is the NCAA tournament selection fair? syracuse does not think so!?

Question

what can be done to make sure teams with 21 or 22 wins get bid, and not a team that wins a 3 game tournament and gets in with record of say, 13-18?

Answer 1

Every team that wasn't selected will complain.

The picks were made and guess what? It won't be changed.

You can't always simply pick the most games won to put teams up. You gotta go with titles as well.

Syracuse, if it had been picked, would have had a really low seed and wouldn't have stand a chance.

Maybe next year.

Answer 2

The only way to ensure that all teams with a 20-win season make the Tournament is to make the bracket larger or smaller every year, depending on how many schools hit that number. For instance, this year 104 teams had 20 or more wins, and of the two schools in the Tournament under that number, only Stanford did not win their conference tournament. Therefore, you would have 105 teams in this year's NCAA Tournament (the 104 20-win schools plus Miami OH, conference champion at 18-14), which would require 41 play-in games to set the field at 64 teams, rather than the one play-in game we currently have.
The best thing to do would be to make ALL 330+ D-1 schools eligible for the Tournament, but you would still have a bunch of play-in games in order to set the bracket at 256 (two extra rounds, or one week, from what we have now), and then there would be no reason for the NIT to exist at all. Until you have everyone in the Tournament, you will have schools squawking that they got jobbed; that's part of the fun of March Madness.

Answer 3

I think the solution is to not have conference tournaments for the mid major conferences. I think the mid majors are screwing themselves by having these tournaments because they still are only getting one team in for most the smaller conferences.

And a lot of times it's the team that finished 2nd or 3rd in the conference. That would stop the 13 - 18 records from getting in. Yeah they might make it through their conference tournament but what did they do to deserve getting into that conference tournament during the year, nothing.

heres one example Vermont was 15-1 in conference and they lost to Albany in the conference final. Albany gets in. And vermont doesn't just because they had a conference tournament but just imagine if the last place team in that conference beat vermont in the final game.

To me the conference tournament makes the regular season seem so useless why play all those games if your just going to have a conference tournament to see who goes to the ncaa tournament? It's a waste of time. that conference should honeslty just hold a tournament instead of playing the season. Because thats what they are doing anyhow.

the only conferences that should have tournaments are the power conferences. It gives the 5th and 6th place teams a chance to improve their torunament resume. Maybe by knocking off one of the top teams in their conference. But if the 6th place team in the America east conference knocks off vermont they still only beat vermont. And if that team doesn't win the whole tournament they are still not getting in.

I think syracuse got jobbed hardcore this year. Arkansas has no business being in this tournament. Vermont should also have a spot in the tournament as well.

I think another thing the NCAA could do is consolidate some of their conferences the big east has 16 teams. That's way too many. I could see them losing teams but I know it's all about money.

Teams like cincinnati who were once decent are at the bottom of a 16 team conference. I think if they were playing lets say in the big ten they might fair better. I would love to see the big ten get one more team they 11 teams as it is now why not throw another one in the mix. The big east should be called the big bloated beast.

I think their selection process is fine. I think other things they could do such as moving teams out of overcrowded conferences. Into conferences that could use a shot in the arm. And only allowing power conferences to hold conferences tournaments for automatic bids. So the conference regular season winner gets in and not the 3rd place team from that conference. Therefore the selection committee isn't tempted to throw that first place team in too.

Even with all that I think teams will still get jobbed. People say more play in games would help. But then in the next breath say play in games to play the number one seed. I could see a play in game for the 12 seed or 13 seed or even 14 seed too.
I think as of now the current play in game is a gimmick.

Answer 4

But alas, those are the rules. The last number of wins in the bracket by the way is 18, Stanford is a team with 18 that got an at-large bid, and I think Syracuse should have gone in above them. Teams with more than 20, and a few even with more than 25, have been kept out from mid-majors for a long time. I actually think using the RPI is a good thing in that if you play an easy schedule non-conference, and Syracuse did, you get punished against teams theat play tougher schedules because every team in a major conference plays the same type of conference schedule.

Answer 5

The tournament selection is what it is. You could say it's unfair especially since teams like Syracuse should have gotten a bid. However every year a team that people feel had a good enough season to make it in the tournament gets left out. The only true way to make sure that doesn't happen is to expand the tournament. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Answer 6

Where ever politics are involved it cannot be considered fair. To leave out the Cuse with a 10-6 record in the Big East, the Big East which is always underrated makes absolutely no sense. Also whoever said they finished in the middle of the Big East does not know his math. the Big East has 16 teams and the Cuse finished 5th. Also Georgetown has lost once in its last 18 games.......they got beat definitively by the cuse. They finished ahead of Marquette and Villanova, two teams that got in. How is that alone not enough. One last thing did you know the Big East was the only major conference not to have a representative in the selection room. Coincidence??????

Answer 7

Cuse went 2-5 against top 25 opponents, finished in the middle of the pack in their conference, and exited their conference tourney too early. That's why they didn't get in, the 20 wins is irrelevant if you play poorly against quality opponents.