Bilas: Improving the NCAA tournament

[HFCS]

BPI is crap. It has as many flaws as rpi and puts less emphasis on winning big games. Ohio State hasn't done zip this year to show they should be above ISU. I'm all for tweaking rpi or looking at other options but replacing it with bpi is a step backwards.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

I really have no idea why you think March Madness would be better by including the Indianas and Illinois of the world over the Florida Gulf Coast, Mercer, Norfolk State, etc. teams. They make the first weekend great. Then the big boys take it from there. We don't need teams that went 7-11 in conference play making the NCAAs.

What we also don't need is teams from 1 bid leagues that had losing seasons in the tournament either just because they won their conference tourney. Why not just give the #1 seeds a bye in the 1st round if they are going to have to play a team that can't even be remotely competitive?

 

[FDWxMan]

There are too many undeserving small conference invites.

It is fine as it is, but would be better if the P5 gained control and determined how many non-P5 teams got an invite.

Why? You'd rather watch Illinois and TCU and Stanford and other also-rans play in these games?

No way. Nobody wants to watch Illinois keep playing.

Gimme the Bryce Drew's and Florida Gulf Coasts and Bucknells all day.

 

[FDWxMan]

BPI is crap. It has as many flaws as rpi and puts less emphasis on winning big games. Ohio State hasn't done zip this year to show they should be above ISU. I'm all for tweaking rpi or looking at other options but replacing it with bpi is a step backwards.

Side convo: I know I give you a lot of crap about RPI, but check this out and see what you think. Probably way too fancy to be accepted by the committee, but it is the spirit of the direction I want an RPI tweak/replacement to head (Sagarin ELO-ish is the short version). https://sethburn.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/bad-wins-good-losses-every-game-counts-220-kp-elo-update/

**Also note the rankings in that article are from Feb 20, so they're WAY out of date.

 

[MNCyGuy]

There are too many undeserving small conference invites.

It is fine as it is, but would be better if the P5 gained control and determined how many non-P5 teams got an invite.

Think of it less as undeserving teams and more as a first round bye that the top seeds sometimes manage to screw up.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

I really have no idea why you think March Madness would be better by including the Indianas and Illinois of the world over the Florida Gulf Coast, Mercer, Norfolk State, etc. teams. They make the first weekend great. Then the big boys take it from there. We don't need teams that went 7-11 in conference play making the NCAAs.

That is some idiotic and inaccurate cherry-picking.

A 7-11 team being in would be extremely rare, and it would lead to less of what are now basically first round byes, while also giving more mid-majors a chance.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Why? You'd rather watch Illinois and TCU and Stanford and other also-rans play in these games?

No way. Nobody wants to watch Illinois keep playing.

Gimme the Bryce Drew's and Florida Gulf Coasts and Bucknells all day.

#weathermanslapdown

 

[Dingus]

I don't really get why low major conferences send their conf tourney champ to the ncaa tourney. You think they would want to send their best team to represent the league, like the Ivy League does.

 

[ISUTex]

SIAP — Jay Bilas column from March 10.

Bilas: Making the NCAA tournament better

He makes valid points about it being unfair that power-conference bubble teams to get extra resume opportunities to improve standings in conference tournaments.

I like the spirit of his solution to it, but even that has flaws. Some good ideas, but also opens a few cans of worms, as far as league tournament competition. I'll let others bring up pros and cons of it after digesting it.

EDIT: I assume his 1-68 list is based on the Almighty BPI, judging from the ranking.

 

[ISUTex]

So this lawyer, who thinks he knows everything, wants to seed the tournament based on ESPN's bogus computer rankings? Bilas is annoying. Conference tournaments are part of March Madness Jay. It's not Texas's fault the MAC sucks, so why mess with it?

 

[bawbie]

I completely disagree about not factoring in the tournaments. Those make things more fun when more is on the line. Its not like midmajors dont have plenty of other advantages, like being able to get credit for beating absolutely nobody (if ISU showed up to the tournament with the same # of top 50 wins as WSU or UNI they would likely be seeded much lower or not in the tournament at all)

Also, ohio state over us? What a joke.

Yeah, this is exactly what I was going to write. Bilas' article read like a solution in search of a problem. I've never once thought that conference tourneys weren't fair.

 

[ISUTex]

What we also don't need is teams from 1 bid leagues that had losing seasons in the tournament either just because they won their conference tourney. Why not just give the #1 seeds a bye in the 1st round if they are going to have to play a team that can't even be remotely competitive?

