CSNbbs

As the NCAA promised to do, they announced today they are forming a 2nd post-season tournament, starting this season, similar to the 32-team men's NIT. They can't call it the WNIT, since that is already a thing, so they are calling it the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) - which is confusing since there is already a WBI (I wonder if they trademarked that.)

So, no expansion of the NCAA tournament any time soon, as had been discussed, since according to the NCAA, this is their solution to expanding opportunities for WBB. Umm, ok.

Anyway, although they haven't detailed how teams will be selected, presumably it will be similar to the men's NIT, where conference champs that didn't qualify for the NCAA get auto-bids, and then it's just a popularity contest after that. I hope I am wrong, but my guess is the MAC will get left out mostly and be lucky to get even 1 invite, as many of the teams will be the P6 also-rans, and with only 32 slots there won't be much room left for mid-majors.

But that doesn't mean the WNIT goes away, they then announced they will continue as a 48 team tournament. Here's where I expect the MAC teams to end up, I would guess. Wonder how long they will be able to survive financially with having to start with the 101st team available.

No word as to what happens to the (old) WBI.

So, at least 148 teams to play post-season (68 NCAA, 32 WBIT, 48 WNIT), as opposed to 140 before (68 NCAA, 64 WNIT, 8 WBI) which is pretty much the same.

In WBB why would the 2nd tournament not respect the MAC? It's been a 2 bid league multiple times and sent multiple teams to the sweet 16 in one season. Most years the MAC is between an 8 and 13 seed and wins a game. It's nothing like the respect the men's side gets when 13-15 is the seed line achieved in most seasons. WBB is generally a top 12 league and I think was 9th last year. Mbb is around 18th at the moment.

The WNIT always has 3 plus MAC teams. Usually 2 in the top half of the field when it starts. BG and Toledo with final 4 runs in back to back years.. This new tourney will likely not snub our RPI teams in the 40s-80s with respectable NETs.

(07-18-2023 07:55 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]In WBB why would the 2nd tournament not respect the MAC? It's been a 2 bid league multiple times and sent multiple teams to the sweet 16 in one season. Most years the MAC is between an 8 and 13 seed and wins a game. It's nothing like the respect the men's side gets when 13-15 is the seed line achieved in most seasons. WBB is generally a top 12 league and I think was 9th last year. Mbb is around 18th at the moment.

The WNIT always has 3 plus MAC teams. Usually 2 in the top half of the field when it starts. BG and Toledo with final 4 runs in back to back years.. This new tourney will likely not snub our RPI teams in the 40s-80s with respectable NETs.

Because 1) the old WNIT was 64 teams and this is 32, so 32 less teams get in 2) this is NCAA-run whereas the old WNIT was run by an independent org that had different priorities 3) the NCAA doesn't care about RPI, only NET and MAC teams do terrible in NET and 4) after the auto bids are dealt out, their are no specific criteria for the rest of the at-large bids - it is literally just a vote by the panel and most popular teams get in.

If you don't believe me on the last one, the men's NIT selection process is detailed here:
https://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files...edures.pdf
Selecting the pope is easier.

Remember, the WNIT had schools paying in to win home games. This NCAA tournament will mean there will be disbursements back to the schools and the P6 schools will expect their money.

But let's look at this year to see if any MAC schools would have made the WBIT. At selection time the MAC teams that got in the WNIT were:

Toledo 66
BGSU 73
Ball State 76
Kent 109

Auto bids:
In the old WNIT every conference got 1 auto bid. In the men's NIT, a conference only gets one if the regular season champ does not win the conference tourney. Since UT won both, no auto bid for the MAC.

At large:
Of the 68 NCAA teams, 19 of them had NETs > 68 and 15 of those were > 100. So of the pool of available WBIT teams, 22 had better NETs than BGSU. But that's good you may think, BG still gets in for sure, right. Well not necessarily because:

12 teams would have gotten WBIT auto bids this year by my count (NCAA doesn't say how they handle ties so I might be off by a couple) and 10 of those have NETs worse than BG. That means that if they went just purely by NET, Houston would be the last team in at NET of 72 and BG would be the 1st team out. Ball State would not get in either, and Kent would not even come close to qualifying.

I mean, BG could get in, if people voted them in, or some team ahead turned down an invite or was on probation or something, but look at some of the teams within 10 rungs below BG:
Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Cal, Florida
I guess some people "might" vote for BG over those teams, but based on past experience I would not count on that.

