(02-17-2021 09:13 AM)stever20 Wrote: what I think is so funny is the people complaining a lot about it are from P5 schools. How can Gonzaga rig this against us?
I know, right? Complain about RPI, stop traveling to non-major schools' courts, only travel for tournaments, and then get the NCAA to adopt NET, which pretty much cements a power conference hierarchy over the non- and mid-majors. Yes, the non-majors are truly ruining this for those poor, honest, hard-working major schools and conferences.
We see a sub-.500 team in the NET top 40, but, yeah, this is Gonzaga fixing the system.
FWIW, I don't see many conferences dealing with this issue. Even in a place like the MVC this year, or A10 on a regular basis. The switch from RPI to NET still hasn't resolved the major/non-major bias toward bids, and, imo, only exposes the seeding biases all the more. Like, I would hate to be either Drake or Loyola-Chicago this year and looking at this if either win the conference regular season title. At best, maybe it's enough to get the at-large if you skip and if the conference decides to continue with its tournament and crown that winner with the AQ. But, I can totally see it backfiring with seeding at the very least and an outright snub at worst. Like, if you're BYU and you skip...hello play-in game (I mean, really, what's their body of work suggesting otherwise?). Meanwhile, Gonzaga will be fine, and you just likely handed either Saint Mary's or San Francisco a bid and at a decent line.
This is something only Gonzaga can do without really hurting their seeding. The AAC frontrunner could pull it off, but I bet it hurts their line some. There's way too much risk for others to consider it.
It does beg the question about the best/most-deserving thing, though. As in, do conferences decide to hand AQ to the regular season champs, ala the old Ivy League way. And a subtle chuckle over the irony of the Ivy dropping that method for a smaller four-team tournament just to maybe see other conferences wrestling with the value of a conference tournament.