The Big East could have 8 or 9 or more Top 50 RPI teams, 5 or 6 Top 25 RPI teams, and 5 to 7 Top 25 teams and Cal doesn't think that an 8-8 or 7-9 conference record would get them enough quality wins? What if a Big East team finishes 18-12, 8-8 in the Big East, with wins over, say, 3 or 4 RPI Top 25 teams (example, wins over Louisville, Syracuse, UConn and Cincinnati), and a SOS in the Top 20 or 30, which it would be in the Big East, and another teams finishes with 25 wins, 10-1 in their conference, and 1 RPI Top 25 win. Who do you think the committee would pick? If you think the 25 win team would be automatic, well, you can ask teams like Butler and Southern Miss how much 22 or 25 wins can get you without a ton of quality wins. And it'll be harder to get OOC games home and home. Memphis might do it, but it'll be hard for other schools. Meaning those other schools will drag down your RPI. At the end of the day, if you need a quality win to get you over the hump at the end of the season and seal the deal for an NCAA Tournament bid, it'll be easier to get that game in the Big East then in C-USA. The BE will have a good chance at getting 8 teams or more as long as the schools finish with at least 18 wins, a Top 25 or 30 SOS, a Top 25 or 30 RPI, and 2 or 3 quality wins. I know Cal is trying to spin it to make the situation look better, but would do you think that Clemson or Texas A&M or Texas Tech would switch places with a team in a weaker basketball conference just to get more wins? Tech is in the same situation some Big East schools are supposedly going to be in, a losing conference record last year and they JUST missed the NCAA Tournament.
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