In 2022, the MAC had only 2 top 100 teams. Buffalo to the NCAA, and UT would have gotten a WBIT auto bid. No other MAC team would have any chance.

In 2021, the MAC had 4 top 100 teams. CMU to the NCAA. BG would have gotten an auto bid to the WBIT. But Buffalo and Ohio were both in the 90s NET, so they would have had no shot to get in.

So that's why I think the MAC will get left out most years, barring auto bids, which would require the regular season champ to not win the tourney, which is not good for the MAC's NCAA tourney performance. I hope I am wrong, and the NCAA does something to make sure mid-majors get their bites at the pie, but I would not bet my money on it.

(07-18-2023 04:39 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 07:55 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]In WBB why would the 2nd tournament not respect the MAC? It's been a 2 bid league multiple times and sent multiple teams to the sweet 16 in one season. Most years the MAC is between an 8 and 13 seed and wins a game. It's nothing like the respect the men's side gets when 13-15 is the seed line achieved in most seasons. WBB is generally a top 12 league and I think was 9th last year. Mbb is around 18th at the moment.

The WNIT always has 3 plus MAC teams. Usually 2 in the top half of the field when it starts. BG and Toledo with final 4 runs in back to back years.. This new tourney will likely not snub our RPI teams in the 40s-80s with respectable NETs.

Because 1) the old WNIT was 64 teams and this is 32, so 32 less teams get in 2) this is NCAA-run whereas the old WNIT was run by an independent org that had different priorities 3) the NCAA doesn't care about RPI, only NET and MAC teams do terrible in NET and 4) after the auto bids are dealt out, their are no specific criteria for the rest of the at-large bids - it is literally just a vote by the panel and most popular teams get in.

If you don't believe me on the last one, the men's NIT selection process is detailed here:
https://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files...edures.pdf
Selecting the pope is easier.

Remember, the WNIT had schools paying in to win home games. This NCAA tournament will mean there will be disbursements back to the schools and the P6 schools will expect their money.

But let's look at this year to see if any MAC schools would have made the WBIT. At selection time the MAC teams that got in the WNIT were:

Toledo 66
BGSU 73
Ball State 76
Kent 109

Auto bids:
In the old WNIT every conference got 1 auto bid. In the men's NIT, a conference only gets one if the regular season champ does not win the conference tourney. Since UT won both, no auto bid for the MAC.

At large:
Of the 68 NCAA teams, 19 of them had NETs > 68 and 15 of those were > 100. So of the pool of available WBIT teams, 22 had better NETs than BGSU. But that's good you may think, BG still gets in for sure, right. Well not necessarily because:

12 teams would have gotten WBIT auto bids this year by my count (NCAA doesn't say how they handle ties so I might be off by a couple) and 10 of those have NETs worse than BG. That means that if they went just purely by NET, Houston would be the last team in at NET of 72 and BG would be the 1st team out. Ball State would not get in either, and Kent would not even come close to qualifying.

I mean, BG could get in, if people voted them in, or some team ahead turned down an invite or was on probation or something, but look at some of the teams within 10 rungs below BG:
Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Cal, Florida
I guess some people "might" vote for BG over those teams, but based on past experience I would not count on that.

In 2022, the MAC had only 2 top 100 teams. Buffalo to the NCAA, and UT would have gotten a WBIT auto bid. No other MAC team would have any chance.

In 2021, the MAC had 4 top 100 teams. CMU to the NCAA. BG would have gotten an auto bid to the WBIT. But Buffalo and Ohio were both in the 90s NET, so they would have had no shot to get in.

So that's why I think the MAC will get left out most years, barring auto bids, which would require the regular season champ to not win the tourney, which is not good for the MAC's NCAA tourney performance. I hope I am wrong, and the NCAA does something to make sure mid-majors get their bites at the pie, but I would not bet my money on it.

I don't think it would be most years we get left out. That shows 3 of 4 years the MAC having a team and go back further when CMU and UB battled with UT... even more clout for the MAC.

But taking numbers and nets out of it... Look at the success of the top MAC programs in post season play lately. They are doing a lot of winning to grant more chances if on a cut line. BG and Toledos WNIT Final 4 runs justify throwing the MAC team a bone in its first year if they make said bubble.

This tourney would also enjoy good crowds no? BG, BSU and Toledo do just fine in that dept. Toledo better than just about the entire field unless a Missouri State or MTSU is involved for mid majors. Better than all but 22 Power teams.

