ESPN: worst loss of the day

[ChiefTenBeers2015]

3 hours ago, CMJ said:

They also had a tougher schedule.  Look, I love the Mean Green, but we weren't worthy of a 3 or 4 seed heading into yesterday.  Should we get in the Big Dance?  Probably, yes.  We had a helluva season and showed last season we can play with a Top 20 school.  The border between who is in and out is so small in the NCAAs though.  Like I said last night it's only 20% of all of D1 basketball, and numerous spots are given to conference champs who aren't really one of the best 68 teams in the country (I'm not saying the MEAC champ shouldn't be there btw, just that it cuts down for quality at large teams).  Really, it's only probably the top 50-55 schools with the rest being the weak league champs.  So that REALLY makes it that that much tougher to get in.

We can’t have it both ways, though. Want to join the Big Dance? Win your conference - just like how it should be in football…but if your team is 26% from the floor and goes 4-21 on 3’s maybe you shouldn’t be included, scoring less than 35 points in a game…

[CMJ]

5 minutes ago, ChiefTenBeers2015 said:

We can’t have it both ways, though. Want to join the Big Dance? Win your conference - just like how it should be in football…but if your team is 26% from the floor and goes 4-21 on 3’s maybe you shouldn’t be included, scoring less than 35 points in a game…

We didn't score less than 35. 😉

 

Maybe we can't have it both ways (was I arguing something both ways?), but i do think CUSA in general should get more respect given our representative has won something like seven straight first round tournament games never seeded better than 12.

Edited March 12, 2022 by CMJ

[GMG_Dallas]

12 minutes ago, CMJ said:

We didn't score less than 35. 😉

 

Maybe we can't have it both ways (was I arguing something both ways?), but i do think CUSA in general should get more respect given our representative has won something like seven straight first round tournament games never seeded better than 12.

5 of the last 6. ODU lost in 2019 and the NCAA tournament was canceled in 2020 due to Covid. 2015-2018 all produced upsets (UAB, MTSU, MTSU, Marshall) as well as 2021 with us beating Purdue. Still 5 upsets in the last 6 tournaments should be good enough to earn at-large consideration.

[akriesman]

The good news is that we are headed to the AAC soon enough.   It is still a step up from CUSA in basketball and should be a 2 bid conference some or most years.    Losing Houston will be a hit to the AAC BBall.   But, the AAC will still have SMU, Memphis, Wichita State and even Temple.   Add in UNT's recent history and UAB's success.   That is a step up for us and the AAC obviously has a bit more prestige than CUSA and a much better commissioner.

Yesterday was very disappointing.   But, moving up in conferences, with Grant at the helm (hopefully), gives some real hope for the future.

I feel really good and proud of our program.    We have been headed upwards for several years now.

Edited March 12, 2022 by akriesman

[NT93]

1 hour ago, ChiefTenBeers2015 said:

We can’t have it both ways, though. Want to join the Big Dance? Win your conference - just like how it should be in football…but if your team is 26% from the floor and goes 4-21 on 3’s maybe you shouldn’t be included, scoring less than 35 points in a game…

So if a ranked team has an off day and shoots 26% from the field and 4-21 on 3’s, they shouldn’t get it?  
 

I get it that we’re unlikely to make the tournament, but it really stinks that a great season is ruined by a bad game.

[Mean Green Matt]

1 hour ago, GMG_Dallas said:

5 of the last 6. ODU lost in 2019 and the NCAA tournament was canceled in 2020 due to Covid. 2015-2018 all produced upsets (UAB, MTSU, MTSU, Marshall) as well as 2021 with us beating Purdue. Still 5 upsets in the last 6 tournaments should be good enough to earn at-large consideration.

CUSA did get at large consideration. We were on the cusp until this last week. Unfortunately the performances were trending down, not up. If we beat UTEP and lose yesterday in something other than a historically bad offensive performance, we are probably in along with The winner tonight. 

[meaniegreenie]

5 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

 

This is the “Power Conference” argument in a nutshell.

Q: Who are the best teams?

A: The top teams in the power conferences

Q: And what makes the power conferences good?

A: The number of ranked teams

Q: And why are they ranked

A: Because of all the power conference teams they play and beat

Q: But how do you know the teams they beat were good? 
 

A: Because they play in a power conference

Q: And what makes a power conference good?  

A: See answer above

This is the same argument that used to be done for Notre Dame back in the day.

[greenminer]

I'm trying to think of any media mouth in the country that has more influence over their respective sport than Lunardi.  If there is such thing as an unofficial final word in the NCAA selection process, he is it.  Yes, he misfires on a few, but it's crazy to think how much weight people put on his opinion.

Here's the NCAA selection committee.  An *asterisk* means they are first year:

 

Tom Burnett
Chris Reynolds
Bubba Cunningham
Charles McClelland
Bernadette McGlade
Mike O’Brian
Jamie Pollard
*Greg Byrne
*Barry Collier
*Mark Coyle
*Keith Gill
*Martin Jarmond

[CMJ]

If I recall, Jerry Palm is usually just as right in his predictions.  Lunardi is so famous because ESPN is the biggest dog.

