuse
Updates to those team resumes:
Ohio
18-10
RPI #53
5-5 vs. RPI Top 100
9-4 in last 13
Syracuse
17-11
RPI #48
5-10 vs. RPI Top 100
5-8 in last 13
My RPI #'s are from College RPI.
Ask any MAC coach and you will get the same response.........Good teams refuse to play at the MAC.........Its not that we didn't Invite those teams.....they refuse to come into our house......Xavier was too chicken to play us,,,,,Ohio State to chicken to play us........Ohio beat Syracuse last time they met.......Ohio also beat UConn, North Carolina last time they met. Its a bit hard to get a return call.......West Virginia was owned by Ohio in the 90's.....they have not called since....
Ohio almost won at Louisville last year....They Beat Rhode Island back to back years.........including having the Rams down 40 in the Convo... We beat St Joseph's on a nuetral court.....Temple needed a buzzer beater to beat Ohio this year...
Ohio has more than held its own on the basketball court with the Big East and A-10.........Last non-conference home loss for Ohio was December 2003......that's 4 years in a row without a non-conference home loss.......Leon Williams was undefeated at home vs non-conference opponnets in his career. And you can include our butt whippin of UC in Cleveland in that too. 21-0 for Leon Williams at home non-conference in a Bobcat uniform.
IBleed: Thanks for the details, that helps.
Bottom line, it was nice to see a plug for a MAC team and someone - anyone - on ESPN admitting that "brand recognition" many times has more to do with who gets a bid than who actually deserves it.
Pulltown Falcon Wrote:zibby Wrote:Since those don't count, that win at BUGS doesn't count, right?
Go back and look again - OU did not beat BG on the road.
The Falcons were responsible for the first "Fire TOS" thread on the Bobcat forums
Now it's your turn to go back and look- people were crying about O'Shea before we even arrived in Bowling Green.