Sadly, the glory days of Buffalo and Central Michigan are past. Toledo may be comparable to those teams, but the rest of the conference is weaker than it was.

Part of the reason that the MAC has done so well in the WNIT is that our good teams get passed over for the NCAA tournament. With the addition of this new tournament, I expect that MAC teams will do extremely well in the third-tier tournament after getting past over by the new NCAA-sponsored tournament.

(07-19-2023 11:29 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 04:39 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 07:55 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]In WBB why would the 2nd tournament not respect the MAC? It's been a 2 bid league multiple times and sent multiple teams to the sweet 16 in one season. Most years the MAC is between an 8 and 13 seed and wins a game. It's nothing like the respect the men's side gets when 13-15 is the seed line achieved in most seasons. WBB is generally a top 12 league and I think was 9th last year. Mbb is around 18th at the moment.

The WNIT always has 3 plus MAC teams. Usually 2 in the top half of the field when it starts. BG and Toledo with final 4 runs in back to back years.. This new tourney will likely not snub our RPI teams in the 40s-80s with respectable NETs.

Because 1) the old WNIT was 64 teams and this is 32, so 32 less teams get in 2) this is NCAA-run whereas the old WNIT was run by an independent org that had different priorities 3) the NCAA doesn't care about RPI, only NET and MAC teams do terrible in NET and 4) after the auto bids are dealt out, their are no specific criteria for the rest of the at-large bids - it is literally just a vote by the panel and most popular teams get in.

If you don't believe me on the last one, the men's NIT selection process is detailed here:
https://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files...edures.pdf
Selecting the pope is easier.

Remember, the WNIT had schools paying in to win home games. This NCAA tournament will mean there will be disbursements back to the schools and the P6 schools will expect their money.

But let's look at this year to see if any MAC schools would have made the WBIT. At selection time the MAC teams that got in the WNIT were:

Toledo 66
BGSU 73
Ball State 76
Kent 109

Auto bids:
In the old WNIT every conference got 1 auto bid. In the men's NIT, a conference only gets one if the regular season champ does not win the conference tourney. Since UT won both, no auto bid for the MAC.

At large:
Of the 68 NCAA teams, 19 of them had NETs > 68 and 15 of those were > 100. So of the pool of available WBIT teams, 22 had better NETs than BGSU. But that's good you may think, BG still gets in for sure, right. Well not necessarily because:

12 teams would have gotten WBIT auto bids this year by my count (NCAA doesn't say how they handle ties so I might be off by a couple) and 10 of those have NETs worse than BG. That means that if they went just purely by NET, Houston would be the last team in at NET of 72 and BG would be the 1st team out. Ball State would not get in either, and Kent would not even come close to qualifying.

I mean, BG could get in, if people voted them in, or some team ahead turned down an invite or was on probation or something, but look at some of the teams within 10 rungs below BG:
Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Cal, Florida
I guess some people "might" vote for BG over those teams, but based on past experience I would not count on that.

In 2022, the MAC had only 2 top 100 teams. Buffalo to the NCAA, and UT would have gotten a WBIT auto bid. No other MAC team would have any chance.

In 2021, the MAC had 4 top 100 teams. CMU to the NCAA. BG would have gotten an auto bid to the WBIT. But Buffalo and Ohio were both in the 90s NET, so they would have had no shot to get in.

So that's why I think the MAC will get left out most years, barring auto bids, which would require the regular season champ to not win the tourney, which is not good for the MAC's NCAA tourney performance. I hope I am wrong, and the NCAA does something to make sure mid-majors get their bites at the pie, but I would not bet my money on it.

I don't think it would be most years we get left out. That shows 3 of 4 years the MAC having a team and go back further when CMU and UB battled with UT... even more clout for the MAC.

But taking numbers and nets out of it... Look at the success of the top MAC programs in post season play lately. They are doing a lot of winning to grant more chances if on a cut line. BG and Toledos WNIT Final 4 runs justify throwing the MAC team a bone in its first year if they make said bubble.

This tourney would also enjoy good crowds no? BG, BSU and Toledo do just fine in that dept. Toledo better than just about the entire field unless a Missouri State or MTSU is involved for mid majors. Better than all but 22 Power teams.

You seem to be ok with the idea that BG, a team that nearly won the WNIT, would likely not have even gotten an invite to the NCAA-run tournament? Also note that Columbia was only in the WNIT because the NCAA picked several P6 teams ranked below them for the NCAAs, even though Columbia was in the top 50 NET - i.e. they qualified according to the NCAAs very own metric.

