I know that I'm preaching to the choir, but I believe it needs to be said: the criteria that the selection committee uses to select teams is flawed. In their game against Marquette yesterday, two things were abundantly clear:
1. Yes, Ja Morant really is that good, and
2. Murray State is a damn good team.
I keep reading, however, that the Racers would not have even made the tournament if not for their Ohio Valley Tournament championship. Seriously? This team was 28-4 before entering the tournament. 28 and frickin' 4. I don't care what their record was against quadrant 1 and 2 teams or whatever, they were 28-4 in a league that featured a very good Belmont team, a team who was able to secure an at large bid. This is ridiculous.
There is no way to know for sure, but I am confident that Murray State is significantly better than a 19-13 Oklahoma team. And Ohio State, at 19-14. And Florida at 19-15 (yeah, I know that the Seminoles beat Nevada, but the Wolf Pack haven't been playing well recently).
One of the first things we need to do as fans is to stop parroting the BS that the committee uses when excluding mid major teams. A couple of years ago, when someone on this board complained about Illinois State's exclusion after a 27-6 season and a number 33 RPI, others here defended the slight. They suggested that we look at their record versus the RPI top 50, a criteria that was theoretically more important than the RPI.
Now I will agree with the supposition that the RPI is a flawed stat, one that has apparently now gone away. It was, however, in use at the time. It was used to help determine seeding, to determine strength of schedule, and to determine how a school played against the top teams. We were told, however, that a team's RPI had no bearing as to whether or not they received an at large bid.
This is such a logical fallacy. If the RPI was useless in determining how good of a team Illinois State was, how was it useful in determining their strength of schedule? What did their record against the RPI top 50 matter, when we've just determined that their RPI of 33 meant nothing? How is it that the RPI of their opponents somehow meant something? It is incredulous that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee can use a statistic as they see fit to exclude mid majors, and we, as mid major fans, don't call them on it.
I have no idea as to how the new NET rating is calculated. I have no idea as to what Murray State's NET rating was coming into the tournament, nor their record against Q1 and Q2, and I really don't care. They were 27-4 and a damn good team entering the OVC Tournament championship game. They should have been a lock for the NCAA Tournament, win or lose that game.
We need a selection committee that isn't so enamored with the Power 5. One that doesn't create, and often change, criteria to try to exclude outstanding mid major teams. I love the NCAA Tournament, and the current process is still miles better than what we have in college football. The process is still very much broken, however, and needs to be fixed.
Two parting thoughts:
1. I'm very happy that Murray State won the OVC Tournament championship, so that I could watch Ja Morant and his teammates, and
2. If I was a fan of UNC-Greensboro I would be incredibly pissed right now.
1. Yes, Ja Morant really is that good, and
2. Murray State is a damn good team.
I keep reading, however, that the Racers would not have even made the tournament if not for their Ohio Valley Tournament championship. Seriously? This team was 28-4 before entering the tournament. 28 and frickin' 4. I don't care what their record was against quadrant 1 and 2 teams or whatever, they were 28-4 in a league that featured a very good Belmont team, a team who was able to secure an at large bid. This is ridiculous.
There is no way to know for sure, but I am confident that Murray State is significantly better than a 19-13 Oklahoma team. And Ohio State, at 19-14. And Florida at 19-15 (yeah, I know that the Seminoles beat Nevada, but the Wolf Pack haven't been playing well recently).
One of the first things we need to do as fans is to stop parroting the BS that the committee uses when excluding mid major teams. A couple of years ago, when someone on this board complained about Illinois State's exclusion after a 27-6 season and a number 33 RPI, others here defended the slight. They suggested that we look at their record versus the RPI top 50, a criteria that was theoretically more important than the RPI.
Now I will agree with the supposition that the RPI is a flawed stat, one that has apparently now gone away. It was, however, in use at the time. It was used to help determine seeding, to determine strength of schedule, and to determine how a school played against the top teams. We were told, however, that a team's RPI had no bearing as to whether or not they received an at large bid.
This is such a logical fallacy. If the RPI was useless in determining how good of a team Illinois State was, how was it useful in determining their strength of schedule? What did their record against the RPI top 50 matter, when we've just determined that their RPI of 33 meant nothing? How is it that the RPI of their opponents somehow meant something? It is incredulous that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee can use a statistic as they see fit to exclude mid majors, and we, as mid major fans, don't call them on it.
I have no idea as to how the new NET rating is calculated. I have no idea as to what Murray State's NET rating was coming into the tournament, nor their record against Q1 and Q2, and I really don't care. They were 27-4 and a damn good team entering the OVC Tournament championship game. They should have been a lock for the NCAA Tournament, win or lose that game.
We need a selection committee that isn't so enamored with the Power 5. One that doesn't create, and often change, criteria to try to exclude outstanding mid major teams. I love the NCAA Tournament, and the current process is still miles better than what we have in college football. The process is still very much broken, however, and needs to be fixed.
Two parting thoughts:
1. I'm very happy that Murray State won the OVC Tournament championship, so that I could watch Ja Morant and his teammates, and
2. If I was a fan of UNC-Greensboro I would be incredibly pissed right now.
