Dick Weiss on College Basketball
PHILADELPHIA– UConn is the consensus pick to repeat as NCAA Tournament championship.
The Huskies have been the dominant team in the Big East, which is the second strongest conference in the country, according to Kempom.com,
But that is not reflected in the disrespect the Big East was shown yesterday by the selection committee, which has won three national championships in the past six tournaments that were played. The committee limited the conference to three teams, five less than the Big 12 and SEC, three less than the B1G and Mt. West, two less than ACC and one less than the Pac-12– all football schools.
UConn is a 1 seed but the Huskies, who have won seven games in the Garden, will play the sub-regional in Brooklyn and a regional in Boston if they advance.
But the Huskies arguably have the hardest path to a Final Four, with Iowa State, Illinois and Auburn, who teams who won Power conference tournaments.
Maquette is a 2. Creighton is a 3.
But Seton Hall, St. John’s and Providence — all 20 game winners in a basketball centric league- were nowhere to be found in the brackets.
St. John’s, which was 20-13, probably had the biggest gripe. The Storm six straight games after, beating Seton Hall 91-72 in the Big East quarters and pushed No. 1 UConn during a 95-90 loss in the semi-finals at the Garden, wasn’t in the first four out. Seton Hall was 20-12, but Shaheen Holloway won 13 games in conference, including a win over UConn. the Hall was third in first four out behind Oklahoma and Indiana State. Providence beat Wisconsin, Marquette and Creighton twice.
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said his team would decline an invitation to the NIT, which looks like common practice these days for teams like Indiana and Oklahoma that are snubbed from the 68-team field, the Johnnies were ranked 24th in the Basketball Power Index, best of any program that did not make the field. It also had a NET ranking of 32, second best among teams to miss the tournament behind Indiana (28).
“First off I think we should all probably never mention the word NET again because I think it’s fraudulent,” Pitino said. “I think the NET is something that shouldn’t be mentioned anymore.
“I think that we had a good strength of schedule. KenPom. Why mention him? We were ranked 26th in KenPom. We tried to play a tough schedule. We tried to do the things the right way, and we didn’t get in. But I never make excuses. I respect the committee for what they do. They give their time, They give their energy to it. They didn’t think we measured up ti their standards, and we’ll take it very positively like men and move forward. we’re not going to gripe. We’re not going to say we got screwed.”
Had the Storm gotten in, Pitino would have coached his sixth team to the NCAA tournament. Pitino will now turn to the transfer portal, which opens today, in an attempt to get better.
There are growing questions about the process, though.
Providence finished 50 in the Net, but had some big wins over Marquette and two over Creighton, including in the Big East quarter finals.
“I think analytics are bullshit,” Providence coach Kim English said. “I think you could schedule bad teams in your non-league and beat the snot out of them, beat them
by 50 or 60. Coaching so long has been a gentlemen’s agreement– you have a large lead at the end of the game, for health reasons, you take guys out. To get some other
guys the opportunity to play, you take guys out. But right now might bea change in college basketball. Scheduling to beat teams by 40 or 50 might be a thing to do (to improve your margin of victory).
Hmm. Sounds like the Big 12.
“When you get into this league, the analytics aren’t going to look very good in the league. You’re playing against some really really good coaches. we played at Connecticut and they shoot 40 percent from the field. We’re a good defense. They won the game. They should be credited with winning the game. I do think there are some flaws in the system.”
UConn coach Danny Hurley. had the courage to stand up for the league, especially his alma mater Seton Hall.
It’s embarrassing,” he said. ”and it speaks to a larger problem relative to the respect the league gets. I don’t understand how a Providence team that can beat Wisconsin in the non-conference, Creighton and Marquette and have those quality wins and not get it. How doesn’t Seton Hall get in for they did in the second rated conference in the country. How is St. John’s so far off the cutline?”
Those are all good questions.
Part of me wonders if the NCAA and some of the football power conferences, who want to expand the tournament to 80, won’t use this to give voice to their feelings. New York City is this country’s media capitol and keeping teams from the Metroplex out of March Madness is bound to resonate with the local media.
@cutler18 @bluestar media