The NCAA selection methods are structured (intentionally or not) to keep mid-majors out of the tournaments.

And just to clarify something, UT did not get to the final four of the WNIT two years ago - they got to the "Great 8" as the WNIT is forced to call it.

(07-19-2023 05:01 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-19-2023 11:29 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 04:39 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 07:55 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]In WBB why would the 2nd tournament not respect the MAC? It's been a 2 bid league multiple times and sent multiple teams to the sweet 16 in one season. Most years the MAC is between an 8 and 13 seed and wins a game. It's nothing like the respect the men's side gets when 13-15 is the seed line achieved in most seasons. WBB is generally a top 12 league and I think was 9th last year. Mbb is around 18th at the moment.

The WNIT always has 3 plus MAC teams. Usually 2 in the top half of the field when it starts. BG and Toledo with final 4 runs in back to back years.. This new tourney will likely not snub our RPI teams in the 40s-80s with respectable NETs.

Because 1) the old WNIT was 64 teams and this is 32, so 32 less teams get in 2) this is NCAA-run whereas the old WNIT was run by an independent org that had different priorities 3) the NCAA doesn't care about RPI, only NET and MAC teams do terrible in NET and 4) after the auto bids are dealt out, their are no specific criteria for the rest of the at-large bids - it is literally just a vote by the panel and most popular teams get in.

If you don't believe me on the last one, the men's NIT selection process is detailed here:
https://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files...edures.pdf
Selecting the pope is easier.

Remember, the WNIT had schools paying in to win home games. This NCAA tournament will mean there will be disbursements back to the schools and the P6 schools will expect their money.

But let's look at this year to see if any MAC schools would have made the WBIT. At selection time the MAC teams that got in the WNIT were:

Toledo 66
BGSU 73
Ball State 76
Kent 109

Auto bids:
In the old WNIT every conference got 1 auto bid. In the men's NIT, a conference only gets one if the regular season champ does not win the conference tourney. Since UT won both, no auto bid for the MAC.

At large:
Of the 68 NCAA teams, 19 of them had NETs > 68 and 15 of those were > 100. So of the pool of available WBIT teams, 22 had better NETs than BGSU. But that's good you may think, BG still gets in for sure, right. Well not necessarily because:

12 teams would have gotten WBIT auto bids this year by my count (NCAA doesn't say how they handle ties so I might be off by a couple) and 10 of those have NETs worse than BG. That means that if they went just purely by NET, Houston would be the last team in at NET of 72 and BG would be the 1st team out. Ball State would not get in either, and Kent would not even come close to qualifying.

I mean, BG could get in, if people voted them in, or some team ahead turned down an invite or was on probation or something, but look at some of the teams within 10 rungs below BG:
Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Cal, Florida
I guess some people "might" vote for BG over those teams, but based on past experience I would not count on that.

In 2022, the MAC had only 2 top 100 teams. Buffalo to the NCAA, and UT would have gotten a WBIT auto bid. No other MAC team would have any chance.

In 2021, the MAC had 4 top 100 teams. CMU to the NCAA. BG would have gotten an auto bid to the WBIT. But Buffalo and Ohio were both in the 90s NET, so they would have had no shot to get in.

So that's why I think the MAC will get left out most years, barring auto bids, which would require the regular season champ to not win the tourney, which is not good for the MAC's NCAA tourney performance. I hope I am wrong, and the NCAA does something to make sure mid-majors get their bites at the pie, but I would not bet my money on it.

I don't think it would be most years we get left out. That shows 3 of 4 years the MAC having a team and go back further when CMU and UB battled with UT... even more clout for the MAC.

But taking numbers and nets out of it... Look at the success of the top MAC programs in post season play lately. They are doing a lot of winning to grant more chances if on a cut line. BG and Toledos WNIT Final 4 runs justify throwing the MAC team a bone in its first year if they make said bubble.

This tourney would also enjoy good crowds no? BG, BSU and Toledo do just fine in that dept. Toledo better than just about the entire field unless a Missouri State or MTSU is involved for mid majors. Better than all but 22 Power teams.

You seem to be ok with the idea that BG, a team that nearly won the WNIT, would likely not have even gotten an invite to the NCAA-run tournament? Also note that Columbia was only in the WNIT because the NCAA picked several P6 teams ranked below them for the NCAAs, even though Columbia was in the top 50 NET - i.e. they qualified according to the NCAAs very own metric.

