Spring Break
Throw the slipper away: no more automatic NCAA bids
Addison Harvey
Issue date: 3/24/09 Section: Sports
As I sat on my couch on Selection Sunday watching the NCAA basketball conference tournaments, I was hoping a bubble team did not win its respective conference tournament.
Mississippi State made my fear a reality, as it knocked off NCAA Tournament-worthy Tennessee in a tight game.
This seems to happen way too much in college basketball conference tournaments. A team that is already worthy of an NCAA tournament drops the conference championship game to a team that previously had no hope of making the big dance.
These bubble teams, in essence, steal a bid from teams that are dependent on winning their conference tournaments to make the NCAA Tournament. A prime example is Mississippi State (19-12) surprisingly winning the SEC Tournament.
San Diego State, 24-8, posted quality wins over Utah and BYU, but did not make the tournament because it failed to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
San Diego State didn't win its regular season conference title, but had an impressive resume and deserved to go to the NCAA Tournament over a team that got hot and won four games to win its conference tournament.
Another team that had its bubble busted on Selection Sunday was Creighton. The Blue Jays finished the regular season 25-6 and champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton lost in its conference tournament and watched as its bid to the NCAA tournament was snatched away by Mississippi State or Chattanooga (18-17), champions of the Southern Conference Tournament.
The easiest solution to this problem is to give automatic bids to the teams that won regular season championships.
Bodies of work, strength of schedule, RPI, wins against the RPI top 50 and conference records are among the criteria used by the NCAA selection committee to decide seeding and ultimately, who gets left at home.
So why should a team that wins its conference tournament bypass this scrutiny of its body of work?
Mississippi State had a 9-7 conference-record in a weak SEC that only got three teams into the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs finished the year 4-4 against teams in the RPI top-50.
Mississippi State made my fear a reality, as it knocked off NCAA Tournament-worthy Tennessee in a tight game.
This seems to happen way too much in college basketball conference tournaments. A team that is already worthy of an NCAA tournament drops the conference championship game to a team that previously had no hope of making the big dance.
These bubble teams, in essence, steal a bid from teams that are dependent on winning their conference tournaments to make the NCAA Tournament. A prime example is Mississippi State (19-12) surprisingly winning the SEC Tournament.
San Diego State, 24-8, posted quality wins over Utah and BYU, but did not make the tournament because it failed to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
San Diego State didn't win its regular season conference title, but had an impressive resume and deserved to go to the NCAA Tournament over a team that got hot and won four games to win its conference tournament.
Another team that had its bubble busted on Selection Sunday was Creighton. The Blue Jays finished the regular season 25-6 and champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton lost in its conference tournament and watched as its bid to the NCAA tournament was snatched away by Mississippi State or Chattanooga (18-17), champions of the Southern Conference Tournament.
The easiest solution to this problem is to give automatic bids to the teams that won regular season championships.
Bodies of work, strength of schedule, RPI, wins against the RPI top 50 and conference records are among the criteria used by the NCAA selection committee to decide seeding and ultimately, who gets left at home.
So why should a team that wins its conference tournament bypass this scrutiny of its body of work?
Mississippi State had a 9-7 conference-record in a weak SEC that only got three teams into the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs finished the year 4-4 against teams in the RPI top-50.
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