According to Warrennolan.com, 10 college teams with an RPI above 125 will receive automatic bids to an NCAA regional because they won conference tourneys, including #245 Mount Saint Mary's and #290 Texas Southern. Several very deserving teams will be robbed because of this.
Posts: 2141 | Location: San Antonio, TX | Registered: April 11, 2006
Why is it a travesty? Those are the rules and everyone knows it. Many times teams with decent records get left out due to not playing a tough enough schedule.
JT
Posts: 3515 | Location: Lynchburg, VA | Registered: January 15, 2003
Maybe I'm not considering all of the ramifications, but how about changing the rules to issue bids based on RPI?
One rule that seems strange to me is how a team can win a conference championship, but not get a bid, when a team that wins a conference tourney gets to play in the post-season. Take UT-San Antonio, for example. This year, they won the Southland Conference championship with a laudable 39-13 record, posting wins over Kansas State, Baylor, Univ. of Texas, and the University of Houston. They had a 3-game sweep of Sam Houston State in conference play, but Sam Houston State won the Southland Conference tourney by posting wins over four lackluster opponents and clinched the regional bid, leaving UTSA in the dust. Doesn't make sense to me.
Another example: Texas Southern, which has a 16-32 record and a dismal 290 RPI, gets a bid because it won the conference tourney while its Southwestern Athletic Conference counterparts (Jackson State 37-22, Southern University 28-18, Alcorn State 29-16) do not.
Posts: 2141 | Location: San Antonio, TX | Registered: April 11, 2006
The rules are what they are--look what happened to St John's---they won the Big East regular season and then dropped two in a row in the tournament---it appears that it cost them the hosting slot for a regional as there had been a lot of talk about having a region hosted in NY
TRhit
Posts: 19128 | Location: Manchester, CT USA | Registered: December 26, 2002
One rule that seems strange to me is how a team can win a conference championship, but not get a bid, when a team that wins a conference tourney gets to play in the post-season.
Blame the conference. They don't have to play a tournament. But throw a dollar (conference tournament ticket sales) in front of the ho's and watch them grab.
Posts: 1632 | Location: Mid-Atlantic | Registered: October 29, 2007
Lot depends on whether it's an automatic bid by winning the conference championship or an at large bid. Sam Houston got an automatic bid by winning their tourney as did Texas Southern. I am not understanding the issue.
If qualifications for smaller programs is to win their tourney to obtain a position in the field than that is their prize. There is absolutely no way half of the D1 programs could gain entrance otherwise.
Question in my mind, not sure why the SEC got 9 teams in there. IMO, Someone goofed.
Posts: 10706 | Location: South Florida | Registered: July 28, 2003
It's been my understanding that teams have to bid for regional host selections. Besides a winning season, you need to put up the bucks and then hope to make up the gate fees with attendance. Aren't the only teams awarded automatic regionals the top 8 seeds?
Posts: 10706 | Location: South Florida | Registered: July 28, 2003
Originally posted by PGStaff: It’s not just baseball!
Mt. St. Mary’s (19-15) Mississippi Valley (17-16) Georgia (17-17)
These teams were among the 64 that made the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
At least they were .500 or better. IMO if a team wins its conference Tourney and does not have a .500 record, the automatic bid is waived off and the bid is now an at large bid that may or may not stay with-in the conference.
UNC may have a bit of a tougher time with a team other then Mt St marys, not that they would lose to the # 4 seed but it could effect their pitching which inturn could effect game 3-4-or 5 in a Regional.
Posts: 32 | Location: South | Registered: September 17, 2006
44
IMO, Someone goofed.