The NCAA selection methods are structured (intentionally or not) to keep mid-majors out of the tournaments.

And just to clarify something, UT did not get to the final four of the WNIT two years ago - they got to the "Great 8" as the WNIT is forced to call it.

Mis remembered. But still. As a Toledo fan and our consistent success with our beefed up OOC Schedule... we aren't the ones who should be worried. If we are a bubble team in the NCAA tourney...( I don't expect to lose near double digit games in 23-24... ) We should be just fine with NEXT 32 out.

We should go out and beat Michigan again, play Duke tough, and chug through a MAC with BG starting over. This team could be preseason top 25.

(07-20-2023 01:12 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-19-2023 05:01 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-19-2023 11:29 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 04:39 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-18-2023 07:55 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]In WBB why would the 2nd tournament not respect the MAC? It's been a 2 bid league multiple times and sent multiple teams to the sweet 16 in one season. Most years the MAC is between an 8 and 13 seed and wins a game. It's nothing like the respect the men's side gets when 13-15 is the seed line achieved in most seasons. WBB is generally a top 12 league and I think was 9th last year. Mbb is around 18th at the moment.

The WNIT always has 3 plus MAC teams. Usually 2 in the top half of the field when it starts. BG and Toledo with final 4 runs in back to back years.. This new tourney will likely not snub our RPI teams in the 40s-80s with respectable NETs.

Because 1) the old WNIT was 64 teams and this is 32, so 32 less teams get in 2) this is NCAA-run whereas the old WNIT was run by an independent org that had different priorities 3) the NCAA doesn't care about RPI, only NET and MAC teams do terrible in NET and 4) after the auto bids are dealt out, their are no specific criteria for the rest of the at-large bids - it is literally just a vote by the panel and most popular teams get in.

If you don't believe me on the last one, the men's NIT selection process is detailed here:
https://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files...edures.pdf
Selecting the pope is easier.

Remember, the WNIT had schools paying in to win home games. This NCAA tournament will mean there will be disbursements back to the schools and the P6 schools will expect their money.

But let's look at this year to see if any MAC schools would have made the WBIT. At selection time the MAC teams that got in the WNIT were:

Toledo 66
BGSU 73
Ball State 76
Kent 109

Auto bids:
In the old WNIT every conference got 1 auto bid. In the men's NIT, a conference only gets one if the regular season champ does not win the conference tourney. Since UT won both, no auto bid for the MAC.

At large:
Of the 68 NCAA teams, 19 of them had NETs > 68 and 15 of those were > 100. So of the pool of available WBIT teams, 22 had better NETs than BGSU. But that's good you may think, BG still gets in for sure, right. Well not necessarily because:

12 teams would have gotten WBIT auto bids this year by my count (NCAA doesn't say how they handle ties so I might be off by a couple) and 10 of those have NETs worse than BG. That means that if they went just purely by NET, Houston would be the last team in at NET of 72 and BG would be the 1st team out. Ball State would not get in either, and Kent would not even come close to qualifying.

I mean, BG could get in, if people voted them in, or some team ahead turned down an invite or was on probation or something, but look at some of the teams within 10 rungs below BG:
Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Cal, Florida
I guess some people "might" vote for BG over those teams, but based on past experience I would not count on that.

In 2022, the MAC had only 2 top 100 teams. Buffalo to the NCAA, and UT would have gotten a WBIT auto bid. No other MAC team would have any chance.

In 2021, the MAC had 4 top 100 teams. CMU to the NCAA. BG would have gotten an auto bid to the WBIT. But Buffalo and Ohio were both in the 90s NET, so they would have had no shot to get in.

So that's why I think the MAC will get left out most years, barring auto bids, which would require the regular season champ to not win the tourney, which is not good for the MAC's NCAA tourney performance. I hope I am wrong, and the NCAA does something to make sure mid-majors get their bites at the pie, but I would not bet my money on it.

I don't think it would be most years we get left out. That shows 3 of 4 years the MAC having a team and go back further when CMU and UB battled with UT... even more clout for the MAC.

But taking numbers and nets out of it... Look at the success of the top MAC programs in post season play lately. They are doing a lot of winning to grant more chances if on a cut line. BG and Toledos WNIT Final 4 runs justify throwing the MAC team a bone in its first year if they make said bubble.

This tourney would also enjoy good crowds no? BG, BSU and Toledo do just fine in that dept. Toledo better than just about the entire field unless a Missouri State or MTSU is involved for mid majors. Better than all but 22 Power teams.

