Top 20 This Week

[MB73]

"The tourney doesn't tell us anything about how good a team is or who the best team in the country is."

Wow.

I guess you don't watch, then. No need, you already know.

[almaman]

"The tourney doesn't tell us anything about how good a team is or who the best team in the country is."

Wow.

I guess you don't watch, then. No need, you already know.

there are upsets but it does a pretty good job of showing who is the best as well as any major American team sport imo

[RUBillsFan]

there are upsets but it does a pretty good job of showing who is the best as well as any major American team sport imo

I can see both sides. Inevitably, a great team ends up winning the tournament every time despite a few upsets. Does that necessarily mean they are always THE best? Probably not.

[NextYearBill]

a 68 team, one and done playoff, is the absolute worst way to decide a champion. however, its very entertaining

[JettFlight5]

Creighton fans are peeved at how physical Seton Hall was. Bet they'd love to see some Billiken D.

[MB73]

Controversy! Like he's some genius saying it isn't the optimal process to determine the best team(s).

There are issues like this with many sports: obvious limitations.

OK, double elimination, call it March-April-May Madness.

[For-DaLove]

FGCU was definitely a top 16 team in the nation in March

I get the point, though. But ultimately a team will be remembered by how they faired in March

[hsmith19]

MB actually has a pretty good point.

It's not that he doesn't have a point. It's that his "point" is a nugget of fortune cookie wisdom, expressed with a Tim McCarver-esque ability to turn the painfully obvious into a laborious paragraph shedding light on precisely nothing.

We'll either do well over the next seven games or not well. We'll either get a higher seed or a lower one. We'll either do well in the tournament or we won't. SLU is not very unique in any of these respects.

[Bills By 40]

It's not that he doesn't have a point. It's that his "point" is a nugget of fortune cookie wisdom, expressed with a Tim McCarver-esque ability to turn the painfully obvious into a laborious paragraph shedding light on precisely nothing.

We'll either do well over the next seven games or not well. We'll either get a higher seed or a lower one. We'll either do well in the tournament or we won't. SLU is not very unique in any of these respects.

+1

[Deutschkind]

"The tourney doesn't tell us anything about how good a team is or who the best team in the country is."

Wow.

I guess you don't watch, then. No need, you already know.

I have no idea what I'm supposed to already know. Help me out?

FGCU was definitely a top 16 team in the nation in March

I get the point, though. But ultimately a team will be remembered by how they faired in March

That's the thing. A single elimination tournament tells us that, for example, Oregon was better than SLU on March 23, 2013, not necessarily who is "the best." That's all I'm saying.

Things that do a pretty good job telling us who's the best that year:

NBA and MLB playoffs (over a 7 game series, usually the best team wins, but still only who is the best for that month or two)

True round-robin seasons like the Big East or Bundesliga

I'm not saying I don't like the Tourney, or that I would change it. I understand that's how teams are judged. No one cares about the 2011 Green Bay Packers going 15-1 because they laid an egg in the playoffs. I get that. If SLU runs into a buzzsaw like Oregon again, though, it shouldn't diminish what this team's done.

[MB73]

One dullard was complaining on another thread that he would be pissed if we were only a 4 seed. At the time we had 6 conference and potentially 3 A-10 Tourney games to go.

My point is that mid majors with great records, say 0-2 losses, compared to power conferences (with 5 losses but maybe 4-5 quality wins) are hard to figure, are they are just the beneficiary of a weak schedule as often occurs or the real deal as with Wichita State last year and Butler several years ago and George Mason years back.

The AP and USA voters like to get some mid majors in there based on 24-2 type W-L records, and they do not want to hear any whining. Teams like Wichita State, SD State, and SLU get the benefit of the doubt in these rankings even though nobody knows if they can really compete with the big dogs. It will be interesting to see how many slots SD State falls after getting blown out.

[bills10]

One dullard was complaining on another thread that he would be pissed if we were only a 4 seed. At the time we had 6 conference and potentially 3 A-10 Tourney games to go.

