MU's 'reward' for a 24-win season (including a 10-win conference season while playing the Big East's second-toughest intra-league schedule)? ........a Thursday game in Winston-Salem against #9 seed Michigan State (who also deserved a higher seed). Mentor vs. Mentee, how cute. The winner gets UNC.
Its been said that the selection committee factored in unbalanced conference schedules in choosing Texas Tech over K-State - - but they must not have considered it with Marquette. Imagine if MU was 26-7 (12-4) because the team had beaten St. John's and Cincy instead of losing on the road to G'town and ND. MU was a victim of the unbalanced schedule.
A few cases in point:
- ND as a #6 seed? I guess conference road wins don't matter (unless you beat RU and Cincy like the Irish did -- their only road wins in Big East play and part of their 13th ranked Big East intra-league schedule. The Irish lost at SJU, btw. And don't forget the Irish played 10 teams north of 200 in the RPI. 10! MU played 5 such opponents).
- Duke as a #6 seed? 4-6 in their last 10, one and done in the ACC tourney. Get Vitale off of the committee.
- Vandy as a #6 seed in MU's region? They have fewer road/neutral wins and a lower RPI. Losing to Furman and Appalachian State must not matter. The Commodores are the most over-seeded team in the field.
- Boston College, I mean Betting Central, as the #7 seed in MU's region? Again, a team with a lower RPI than MU and fewer road/neutral wins.
- Indiana as a #7 seed? The Hoosiers have a worse RPI, fewer top 100 wins, twice as many road losses as wins, and were 5-5 in their last 10 (like MU). How on earth is IU a #7 seed?
With this appearance, coach Tom Crean has taken MU to the Big Dance in four of the last six seasons including the last two in row. Congratulations.
Too bad the committee felt like going Ned Beatty on MU and the Big East though.The Big East sent six teams to the tournmaent. MU is joined by Georgetown (#2), Louisville (#6), Pitt (#3), Villanova (#9 seed), and Notre Dame (#6 seed). Everyone of these teams (sans ND) have a legitimate complaint about their seed.......the selection committee's Big Ten (Purdue a #9!) and ACC (Duke #6) bias is sickening.
Can anybody guess which league did not have an AD on the selection committee?
Inexplicably, Syracuse was left out. The 'Cuse won 10 games in the Big East and one game in their conference tourney.
Again, what a joke. Tranghese --- DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.
Folks are venting, check this out.
***keep it here on Cracked Sidewalks for wall-to-wall updates on MU's tourney journey.
An 8! that is madness, the bracketproject's lowest was a seven. (By the way that is the toughest 9 seed - Drew Nietzel is a beast)
ReplyDeleteThey must have really weighed Marquette's inconsistency during the year. But an 8 seed. What a joke. Vanderbilt, that powerhouse, is a six seed. What a tough draw. Also, MU is going to have to beef up that non-conference schedule and get a higher RPI. This shows an immense amount of disrespect for MU.
ReplyDeleteCuse a 6?
ReplyDeleteHow can they beef it up anymore...MU's RPI finished at 21 with a 14 scheduled strength.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe an 8!
ReplyDeleteSucks...
so we're worse than last year? give me a break. how the hell does indiana and duke get ahead of us. bullshit! and how does illinois get in and syracuse not.
ReplyDelete6 - ND, Duke, Vandy, L-ville
ReplyDelete7 - Nevada, B.C., IU, UNLV
Sitting here two+ hours after the selection and still trying to comprehend being seeded below all of the 7-seeds along with Duke and Vandy. I think ND and L-ville shoulda been a 5 min.
Just unreal. And not only do we have to play Sparty, but if we win, we got UNC. If we win that, we get the Kevin Durant show. If we win that, we get G-town. Just unfathomable.
I'm so pissed off it's not funny.
F@(k this committee. Big Ten getting in six teams???!!! Did they WATCH any games that didn't include MSU or Wisconsin?
I can't say anything really new. The ACC and Big Ten are so over-seeded that it's just sickening.
ReplyDeleteI think Duke's seed is the most disgusting... an 8-8 conference record (8-9 if you include the embarrassing first round loss in the ACC tourney), no huge road wins to speak of...
Oh yeah, and they got pretty manhandled by Dominic and the rest of MU on a neutral court.
I feel bad for our fellow Big East teams. We all got hosed badly.
Can anybody honestly say Marquette is a better team than last year's 6 seed? There's no way.
ReplyDeleteThere's always hope for a run...
ReplyDeleteNeitzel is a shooter, so always prone to having an off-game.
Hansbrough might have an infection or something in his nose.
McNeal might be healthy enough to play defense on Durant.
Then we lose to Georgetown.
Ok, so chances are actually pretty good we're calling it a season on Thursday...
I can honestly say this year's Marquette team is clearly better than UNLV, Nevada, USC, Indiana, BC, Vandy and FIVE SEED VA Tech.
ReplyDeleteMU's RPI of 22 should be a 6. SOS of 17 is pretty high. Non-conference wins against Duke and Texas Tech. Only 18 teams beat more RPI top 50 teams than MU did.
I think we've done enough to not be playing in the "best matchup" of the entire first round, according to Fox Sports and 3 of ESPN's analysts. After looking at a Big East title at one point it's painful to have to think about a first round exit very possible with a second-round blowout maybe being a best-case scenario.
ReplyDeleteDudes, this isn't the patsy tournament. You play who you play if you want to advance. Quit whining and start playing. If we are as good as you all claim we should beat MSU and give the Tarheels all they can handle.
ReplyDelete"If we are as good as you all claim we should beat MSU and give the Tarheels all they can handle."
ReplyDeleteYou are missing the point. The reason for the disappointment about MU's seed has nothing to do with how 'good ... you all claim". It has to do with the strength of MU's tourney resume, much of which seemed to be igored.
Big difference.
"Quit whining and start playing."
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the game isn't until Thursday.
"this isn't the patsy tournament"
I'd rather be Nevada and have Creighton followed by Memphis on a neutral court. I'd rather have GW and then Washington St. But instead lesser teams got those pairings.
The point of this banter isn't about whining about who we can/can't beat. It's about being put in a position to succeed based on your regular season performance. And considering what MU did during the regular season, it warrants them being seeded higher than an 8, thus improving their chances - statistically - of moving forward. It's abysmal the road they have to go through to reach the final four. MSU, UNC, Texas and G-town (all, most likely). That's a train wreck.
ReplyDeleteFor all the news on who makes up the committee…see this link. Unbelievable. As a Michigan-guy, I despise OSU. I hate them even more now. Wonder how many cars they promised to other A.D.s for allowing Purdue and Illionois in. Unreal.
http://www.bracketography.com/selectioncommittee.htm
okay...
ReplyDeletewhat's done is done and all the complaining in the world won't change it, so let's think positive about this.
msu is a one man show (all things considered)...and i think nietzel is running out of gas.
unc is young and inexperienced. every starter on our roster (with the exception of lazar) was here last year and knows how shitting it is to lose in the ncaas.
same story on texas, who would be facing a very confident mu team in the sweet 16 should they advance.
should we face g-town in the elite 8, who knows what would happen.
bottom line is this...if we focus on where mu is going to lose, there going to lose no matter what round. the players, coaches, and fans must believe that we can make it through...and what a story that would be.
so...mu is in the tournament (syracuse would gladly trade spots)...
i think the 8 seed is more indicative of the depth of the tournament this year with real upset possibilities even at a 2-15 matchup and all the teams people are saying we're better than we haven't played with the exception of duke, who we played back in november. they haven't had an impressive season, but they are not the same team we beat in k.c.
anything can happen in march...don't forget that