[GMG_Dallas]

1 hour ago, Mean Green Matt said:

CUSA did get at large consideration. We were on the cusp until this last week. Unfortunately the performances were trending down, not up. If we beat UTEP and lose yesterday in something other than a historically bad offensive performance, we are probably in along with The winner tonight. 

Yeah I don't consider that actually being considered. C-USA had 4 teams finish with more than 20 wins and 3 with 19. The conference was good enough. If a 15 game winning streak isn't enough, the consideration wasn't legitimate.

When I see Iowa State put up 41 points in a 31 point loss to Texas Tech the other day and is still sitting as a 9 seed in the latest CBS bracket, you can't tell me UNT was actually considered. Ah, but it's Texas Tech. What if I told you Iowa State finished 8-11 in conference? Not enough? The Big 12 is tough! Ok fine! Iowa State put up 36 points (same as us) in a loss against a 15-15 Oklahoma State 10 days ago. But Iowa State is still projected in as a 9 seed?? 

Yeah, UNT was seriously considered for an at-large until they put up 36. Sure.

I'll add, because people are mentioning him, that Lunardi has Iowa State as a 10 seed. I guess they really knocked them for their recent performance including putting up 36 in a game.

Edited March 12, 2022 by GMG_Dallas

[NM Green]

I’m having trouble digesting four bids to the MWC. I think they should get 3 and CUSA 2. We have a media who like our coach. We pulled one of the best upsets of the season last year. 

I’ll be excited to keep on playing but I really want this team to get a chance at one of the 64. They would give a team fits much like la tech did to us yesterday.

we’re gonna have fun period. 
GMG

[greenminer]

56 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Yeah I don't consider that actually being considered. C-USA had 4 teams finish with more than 20 wins and 3 with 19. The conference was good enough. If a 15 game winning streak isn't enough, the consideration wasn't legitimate.

This argument that only looks at 20+ wins doesn't work at all, and I think a big reason why the whole quadrant system must be included.  20-win seasons in 2020s doesn't mean the same as it did when I first started following CBB.  I think people really need to recalibrate that milestone to 25.
 

Quote

When I see Iowa State put up 41 points in a 31 point loss to Texas Tech the other day and is still sitting as a 9 seed in the latest CBS bracket, you can't tell me UNT was actually considered. Ah, but it's Texas Tech. What if I told you Iowa State finished 8-11 in conference? Not enough? The Big 12 is tough! Ok fine! Iowa State put up 36 points (same as us) in a loss against a 15-15 Oklahoma State 10 days ago. But Iowa State is still projected in as a 9 seed?? 

There is definitely a conference bias.  The only way this gets offset/negated is if our conference as a whole wins the OCC opportunities.  We had them in Miami and Buffalo.

[greenminer]

58 minutes ago, NM Green said:

I’m having trouble digesting four bids to the MWC. I think they should get 3 and CUSA 2. We have a media who like our coach. We pulled one of the best upsets of the season last year. 

This inspired a new thought: would national media pay more attention to Grant - and by extension have higher built-in respect for our program - if guys like Few (Gonzaga) and Crew (Baylor) were even just a little vocal about their support of him in their surrounding coverage/interviews?

[GMG_Dallas]

33 minutes ago, greenminer said:

This argument that only looks at 20+ wins doesn't work at all, and I think a big reason why the whole quadrant system must be included.  20-win seasons in 2020s doesn't mean the same as it did when I first started following CBB.  I think people really need to recalibrate that milestone to 25.

Fair enough. I'm not advocating for all getting in, just a little more respect for CUSA as a whole. We've got 3 teams with 24 wins or more. You would thinkd it would count for something.

And yes, you're right, we've got to win the OOC games. And when we do, those Power teams we beat will be deemed to have had a bad year or bad start to the year or it's simply the wrong power conference team and it won't matter anyways. The life of the mid-major.

[TheColonyEagle]

I was thinking this as we were going down the stretch. We had 2 games cancelled early on the year I believe due to Covid….I can’t remember one of them (a D2 or D3 school?) and Tulsa. I know Tulsa wasn’t very good but that should’ve been 2 more wins. Would that have made any difference? 

[GMG_Dallas]

11 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I was thinking this as we were going down the stretch. We had 2 games cancelled early on the year I believe due to Covid….I can’t remember one of them (a D2 or D3 school?) and Tulsa. I know Tulsa wasn’t very good but that should’ve been 2 more wins. Would that have made any difference? 

They only count D1 in official rankings so probably not since Tulsa isn't worth much this year and the other school wouldn't have counted in NET rating... not that NET or RPI ratings matter apparently. Why have metrics if you aren't going to use them anyways?