My point is that mid majors with great records, say 0-2 losses, compared to power conferences (with 5 losses but maybe 4-5 quality wins) are hard to figure, are they are just the beneficiary of a weak schedule as often occurs or the real deal as with Wichita State last year and Butler several years ago and George Mason years back.

The AP and USA voters like to get some mid majors in there based on 24-2 type W-L records, and they do not want to hear any whining. Teams like Wichita State, SD State, and SLU get the benefit of the doubt in these rankings even though nobody knows if they can really compete with the big dogs. It will be interesting to see how many slots SD State falls after getting blown out.

The A10 is positioned to get as many or more teams than any other conference into the tournament. Our conference has turned into one of the best in the nation, and we have dominated it. We have two close losses, but it is not like we are only playing SIUE over and over to build our record. We are good and we have proven it.

[Nebraska_Bob]

Creighton fans are peeved at how physical Seton Hall was. Bet they'd love to see some Billiken D.

Billikens play great defense. Not so sure what Seton Hall was playing was great Defense. Seton Hall had huge players and they used that size to their advantage. They sort of reminded me of Saluki teams who would see how much physical play they could get by with. Their backup point guard played a great game though. My dream game is Creighton and SLU in the championship of the NCAA. Three overtimes with Jordair Jett scoring on his one of his patented drives overcoming Doug McDermott's 55 points. Nice to dream.

[cheeseman]

Creighton misses 4 FTs at the end of the game and beats Seton Hall by 1.

It's not just us.

Good point

[cheeseman]

Single elmination championship set ups are by nature not the best way to determine the best - but it is the best for entertainment value and making $

[slu72]

There is no better drama on TV than the Dance. Drama is all about the unknown and the unexpected outcomes it creates. Ask Mizzery fans. They love drama.

[Taj79]

I've never understood the College World Series in baseball. I think it is the most appropriate way of doing things ---- the sub-regionals, super regionals, double elimination in Omaha stuff and all and likely gives you the most worthy finalist --- but kids playing are doing so until nearly the end of June. Colleges let out typically first week of May. Seems more like a job then.

The pros likely do it right, best of seven, but that's all they are supposed to do. Practice and play. College level kids are supposed to play, study, go to class, practice, get grades, and so on.

[Deutschkind]

One dullard was complaining on another thread that he would be pissed if we were only a 4 seed. At the time we had 6 conference and potentially 3 A-10 Tourney games to go.

My point is that mid majors with great records, say 0-2 losses, compared to power conferences (with 5 losses but maybe 4-5 quality wins) are hard to figure, are they are just the beneficiary of a weak schedule as often occurs or the real deal as with Wichita State last year and Butler several years ago and George Mason years back.

The AP and USA voters like to get some mid majors in there based on 24-2 type W-L records, and they do not want to hear any whining. Teams like Wichita State, SD State, and SLU get the benefit of the doubt in these rankings even though nobody knows if they can really compete with the big dogs. It will be interesting to see how many slots SD State falls after getting blown out.

I guess we agree there, no reason to be mad at seeding.You can not like the draw, but if we're above a 6, I don't think there's reason to say that we were screwed. Most computers still have us around 20-25.

Your points about comparing smaller and larger conferences, though, are so subjective and based on pre-season assumptions. RPI-wise, the A10 is above the SEC and the American this year. Both of those conferences have about 2 great teams, and then a lot of middling to poor teams. The A10 has a lot of good but not amazing teams (Richmond, Dayton, GW, St. Joe's) All three conferences have 5 teams below 100, but the A10 has 6 teams in the top 50 while the SEC and AAC have 4 and 5 respectively. Your post seems to me to say that unless a team is facing a gauntlet like the Big Ten or Big 12, we shouldn't have them at the top because they are not proven. Benefits of weak schedules go both ways. Out of the top teams, only KU played a really difficult non-conference schedule. A lot of teams near the top played a SLU-level schedule or worse (Syracuse, Louisville, Iowa, Ohio St. Michigan, UCLA, Pitt).

[b.hayes]

Held at #10 in the AP.

[slu72]

Held at #10 in the AP.

Just what most of us expected.