courtside Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 ...first things that come to mind...for whatever reason, the conference tournament seems to increase its importance in comparison to the long regular season each year. UAB will be exciting and fun to watch, and nice to see them in...but they have ZERO wins against teams that made the NCAA tourney this year. For the most part...not too many complaints here on who was didn't get in. Where teams play and matchups are always a different debate. Seems many lesser seeds will be a bit closer to home. Washington has a tough slow down grind half-court game potentially in second round with Pittsburgh. Let's dance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I'm sure glad cheeseman did not bet anyone on St. Marys getting a Big Dance invite. Their game VS SIU should be a good one to watch. I did not have any real problem with who did not get an invite. I think the A10 became a 1 invite league when St. Joes lost the tourney final last night. If they had won then I believe both GW and St. Joes may have been dancin. I like the Illini's chances of getting to St. Louis. Throw the basketballs up and lets get to it. I see long lunches at sports bars on Thursday and Friday in my future this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SluSignGuy Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I honestly don't know about 2 A-10 Bids. GW got a bad 12 seed, Georgia Tech followed by Louisville...YIKES... I think we were one of the last teams in...Therefore I don't think if we would have lost yesterday we would be in... Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't UAB beat Louisville at Louisville this year? I thought during one of the CUSA games I had heard that both UAB and Louisville beat the other one on their home court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Nope UAB had two losses to Louisville...by 4 a home game and by 7 in the CUSA Tourney. I think the key for them was that they beat DePaul twice. By the way, I see where DePaul will be Niting and playing SPUMAC...now that should be a game for the ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I never said that SMC was not deserving - what I said was I did not think they would get the bid due to the big boys looking out for themselves. You might also remember that I said the same thing was probably going to happen to UNI. Clearly, the selection committee did not let the "old boys" network to completely prevail. Should make for an interesting tourney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Predictions? Earlier in the season I would have picked SIU. Now I am not so sure. SIU has no one to contend with SMC's 6'10" Aussie, Daniel Kickert, who often plays far away from the basket and can shoot and make NBA type 3 pointers, but who can also score inside. A key is whether Kickert will be at full speed. In the WCC final against Gonzaga, Kickert's knee was heavily wrapped, and he had to sit out for periods of time. I know SIU's Darren Brooks is a star guard, but so is SMC's Paul Marigney, who is also a Senior. SMC's point guard, E.J. Rowland is a Senior and a pretty good ball handler. The venue in Oklahoma City is a long way from Moraga, CA. Plus, SIU has become a veritable NCAA regular, while the bright lights of the NCAA will be new to the Gaels. It should be one heck of a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 since i havent had a chance to look at the brackets in much detail until this hour, i havent commented on the bids. imo, there are 3 teams that got bids that shouldnt have. nc state, iowa state and uab. none of the three beat anyone of consequence outside of their conference and it doesnt appear they were willing to go on the road vs any of the mid majors which i thought was a focus on this tourney. wichita state, miami of ohio and buffalo all ended up with higher rpi's and should have been selected before them. if the committee wants to truly send a scheduling message, when they get a chance to leave one of the premier conference bubble teams at home they should have. my only other b!tch was siu's seed. imo they should have been at least a 5. again, a chance to send a message and as it stands they will be one and out. it looks to me as though they wanted an all acc final four cept illinois. and there is a very good chance the way the brackets play out it will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills16 Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 iowa state did play uni on the road this year but then they do that every other year. uni destroyed them from the get go and the two coaches almost had to be seperated at one point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 I am not supporting Iowa State getting in but I think the committee looked at how strong they were closing the season out. When they played UNI, they were not a good team but they really progressed over the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 as for closing the year out well, their seven straight wins came after six straight losses. They finished with a win over a team that has never won a big twelve tournament game and then a stinker against TT. 6-4 in last 10. Clearly only got a look because they were in the big twelve. St. Joe's and other schools deserved in more than Iowa State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 had almost the exact line as Iowa St. but the difference is that Kent State had to play 4 more road or neutral site games, and their non conference strength of schedule was very strong Iowa States was ranked 200+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 The State of Indiana has "0" teams in the NCAA tournament. The State of Louisiana has "5" teams, total, in the men's and women's tournamant. My wife's alam mater, SLU (Southeastern Louisiana University) is in the tournament for the first time. At least I have a SLU to route for!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills16 Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 i work at a radio station that carries iowa state games. when isu lost to colorado at home and looked really bad doing it i truly didn't think they would win a conference game. then they go on the road and beat texas to snap an almost 4 year big 12 road losing streak. they also won at kansas, nebraska and colorado. the texas tech game in the big 12 tourney isu was ahead 8 in the second half before there cold shooting did them in. they have a couple of outstanding freshman that have really gotten better as the season has progressed. i figured the cyclones getting in was a tossup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 being in the big twelve. Their non conference schedule was weak.....they deserved an NIT bid. The complaint about St. Joe's is that their non conference record was so poor, but their SOS in non conference was much greater. Iowa state was just above .500 since January 1. While the committee denies that there are no certain numbers from each conference, it seemed to me they said the blank place Big 12 team gets in..... then they made excuses for their record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Iowa State 18-11 5-8 on road or neutral site games 7-3 in last 10 games nonconference SOS 202 St. Joe's 19-11 10-10 on the road or neutral site games.......(20 games not played at home!!) non conference RPI SOS 7!! 8-2 in last ten despite having Chaney put their player out for the season While there are many reason St. Joes should have been left off, their are more for Iowa State. If the comittee is serious about having team play on the road, and play a tough non-conference schedule, then when that formula drops a team from a big conference, they should accept it and rewrite the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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