ESPN Bubble Watch

[IrishDawg]

Sorry you guys aren't going to be in the tournament, I'm not the only one on the Butler Board that feels you guys got hosed.

[oklahomamick]

Valpo finished 4-2 against teams in the NCAA, including two true road wins and a 25-point win over Iona

[nkvu]

So basically the only chance a Horizon League team now has to make the dance is to win the conference tournament which despite wishful thinking this year turned out to be the reality. So maybe we need to treat the season like not worrying about out of conference wins or rpi but how does it prepare us for the conference tournament.  How would we treat scheduling differently?  How would Bryce coach differently?  I think we suffered in ot against Green Bay because we didn't have a true point guard once Carter fouled out.  Would Joeseph or Williams have gotten more playing time during the season if we didn't care about winning any particular game or running up a big winning record that ultimately made no difference as to getting to the dance?

By they way I just listened to the committee chair try to justify some of their selections. It made me want to barf. The selection is so rigged in favor of the big conferences that it is a joke. So maybe we should stop trying to pretend that we will ever have chance at an at large and concentrate on preparing to give ourselves the best chance of winning the conference tournament.

[oklahomamick]

USCg2012 posted on the green bay board the following;

Is it wrong of me to be happy the all mighty Valpo didn't get in? Yeah it would of been better for the conference but o well. If you can't ATLEAST get to you own conference championship game after receiving a double bye. You don't deserve it. 

[NativeCheesehead]

What I thought was hilarious was he quoted RPI when it backed up his case and "advanced metrics" when it did the same. Those two can disagree, sometimes strongly. Really feel for Monmouth and St. Bony as well. Also Kudos to Paul tweeting what I was thinking. Boeheim suspension can't be treated same as player injury.

[agibson]

The excuse of "...but those teams fear us and won't play us" doesn't fly any longer.  These are just challenges to overcome.  Plenty of other Valpoesque schools are able to do so -- e.g., Monmouth.  Come on AD and crew! 

For a team like Valpo, when stacked, there really might be no recourse. Maybe there's a chance Valpo could work harder at getting into a quality in-season tournament? I'm not sure how those decisions are made.

But, it sounds like Valpo literally asked everybody in the top 25. Maybe not everybody in every power conference I guess... But, ultimately, what leverage would Valpo have if the big guys didn't want to play?

It's been said that teams like Monmouth (or Milwaukee, etc.) manage in years where they're not expected to be receiving votes in national polls, etc.

[agibson]

@ImJustEB5 (Erik Buggs) is going on a bit of a tear on twitter. Seems like he's about to say that Valpo should get out of the Horizon.

[agibson]

Or maybe it's just a #MotorCityMadness rant.

[tweet]709163764600475648[/tweet]

[oklahomamick]

I don't think this helps Valpo in keeping Bryce any given year.  HL is a one bid league and leaves no room for error or a bad game.

[agibson]

@ImJustEB5 (Erik Buggs) is going on a bit of a tear on twitter. Seems like he's about to say that Valpo should get out of the Horizon.

Ah, there it is

[tweet]709170027107393541[/tweet]

[nkvu]

@ImJustEB5 (Erik Buggs) is going on a bit of a tear on twitter. Seems like he's about to say that Valpo should get out of the Horizon.

Ah, there it is

[tweet]709170027107393541[/tweet]

Not like we have a lot of options once the MVC passed us over.

[a3uge]

Feel a bit better knowing that winning at home vs Wright State, on the road vs Ball State, and the semifinal game vs UWGB likely didn't matter. Or UIC being an RPI killer didn't matter. Really, the only way Valpo was getting an at-large would have been a victory at Oregon or if Valpo was in the Big 10.

[rogerwilco]

So, Tulsa was the last team in. 

[oklahomamick]

Yes and a heads up, the news outlets down here are already talking conspiracy.  Joe Castiglione (Oklahoma AD and head of the selection committee) is good friends with Derrick Gragg (Tulsa AD).  Castiglione even gave Gragg his first job when Gragg was25 years old.  TU did not have a watch party as everyone was shocked and didn't think Castiglione could pull it off.

[rink]

Feel a bit better knowing that winning at home vs Wright State, on the road vs Ball State, and the semifinal game vs UWGB likely didn't matter. Or UIC being an RPI killer didn't matter. Really, the only way Valpo was getting an at-large would have been a victory at Oregon or if Valpo was in the Big 10.

Very much disagree. This is disingenuous, helps-one-sleep-at-night talk. If we win at Ball St, win at home against Wright St, and lose the conference tourney final, we are an at large bid. If my math is right, that's a 29-4 team whose losses are at Oregon, at Belmont, at a decent-ish conference opponent, and on neutral ground against a decent-ish conference opponent. (Hell, even one of those hiccups is probably okay.)

If we're all honest with ourselves,  we knew this was the resume we needed to be an at-large this season. There's just not enough juice left in victories against Horizon teams, OR St (road), RI (road), Belmont (home), and Iona (home) with bad losses against Ball St, two regular season Horizon losses, and an 0-1 Horizon tournament record.

