(12-21-2017 10:24 AM)MWC Tex Wrote: Are we seeing more upsets this year or is it more that certain multi-bid conferences that are getting beaten this year? (PAC/A-10)
You have to account for some of the teams in any conference are likely good for the role of a punching bag, but it seems to be spread out this year so far. The SEC has been doing their share of head-scratcher's, too, and they are an RPI darling so far (8 top-50 RPI teams).
For as competitive as the A10 can be, it has its fair share of garbage in the conference. Fordham, George Mason, and Duquesne aren't any good. It just doesn't help when Richmond, St. Joe's, SLU, and some others also aren't good. I doubt we'd be posting Fordham, GMU, and Duquesne losses in this thread series if the rest of the conference was delivering. It's not like we do the same in the Mountain West toward that garbage heap that is San Jose State, or the usual cellar dweller in the AAC, ECU.
Oddly enough, A10 still has five RPI top-100 teams. KenPom's got 4, though there isn't a single squad in the top 50. PAC's got 6 in KP, 8 in RPI (and six of the eight are 50-100). Both have two apiece in the RPI Top 50, but it's not like St. Bonaventure's a lock for anything the same way the Arizona's currently are. And it's not like the A10 hasn't been snubbed before with teams with numbers that look safe, so, URI can't crap the bed in the conference schedule much at all.