Look who is in the Play-in Game. ASUN!

They also have Elon as the SoCon representative.

And they have Elon as teh 16th seed. Really not a whole lot of difference

I disagree.

First of all, the play-in game offers you no hope. Even- let's say- if #64 could knock off No. 1- really the only way I could see it happening is if they were rested.

Playing two days after knocking off a pesky 64 team isn't conducive to the big upset.

But there's more to this than just conference seeding. The NCAA Tourney is designed to get the small conference schools out of the way. The play-in game is actually a joke- you mean to tell me you couldn't take one measly bid away from a 17-11 school in Conference USA and keep the tourney at 64- thus creating one more "David vs. Goliath" meeting that fans love so much and makes the tourney?

There is the value of the regular season. There isn't much value left in the regular season in college basketball, but in the Southern Conference when ETSU played someone it felt like you were playing someone. Davidson and Chattanooga had very fine programs, along with ETSU, that had a certain amount of respect nationally.

Even programs like, say, Furman, VMI (when they were in the conference), Appalachian State, whoever had a certain degree of historical success that made a win over them seem to count.

The A-Sun doesn't have this. I'd like to say Jacksonville does- that you can say "That's the program that went to the 1970 NCAA Finals" but they are so underwhelming now you might as well be playing CCNY.

It listed two or three teams with losing records as representing their conference. If a team with a losing record makes it from a mid-major, then their ticket to Dayton is punched. It's too early for that right now, my goodness it's only mid-January. Let's see where everyone is in four weeks.

The "guessing" changes weekly. Now he has ASun FAU as a 15 seed, and the SoCon rep as a 16 against Duke. Just goes to show it is way too early ....but it is fun to look at. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

It also shows ETSU ain't the team they picked.

On the right side of that page it shows the teams that are "on fire" right now and ETSU is listed because they have a 9-1 recoed over the last 10 games.

Games?

Don't you mean "competitions against tomato cans?"

For what it's worth, they now have the Lady Bucs as a 16 playing UNC. On the men's side the SoCon/SWAC is the play in and Lipscomb is a 16 playing Duke. It would be great if both the ladies and the men got there, even though it would be short trips.

Always fun to look at. I wish the Lady Bucs could get out of the 16 slot altogether and into a 15. I think in a 2-15 game they have a chance, but the 16 seeds are sacrificial lambs to Duke, Tennessee, UNC-Chapel, UConn, LSU, or whoever it is...
The SoCon will be higher than a 16....

The updated page still has the SoCon in the play-in game. A-Sun still a 16. I will have to laugh if Elon wins the SoCon tourney and ends up in the play-in.

Why '88?

Because they actually want an athletic program not to get rid of it's biggest draw on the whim of the old tennis coach?

Pitt,
Just got around to reading most of this thread. You hit on a very important point and one that I have been preachin' about for several years now; there is no automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.

With the advent of the play-in game, low majors are no longer guaranteed a seat at the table. The national media will disagree and proclaim that the play-in game is part of the NCAA March Madness, but will then speak from the other sides of their mouths and talk about the "field of 64".

I seldom watch the NCAA Tourney anymore, it has become just another way to funnel money to the BCS conferences.