Why not? Cinderella teams are one of the great things about March Madness. 11-18 teams making the dance isn't common, and if it does happen they would go to Dayton anyway. And if they win the play-in game, so be it. That's how tournaments work. If one of those teams had a one seed on the ropes in the second half you wouldn't be watching?

 

[ISUTex]

I don't really get why low major conferences send their conf tourney champ to the ncaa tourney. You think they would want to send their best team to represent the league, like the Ivy League does.

Isn't that an NCAA qualifying rule? Is this the NCAA tournament or the ESPN/CBS Tournament? If you win your conference tournament, you are the champion of that conference. You get an automatic bid. "Hey great job winning your conference championship, but sorry, you didn't make ESPN's list. Have a great summer guys. "

The Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament.

 

[Cy$]

I've always thought they should expand to 96 and have the following rules for mid-majors.

The first round has 32 teams playing, the winners then advance to the round of 64.

(i) Winners of regular season AND tournament get an automatic bye to the round of 64.
(ii) Winners of regular season OR tournament get a bid in the field of 96.

After that you fill it in by seeding. Have the first 32 teams play Tuesday and Wednesday at the site, then have the tournament go on like it usually does.

Most of the teams from the round of 94 would be mid-major teams (teams like Murray St. and Iona).

Benefits:
1) More games = More money for the NCAA.
2) More basketball!
3) Makes the regular season more important for smaller schools.

Disadvantages
1) Dilutes the talent of the tournament.
2) The top seed in the conference tournaments don't have anything to play for.
3) Makes conference tournaments not worth as much overall.

 

[ExCYted1]

I don't really get why low major conferences send their conf tourney champ to the ncaa tourney. You think they would want to send their best team to represent the league, like the Ivy League does.

People always say that more recent results should factor into tournament selection when it comes to teams playing well, why not give it to the team who outplayed their conference in March.
Also, you win your regular season you get the conference trophy, the tournament is for getting into the NCAAs, that's why it is fun and televised.

 

[CTTB78]

Any list that has Ohio State ranked ahead of us loses ALL credibility.

Exactly. What Ohio St. team has he been watching?

 

[Dingus]

Isn't that an NCAA qualifying rule? Is this the NCAA tournament or the ESPN/CBS Tournament? If you win your conference tournament, you are the champion of that conference. You get an automatic bid. "Hey great job winning your conference championship, but sorry, you didn't make ESPN's list. Have a great summer guys. "

The Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament.

Not sure if conferences get to decide who gets the auto bid, but RE the Ivy League that's the whole point; they smartly (imo) send their best team every year.

 

[ExCYted1]

They need to get rid of auto bids entirely. The fact that schools like Lafayette get in the tournament and schools like Texas get left out is just ridiculous.

Yes, lets turn arguably the most fun event in sports, full of great storylines and underdogs, into a BCS BS playoff committee like football. Great idea!

 

[Cyballz]

I've always thought they should expand to 96 and have the following rules for mid-majors.

The first round has 32 teams playing, the winners then advance to the round of 64.

(i) Winners of regular season AND tournament get an automatic bye to the round of 64.
(ii) Winners of regular season OR tournament get a bid in the field of 96.

After that you fill it in by seeding. Have the first 32 teams play Tuesday and Wednesday at the site, then have the tournament go on like it usually does.

Most of the teams from the round of 94 would be mid-major teams (teams like Murray St. and Iona).

Benefits:
1) More games = More money for the NCAA.
2) More basketball!
3) Makes the regular season more important for smaller schools.

Disadvantages
1) Dilutes the talent of the tournament.
2) The top seed in the conference tournaments don't have anything to play for.
3) Makes conference tournaments not worth as much overall.

96 teams?? The last 4-8 at large teams currently don't really deserve to be in the tournament, you want to add 28 more? There's enough garbage basketball from Nov-Feb, there's no need to extend that. The only thing 96 team tourney does is allow a few ****** coaches to hang onto their jobs a little longer.

 

[Cy$]

96 teams?? The last 4-8 at large teams currently don't really deserve to be in the tournament, you want to add 28 more? There's enough garbage basketball from Nov-Feb, there's no need to extend that. The only thing 96 team tourney does is allow a few ****** coaches to hang onto their jobs a little longer.

it would solve the dilemma of smaller conference regular seasons not meaning a lot.

It would be a happy medium for winning the regular season means something and keeping it so the tournaments would still be important as well.

If you only take the regular season tournaments mattering, teams will sit their best players for the NCAA's as the conference tournament wouldn't mean anything.