Bubble Results: A Critique

The NCAA tournament never comes and goes without complaints, and Selection Sunday is the day where 'Bubble Teams' can complain about the injustices they experienced by failing to make the tournament.  For most of these teams, winning one more game or playing a slightly tougher schedule would have made the difference between making the tournament and heading to the NIT.  A perennial member of this 'Bubble Team' category is Seth Greenberg's Virginia Tech Hokies, who have been snubbed of a NCAA birth the past two years.  Along with them, several other teams feel like they were 'snubbed' from the NCAA tourney.  Lets take a look at what I believe to be three teams that don't deserve a birth, and three teams that should be in the tournament:

Should Be Out:

The Trojans found a way to make it back
to the NCAA tournament!

USC Trojans - 19-14, 10-8 Pac Ten.   This USC team played an interesting non-conference schedule, losing to some very poor teams and beating some strong ones.  Losses to Rider, Bradley, and TCU are inexcusable, and losing at home to Oregon in conference play was a bad loss as well.  However, the Trojans did beat Texas and Tennessee.  Should those non-conference wins have been sufficient to put a team with an RPI of 67 into the tournament? Probably not, considering how soft the Pac-Ten is as a conference.  USC should be taking its 19-14 record to the NIT this week.

Great jerseys, but they lack
a solid non-conference resume

Marquette - 20-14, 9-9 Big East.  The Golden Eagles were horrible in their non-conference schedule, and must have snuck into the tournament by winning two games in the Big East tournament.  Marquette did not defeat one Top-50 opponent in non-conference play, and it's only key road win against a strong team was at Connecticut.  I feel like they received this birth based on reputation and past performance, as Marquette generally wins a game or two in the tournament.  Teams like Colorado and Virginia Tech beat better teams and would have been more competitive then this Marquette squad.

Florida St - 21-10, 11-5 ACC.  Although the Seminoles finished with a strong record in ACC play, its worth pointing out that they only have two wins against tournament teams this season, at home to Duke and to Clemson.  Florida St has an RPI of 55, which one would think is good enough to land them a spot in the tournament, but their non-conference schedule was weak in that they didn't beat any tournament teams.  Losing three of it's last five games, including losses to Maryland and Virginia Tech shows that the Seminoles are trending downward and should disappoint in the NCAA tournament.


Should Be In:
Saint Mary's Gaels - 23-8, 11-3 West Coast Conference. Saint Mary's assembled a strong record in conference play and built a RPI of 48.  This team also defeated a Top-25 team in St. Johns, one more top-25 team then either Michigan or Clemson defeated all season.  Although the SOS was 105, the RPI says it all that Saint Mary's would have been a decent tournament team. Their performance in the tournament last year proves that they can make some noise in the NCAA tournament, and it's disappointing to see them headed to the NIT this year.

Colorado Buffaloes - 20-13, 8-8 Big 12 Conference.  Colorado ammased wins against Kansas St, three times, and Texas.  They also finished .500 in conference play.  A .500 record in-conference was enough to get Michigan, Michigan St, Illinois, and Penn St into the tournament, so why not a Colorado team with more wins against the Top-25 then any one of those teams?  Yes the Buffaloes did play a weak non-conference schedule and had a less-then-ideal RPI, but those wins had to count for something.  Guess they weren't enough...



Tommy Amaker's Crimson should de dancing,
 but instead will be playing in the NIT


Harvard Crimson - 23-6, 12-2 Ivy League.  Harvard ammased a strong resume this season, with going undefeated at home, and only losing one game to a non-NCAA tourney team (rival Yale).  Tommy Amaker's club defeated Colorado and Princeton, as well as a Boston College team that barely missed out on the tournament.  With an RPI of 35, it's hard to swallow how the Tigers didn't make the tourney. However, their SOS of 140 was a glaring weakness which the Selection Committee must have focused heavily on.

Hope you are filling out your bracket(s) as the tournament begins tomorrow.  Check back soon for previews of each region and the first weekend of games!