An at-large would have been a nice surprise gift today, but we didn't take care of the business that any non-biased outsider would have required for an at-large. Plain and simple. Didn't get it done this season. No one else to blame.

[rink]

Yes and a heads up, the news outlets down here are already talking conspiracy.  Joe Castiglione (Oklahoma AD and head of the selection committee) is good friends with Derrick Gragg (Tulsa AD).  Castiglione even gave Gragg his first job when Gragg was25 years old.  TU did not have a watch party as everyone was shocked and didn't think Castiglione could pull it off.

Interesting. Heard talk on the radio afterwards about how Tulsa didn't deserve the bid. Vegas odds say 14 (!) *excluded* teams would be favored over Tulsa, from what I heard. Feel bad for Monmouth.

[a3uge]

Feel a bit better knowing that winning at home vs Wright State, on the road vs Ball State, and the semifinal game vs UWGB likely didn't matter. Or UIC being an RPI killer didn't matter. Really, the only way Valpo was getting an at-large would have been a victory at Oregon or if Valpo was in the Big 10.

Very much disagree. This is disingenuous, helps-one-sleep-at-night talk. If we win at Ball St, win at home against Wright St, and lose the conference tourney final, we are an at large bid. If my math is right, that's a 29-4 team whose losses are at Oregon, at Belmont, at a decent-ish conference opponent, and on neutral ground against a decent-ish conference opponent. (Hell, even one of those hiccups is probably okay.)

If we're all honest with ourselves,  we knew this was the resume we needed to be an at-large this season. There's just not enough juice left in victories against Horizon teams, OR St (road), RI (road), Belmont (home), and Iona (home) with bad losses against Ball St, two regular season Horizon losses, and an 0-1 Horizon tournament record.

An at-large would have been a nice surprise gift today, but we didn't take care of the business that any non-biased outsider would have required for an at-large. Plain and simple. Didn't get it done this season. No one else to blame.

I meant just one of those scenarios. Even with two less losses, the committee was hell bent on not letting any mid majors in. Syracuse has an RPI of 72 and wasn't even in the last 4 in. That team getting in tells me the selection doesn't have much to do with resumes and season achievements.

[ValpoDad89]

BS that Michigan, Syracuse and Tulsa, Tulsa? Got in ahead of Valpo. The reality is no major wants to play a Valpo as it will hurt more than help. I disagree as Oregon's win against the Crusaders gave them another Top 50 win. Probably didn't need it but didn't hurt just like it didn't hurt Oregon St. losing to us at home. We were 4-2 against tourney teams.

As far as Valpo trying to schedule games against bigger teams, they'll do their best but again, the stigma for those teams losing to us hurts them more from their perspective. I applaud Valpo in scheduling the Oregon trip, playing decent teams in state, Ball State and Indiana State and doing a home and home with Belmont. They did their best to put them in a situation to get an at large if they didn't win conference or better seed if they did. A great season was not rewarded as the the selection committee proves again they'd rather have more teams, even those that finish 7th in thier conference than a mid- major trying to position themselves in a position to get a bid. Sad.

I think if the committee rewarded the Valpo's and Monmouths with bids, it would force some of these Teams to play us more often during the Non con season as it would benefit them as well as Valpo. Personally I don't think any team that finishes in the bottom half of their conference deserves a bid. I'd rather see some fresh teams in there than usual suspects that lose in the first round. Needless to say I'm rooting against Tulsa, Michigan and Syracuse to lose to prove the powers that be wrong.

[ValpoDad89]

And Boeheim's suspension shouldn't even be considered as he was SUSPENDED FOR A REASON. Hence a suspension. A suspension for infractions or other rationale should be thrown out when considering a team. Injury to key players, I still have issue with but not as much as a coach he broke rules. Again BS.

[rogerwilco]

I was listening to ESPN radio and they had the NCAA committee chairman on. The host mentioned that there were 59 "expert brackets" and none of them had Tulsa in the field.    I'll just say that the chairman wasn't effective at explaining the case for Tulsa's inclusion.

[chef]

Michigan finished 4-12 vs the top 100. This maybe the worst resume to ever get an at-large bid. They won 4 road games all year. It's really an embarrassment.

[a3uge]

Michigan, Syracuse, Tulsa, and Vanderbilt were all pretty similar. All got bids for winning a fraction of their games vs top opponents in a handful of opportunities. The criteria for inclusion makes it virtually impossible for a mid major to get in.

[VULB#62]

USAToday's 5 biggest snubs. Some nice quotes from Bryce.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2016/03/13/ncaa-tournament-bubble-teams-snubbed-selection-sunday-mid-major-monmouth/81736400/

[covufan]

Michigan finished 4-12 vs the top 100. This maybe the worst resume to ever get an at-large bid. They won 4 road games all year. It's really an embarrassment.

This goes to what Bilas and others have said over the years - the power conference teams have a chance to better their resume during the conference tournament season, the mid-majors like Valpo only have a chance to lose


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[FWalum]

I think this is the link to the USA article about Mid-Majors being Snubbed http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2016/03/13/ncaa-tournament-bubble-teams-snubbed-selection-sunday-mid-major-monmouth/81736400/