Discussing Potential Future OOC Opponents

[Triticum aestivum L.]

I've thought about this topic and come up with a solution that I'd like to see but would likely never happen. It would have to be mandated by the P5 +1, but would certainly give the best MMs some chances at two good games per year, one at home and one on the road. Here's how it would work:

All P5's + NBE teams that DO NOT make the dance in a given year AND have an RPI better than 175 are REQUIRED to schedule 2 of the better MM's the following year, one home and one away.

This year that list would include about 28 teams and includes the likes of Indiana, Clemson, Pitt, Alabama, Iowa, Utah, Syracuse, Ohio St, A&M, Colorado, Stanford, etc. Most of these are top 100 teams.

There are at least 28 MM's that have RPIs better than 75, they get the first crack at these games. The end result is much more parity (not parody) in scheduling and really wouldn't hurt the P5's SOS at all.

MMs are rewarded for finishing in top 75 and Non Dancing P5's are "punished" for not making the field.

[shockerfan34]

I don't love the idea of taking a buy game, but it might be worth seeing if we can get a game with a "blue blood" next year. I think we'd all agree we should have a team capable of winning against anybody, anywhere. Why not head over to Cameron indoor and try our hand at ending their non conference home winning streak?

[RoyalShock]

LBSU had an average RPI of 105 over the past 5 seasons. If WSU can get non-conference opponents at home, with no return, with a 5-year track record of an RPI near 100, it would be incredibly misguided not to do so.

Sometimes, you just can't control everything. Maybe if the NCAA selection committee starts telling the value of a win over all teams 5 years in advance, we could get somewhere.

But based on the selection criteria, what does beating an RPI 105 do to your resume?

Absolutely nothing. If the purpose is to play a decent opponent to challenge your team a little, that's fine and valuable. If it's a "resume" game, its only value is a slight bump in OOC SOS over an RPI 200+ opponent. In our case, lose that game and we're probably an 11 seed in the play-in game again. But trade that game for an RPI 30-50 game, we have an opportunity for a win that matters, and won't be penalized with a loss.

The committee has reached a point where it's all about top-50 (and to a lesser extent, top-100) wins. If you have a few of those to offset bad losses, the committee won't care about the losses. Our lack of bad losses (which should be a significant factor in balancing out the lack of top-50 wins) didn't even help us.

Bottom line is that until the committee's criteria and process change, we have to change our scheduling to match. The Valley isn't going to help us, which means it's non-con or bust. Hopefully, there will be some changes starting next year. But until those changes are announced, we have to go with what we know.

I do think next year is already shaping up well. OU and OSU should be better and we'll be in better position to take advantage of Maui. We will probably be the favorite. Add one more quality game and that should give the committee less ammo to down-seed us.

The best-case scenario is a fast-track move to the AAC, making some of this discussion moot.

[Cdizzle]

Change scheduling to get a couple more chances, on the road, against P5 teams? Which, if you win, might net you a 7 seed, and if you lose will exclude you from the tournament.

Or, change scheduling to go undefeated. I bet that nets a higher seed.

The committee is a bunch of idiots. Going chasing after their ever-changing standards is a fools errand.

[Stickboy46]

I don't love the idea of taking a buy game, but it might be worth seeing if we can get a game with a "blue blood" next year. I think we'd all agree we should have a team capable of winning against anybody, anywhere. Why not head over to Cameron indoor and try our hand at ending their non conference home winning streak?

I think we could take Duke a lot of places .. I don't trust them to not get a crazy homecourt advantage just like KU does everytime they play at AFH. If we are winning the last 10 minutes, I wouldn't expect to get a single call through the end. Mysterious "5 second counts" etc etc

[shockmonster]

Most of this discussion just isn't going to happen. No aways without a return. If you believe that's possible, you aren't listening to Gregg.

AAC would be key. The other way us to replace two schools MES and SCStste who were 285 and 306 RPI with schools with RPIs below 200 would increase our RPI to 25 and if we defeat OU and maybe OSU or another of our early games in Hawaii, we dip to 20. This team wasn't prepared in Nov. Next year we will be

[jdshock]

Or, change scheduling to go undefeated. I bet that nets a higher seed.

That's a little like shooting the moon in spades, right? A big pay-off that's seriously risky.

[Cdizzle]

That's a little like shooting the moon in spades, right? A big pay-off that's seriously risky.

Is it any more risky than the schedule we had this year? If we didn't win the auto-bid, we weren't in.

[jdshock]

Is it any more risky than the schedule we had this year? If we didn't win the auto-bid, we weren't in.

I would say it is because this year we had everything go wrong. We lost to all the wrong teams and all the wrong teams underperformed the rest of the year.

In a cupcake buffet non-con, you slip up once and I'd think we're definitely out. This year, we were at least still a bubble team under the worst case scenario.

[Stickboy46]

Is it any more risky than the schedule we had this year? If we didn't win the auto-bid, we weren't in.

I hate using this year as an example of bad scheduling ... The amount of underperformance by our competitors compared to when we scheduled them is insane.

[Shock Top]

I hate using this year as an example of bad scheduling ... The amount of underperformance by our competitors compared to when we scheduled them is insane.

Exactly!

If you were told WSU was going to play Louisville, Michigan State, LSU, OU, and OSU in the non-con, you would take that every year!

[Stickboy46]

Exactly!

If you were told WSU was going to play Louisville, Michigan State, LSU, OU, and OSU in the non-con, you would take that every year!

Can't forget Tulsa. Even South Dakota State is way better normally. St Louis was over 200 spots better in the RPI when we signed with them.

[Shock Top]

Can't forget Tulsa. Even South Dakota State is way better normally. St Louis was over 200 spots better in the RPI when we signed with them.

Well, Tulsa is going to be a conference foe again.... ;)

[AndShock]

I would love to do 2 for 1s with schools like Monmouth, Vermont, or New Mexico State. Gregg probably thinks we should only be buying those schools but they would be good RPI boosts. They're usually around 100 in KenPom and top 50 in the RPI which is exactly what you want. Will the committee consider a win on the road against top 50 Vermont equivalent to a win at home against top 50 Northwestern? Doubtful, but the Vermont game should be more impressive.

[Shock Top]

I would love to do 2 for 1s with schools like Monmouth, Vermont, or New Mexico State. Gregg probably thinks we should only be buying those schools but they would be good RPI boosts. They're usually around 100 in KenPom and top 50 in the RPI which is exactly what you want. Will the committee consider a win on the road against top 50 Vermont equivalent to a win at home against top 50 Northwestern? Doubtful, but the Vermont game should be more impressive.

NMSU has already been a buy game for WSU in the past; twice.