Jay Bilas' Plan to Reward Regular Season, Not Conf. Playoffs

[Cdizzle]

Did you really just suggest that the 2011 National Champions (UConn) should have been barred from the tourney because they weren't worthy to be in the field? Same for Iowa State, Colorado, USC, Oregon St, Providence, and Butler this year?

No, they won their conference tournament.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

No, they won their conference tournament.

Fair point. However, had they lost to Louisville in the finals rather than winning by 3, OTR's philosophy would have banned them. A .600 in conference requirement would be disastrous for March Madness.

Xavier received a 6 seed last year but was only .500 in the Big East. They went on to the Sweet 16 and gave Arizona a great game once there. I could go on and on with examples. We want teams like that banned?

[Cdizzle]

Fair point. However, had they lost in the finals, OTR's philosophy would have banned them. A .600 in conference requirement would be disastrous for March Madness.

I'm not so sure. Maybe it would make February more interesting. Lots of teams have to play lots of "must win" games. Maybe the Syracuse's and Michigan's of the world should have to do that sometimes too.

There is also an alternative solution for teams to consider: Don't join a conference with 18 teams. It could help to re-balance the conferences.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

There is also an alternative solution for teams to consider: Don't join a conference with 18 teams. It could help to re-balance the conferences.

The Big 12 is just 10 teams now. OU went 12-6. 2 more conference losses and they miss out on the NCAA's entirely? Please no.

[Cdizzle]

The Big 12 is just 10 teams now. OU went 12-6. 2 more conference losses and they miss out on the NCAA's entirely? Please no.

2 more conference losses would mean they aren't as good as they are. I don't think it's crazy to say a team that went 10-8 in conference needs to do some serious damage in their conference tournament in order to get in.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

OU won about 5 games by 2-3 points. A couple extra bounces go against them and they go from 2 seed to NIT? Even if they just plain lost 2 more games, yes, they wouldn't be as good as they are now, but they would be what, a 5-6 seed? Surely they would still be top 25. Are there really that many teams each year getting left out that you would want instead of that hypothetical OU squad?

[1972Shocker]

I'm not so sure. Maybe it would make February more interesting. Lots of teams have to play lots of "must win" games. Maybe the Syracuse's and Michigan's of the world should have to do that sometimes too.

There is also an alternative solution for teams to consider: Don't join a conference with 18 teams. It could help to re-balance the conferences.

32 ten team conferences. Regular season champs are the auto-bid winners. Eliminate conference tournaments and add a couple more non-conference games. Go back to 64 teams. Select 32 at-large teams based on some kind of reasonable rating formula that employs advanced analytics from multiple respected sources. Top 32 non-qualifiers are in. Rank the 64 teams that make the tournament based on their computer ratings and seed them accordingly. Sure you will always have arguments at the margin but that is true with any system.

Yeah, I know, it will never happen.

[OTR Shockfan]

Let's Just see how well the two 10 and 8 teams from the big 12 -2 do and also the 9 and 9 Tx tech team. And NO I don't think asking
a team to win more than 2/3 rds of their conf. schedule is outrageous.

[OTR Shockfan]

OU won about 5 games by 2-3 points. A couple extra bounces go against them and they go from 2 seed to NIT? Even if they just plain lost 2 more games, yes, they wouldn't be as good as they are now, but they would be what, a 5-6 seed? Surely they would still be top 25. Are there really that many teams each year getting left out that you would want instead of that hypothetical OU squad?

I think Evansville would do as well as Tx Tech ,, and might do as well as Iowa st and baylor given the chance,, not sayin they should get the same seeds that Tx tech and Baylor are getting now but ... and if OU looses 2 more H
WHO was gonna win those 2?? what would that have done for their resume ?

[Kel Varnsen]

I think Evansville would do as well as Tx Tech ,, and might do as well as Iowa st and baylor given the chance,, not sayin they should get the same seeds that Tx tech and Baylor are getting now but ... and if OU looses 2 more H
WHO was gonna win those 2?? what would that have done for their resume ?

Could Evansville get lucky and play one game on the same level as Texas Tech, Baylor, or Iowa State? Maybe. Could they do it for longer than that? Not a chance.

KenPom Rankings:
Evansville 79
Texas Tech 42
Baylor 24
Iowa State 18

[OTR Shockfan]

Did you really just suggest that the 2011 National Champions (UConn) should have been barred from the tourney because they weren't worthy to be in the field? Same for Iowa State, Michigan, Colorado, USC, Oregon St, Providence, and Butler this year?

The 2011 Uconn team was NOT worthy until they won the conf tourney at 9-9 they were tied for 9th in their conf. are you sayin the big East should of had 11 teams in the dance that yr? because it was a three way tie at 9-9 so that would of put all them in then right ??

[Cdizzle]

OU won about 5 games by 2-3 points. A couple extra bounces go against them and they go from 2 seed to NIT? Even if they just plain lost 2 more games, yes, they wouldn't be as good as they are now, but they would be what, a 5-6 seed? Surely they would still be top 25. Are there really that many teams each year getting left out that you would want instead of that hypothetical OU squad?

I'm not sure. I'm not signing on for the 60% thing. But I think it's a worthwhile argument. The hypothetical OU team had a zillion opportunities to prove their worth, with more than half either at home or on a neutral site. You can't say the same for teams like Valpo, St. Mary's, etc. I'd rather see a team that tried (a very important part) but didn't get the opportunities in the regular season than a team that had a ton of opportunities and proved they were 'meh.'

Getting too close to game time for me to get much more in to this. Right now all I know is my team is in the tourney and all the other teams can suck it while we win a natty.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

2011 UConn was 21-9 before their Big East Tournament run started. Using KenPom ranks...
Wins - @6, @21, @30, @52, N5, N25, N46, H6, H34, H63, H76
Losses - All 9 losses were to NCAA teams

2016 WSU was 24-8 with @Evansville (who missed the NIT) as one of their top 3 wins.

People screaming that WSU barely made the field this year think 2011 UConn was undeserving without their Big East Tourney run.

This is insanity.

[ShockingButTrue]

Could Evansville get lucky and play one game on the same level as Texas Tech, Baylor, or Iowa State? Maybe. Could they do it for longer than that? Not a chance.

KenPom Rankings:
Evansville 79
Texas Tech 42
Baylor 24
Iowa State 18

With all due respect, you come off like the dork you portray, and IT IS good for a laugh.

Couldn't do it for more than O-N-E game? Like I said you're either a dork believing what some guy at a computer tells you, or you are being duplicitous (fishing).

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

With all due respect, you come off like the dork you portray, and IT IS good for a laugh.

Couldn't do it for more than O-N-E game? Like I said you're either a dork believing what some guy at a computer tells you, or you are being duplicitous (fishing).

KenPom
Evansville 79
K-State 50

Let's be generous and say Evansville would have finished a tad better than K-State in this year's Big 12, despite the fact that KenPom suggests otherwise. K-State went 5-13. Evansville goes what, 6-12? They would have been miles behind Texas Tech's 9-9.