You seem to be ok with the idea that BG, a team that nearly won the WNIT, would likely not have even gotten an invite to the NCAA-run tournament? Also note that Columbia was only in the WNIT because the NCAA picked several P6 teams ranked below them for the NCAAs, even though Columbia was in the top 50 NET - i.e. they qualified according to the NCAAs very own metric.

The NCAA selection methods are structured (intentionally or not) to keep mid-majors out of the tournaments.

And just to clarify something, UT did not get to the final four of the WNIT two years ago - they got to the "Great 8" as the WNIT is forced to call it.

Mis remembered. But still. As a Toledo fan and our consistent success with our beefed up OOC Schedule... we aren't the ones who should be worried. If we are a bubble team in the NCAA tourney...( I don't expect to lose near double digit games in 23-24... ) We should be just fine with NEXT 32 out.

We should go out and beat Michigan again, play Duke tough, and chug through a MAC with BG starting over. This team could be preseason top 25.

I agree, no immediate concern for the Rockets. We will be in the NCAA tournament or the new 32-team tourney. Perhaps, though, a longer-term concern for the conference.

(07-20-2023 03:14 PM)Lester Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-20-2023 01:12 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]Mis remembered. But still. As a Toledo fan and our consistent success with our beefed up OOC Schedule... we aren't the ones who should be worried. If we are a bubble team in the NCAA tourney...( I don't expect to lose near double digit games in 23-24... ) We should be just fine with NEXT 32 out.

We should go out and beat Michigan again, play Duke tough, and chug through a MAC with BG starting over. This team could be preseason top 25.

I agree, no immediate concern for the Rockets. We will be in the NCAA tournament or the new 32-team tourney. Perhaps, though, a longer-term concern for the conference.

Yes, UT looks to be the best team in the MAC again, but the WNIT has done a lot for conference-wide publicity I think. If that goes away in future years, it could be a bad omen for MAC-wide recruiting. It also helped teams get extra reps against good competition.

Anyway, with Hannah back (hopefully fully healthy) and as long as someone picks up for Jansen, UT should be very good again - maybe better than last year, as long as all the newcomers blend in well and don't disrupt the chemistry. (The biggest challenge will be keeping all the newcomers happy, since there will only be playing time for a couple of them.) I sure hope we beat Michigan again, given they probably will look a little like a top MAC team, playing Brett and Williams quite a lot to fill in for all the production they lost in the off-season.

Duke had a mass-exodus to the portal this year. They only return 5 players and 30% of their production. I only see 2 transfers signed by them so far - a PG from BC and a 6'5 big from Yale who was injured last year - so they did not do as good a job of filling in the roster as they had last year. They also bring in 4 freshmen, so they are gonna be very young. If the game were at Savage, I would probably favor UT in that one, but playing at Cameron will be tough.

Still waiting to get all the final rosters for the rest of the MAC before forming complete conclusions, but Ball State should still be very good and will push UT. Kent did very well filling in the holes left by their graduates and I think is 3rd best on paper. EMU, NIU and even BG are in the next group - all have potential to be quite good, but they all have open questions that need to be answered. The rest is a big tossup of a wild guess and any of those other 6 teams could finish 6th or 12th it seems at this point. A key will be not having any lapses against those teams.

Still waiting to hear more word on NCAAA discussing more on topic of 90 teams (approx. 1/4 DI) getting NCAA tourney invitations. The current tourney director spoke about this twice on College Sports Radio during March. Stated goal was to get all conference champs auto qualified into tournament plus tourney winners. Not sure how math adds up but would've help men immensely.

(07-21-2023 07:27 AM)IamN2daRockets! Wrote: [ -> ]Still waiting to hear more word on NCAAA discussing more on topic of 90 teams (approx. 1/4 DI) getting NCAA tourney invitations. The current tourney director spoke about this twice on College Sports Radio during March. Stated goal was to get all conference champs auto qualified into tournament plus tourney winners. Not sure how math adds up but would've help men immensely.

The NCAA announced last week that (at least for the women) "expanding the 68-team field is not imminent". The new WBIT is their answer to that, and am guessing they feel that will take care of the issue for the foreseeable future.

They set a metric of 25% of the teams having "championship access" and with the 32 WBIT they say they are up to 29% - of course, one can argue that the WBIT isn't really championship access, but I guess they don't see it that way.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-wom...-expansion