Davidson got hosed.

Side note- while I have less of a problem with the No. 1 seeds than you do, I will agree that only four of the mid-major teams getting at large bids is absurd.

I have said this all along, I think for the growth of college basketball they must change the tournament to one in which the conference champs AND the tournament champs get automatic bids. Tell the Ivy League to get on the ball and have a conference tourney- they can invite the top four teams and play it in a single weekend if they want to if they are so afraid of class time.

But with the money involved, you're never going to get rid of conference tourneys.

I will admit there is the odd chance that Alabama State would try to throw their conference final so two teams from their league would get in. Since Alabama State was virtually assured of the play-in game with their RPI, they had nothing to lose as far as seeding goes.

But I would maintain that having two teams in the play-in game from the same conference would be embarassing. Additionally, it wouldn't take the NCAA much to police themselves to make sure the games are on the up and up. If you caught a team tanking like that- DEATH PENALTY to the program and all the adminstration is fired and banned from the NCAA.

But in this formula, you have worth to the regular season. EVERYBODY COUNTS STILL- and you'd have more of the mid-major vs. major matchups people love- and that really made this tournament in the early days.

They say TV ratings go down with the unknown teams. NOT TRUE! The highest rating an NCAA game ever got was to see if Indiana State could beat Michigan State. It was David vs. Goliath- Rocky vs. Apollo. This is what makes the tournament special and gets EVERYONE involved- not just the major conferences.

In this formula- Arizona doesn't make it. So what? Jacksonville won this conference- and while the NIT is a decent consolation- they deserve more.

So does Davidson.

So Arizona wouldn't go. SO WHAT? Are the Wildcats going to win the National Championship? Of course not.

And the big teams that deserve to go- like Pitt or North Carolina- still would get at large bids.

Agreed Pitt

(03-15-2009 06:14 PM)PittsburghBucs Wrote:  Side note- while I have less of a problem with the No. 1 seeds than you do, I will agree that only four of the mid-major teams getting at large bids is absurd.

I have said this all along, I think for the growth of college basketball they must change the tournament to one in which the conference champs AND the tournament champs get automatic bids. Tell the Ivy League to get on the ball and have a conference tourney- they can invite the top four teams and play it in a single weekend if they want to if they are so afraid of class time.

But with the money involved, you're never going to get rid of conference tourneys.

I will admit there is the odd chance that Alabama State would try to throw their conference final so two teams from their league would get in. Since Alabama State was virtually assured of the play-in game with their RPI, they had nothing to lose as far as seeding goes.

But I would maintain that having two teams in the play-in game from the same conference would be embarassing. Additionally, it wouldn't take the NCAA much to police themselves to make sure the games are on the up and up. If you caught a team tanking like that- DEATH PENALTY to the program and all the adminstration is fired and banned from the NCAA.

But in this formula, you have worth to the regular season. EVERYBODY COUNTS STILL- and you'd have more of the mid-major vs. major matchups people love- and that really made this tournament in the early days.

They say TV ratings go down with the unknown teams. NOT TRUE! The highest rating an NCAA game ever got was to see if Indiana State could beat Michigan State. It was David vs. Goliath- Rocky vs. Apollo. This is what makes the tournament special and gets EVERYONE involved- not just the major conferences.

In this formula- Arizona doesn't make it. So what? Jacksonville won this conference- and while the NIT is a decent consolation- they deserve more.

So does Davidson.

So Arizona wouldn't go. SO WHAT? Are the Wildcats going to win the National Championship? Of course not.

And the big teams that deserve to go- like Pitt or North Carolina- still would get at large bids.

We're not that far apart. My suggestion is similar and is in another thread. I don't think there should be any at large bids. Conf reg season champs advance automatically, tourney champs advance automatically. If that is the same team, conference tourney runner up advances.

Under that scenario, the road to the championship begins when EVERY conference tourney starts and EVERY game means something.

I also know it will never happen. I have March madness and haven't watched any other than ETSU games in years.

Other's mules mileage may vary.

Davidson advances.

As does Penn State. Congrats to Ed I hope he wins it.

miraculously - or nearly so.....

Eddie D. sure has put on a bit of weight since he left here.....

They win again, beating URI (Rhode Island); easier than the first one....
Into the quarters.........