Tourney shockers
Quick hits while I guffaw at the Duke seeding.
Shockers:
- No Air Force. This makes absolutely no sense to any of us, and SLAM as a whole had a pretty heavy hankering for seeing this team make it. Cub’s knockout feature in 107 does a pretty good job of explaining how this team is so easy to root for. But why do they get in?
Wins against tourney teams GW, UNLV, Long Beach State and Stanford. Two of these teams, in any combination, are expected to make it to the second round of the tournament (two in my bracket, too, but we’ll get to that in a second). They started off the year 17-1 and those aforementioned good wins were then unheralded; no one knew that this was a 28-6 UNLV team or a 23-8, A-10 tourney-winning George Washington.
Let’s compare this to a Xavier team who has two real quality wins, one against an Illinois team who is 23-11 (and somehow still riding a 2005 Final Four appearance to a 12-seed and a good draw against Virginia Tech) and one against that same George Washington team. The Eagles have a better RPI and are filled with seniors.
Air Force is a better team on-and-off-paper. There is no real excuse for this.
- Equally puzzling is the lack of Drexel and, especially, Syracuse. I rode Syracuse mighty hard last week, but that was under the assumption that the Orange were definitely in. In one of the three best conferences, top-to-bottom, in the country: 22-10. They were the only team to find out Roy Hibbert and Georgetown at the end of the year with a double-digit win, plus wins against ‘Nova and at Marquette. This isn’t even really a bubble team to me. Old Dominion and no ‘Cuse? This is what we get for complaining about too many mid-majors last year.
I’d tell you about Drexel, but just poke Dick Vitale.
- Winthrop seeded 11, where I didn’t think they could go any lower than seven, looks like a rash midmajor recoil. They drew a Maryland team (good catch Matty — they drew Notre Dame, who had the same type of stellar second half but with the Big East) who is really hitting its stride, tearing through the ACC before reaching the conference tournament (annnnd good luck to you, Davidson!). I have a feature coming up about them with the help of some Winthrop campus folk, but I better get it up quick because they could be gone by the weekend.
- Nevada is far too low. How does a team finish the season #10 in the country and get a #7 seed? At best, you’re #28 in the country? No one wants New Mexico State in the tournament (unless you’re an Aggie fan, curdled up by your arthritis medication and air conditioner), but that doesn’t merit an 18-step drop. Now they might lose to Creighton. And I had them going to the Final Four on the back of Nick Fazekas.
And, now, so does Dick Vitale. Give me voice emodulation disorder, and I’m turning into him.
- Quick sleeper team that nobody is talking about: Albany. I’m a secret America(’s L)East follower and was pulling for Vermont in their one-point loss Tuesday. They’re the deeper team, but Albany guard Jamar Wilson scores 18.6 a game and can (and will) take over games. I saw him destroy UNH this year and he’s not just a mid-major talent.
- Lastly: Duke. 6 seed. Keep me away from sharp objects.
13 Responses to “Tourney shockers”
Mar.12 at 3:08 pm
Matthew says:
I belive Wintrhop actually drew Notre Dame in the 6 vs. 11 matchup and Davidson, led by Dell Curry’s son, is playing the Terps led by Who? Mike Jones and D.J. Strawberry.
Mar.12 at 3:15 pm
H to the izzo says:
My biggest beef is with the omiision of Florida State and not getting the chance to see Al Thornton he was dropping big numbers leading up to the tournament and you could see he was gearing up for a big dance but its not to be. And I’m loving what Duke have to do.If they don’t get upset by VCU which they could cause VCU play an uptempo florida type game and Duke just don’t.And if they manage to get past the 1st round tnem Pitt are waiting where Levance Feilds will seriously infringe on the wellbeing of Greg Paulus’s ankles and where Aaron Gray will be way too much for McRoberts to handle.THIS IS GONNA BE FUN FOR NOT DUKE
Mar.12 at 4:54 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Akron got jobbed.
Mar.12 at 5:30 pm
Question says:
Go Winthrop! Shame about the seeding but it’s better then the previous 2 years… Big C-Bradshaw reppin’ New Zealand. Watch out for this kid.
Mar.12 at 8:15 pm
H to the izzo says:
They have an Irish big man to Jason Kileen-6 10 but he’s not any good
Mar.12 at 9:39 pm
Cub Buenning says:
The ACC and SEC seedings do not make any sense. Pretty much all of these teams were around 21-10, but with completely different seeds. Duke #6, Virginia Tech #5, Virginia #4, BC #7. OR Vandy(6) Kentucky (8) and Tennessee (5). The commitee said they didn’t start the process until just over an hour before CBS’ 6PM EST deadline when the last conference final ended. I don’t doubt that. Much of their work seems sloppy and inconsisent. UVA with 20 wins and they’re a 4 seed? Ryan, isn’t Akron a senior-laden team chocked full of LBJ’s boys from his high school squad. And coached, too?
Mar.12 at 9:40 pm
Cub Buenning says:
Ben, i also neglected to thank you for the kind words. Much obliged.
Mar.12 at 9:53 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Cub: Yes to both of your questions, which is why I’ve followed them semi-closely and why I had more of a rooting interest in the MAC final than in any other conference tourney. BRUTAL end to a good game. The best part is that the MAC head of officiating is none other than Sam Lickliter, who was the ref who made the worst call I have ever seen made in a college basketball game, a game I attended, which happened to involve Penn State. But I digress.
Mar.13 at 12:52 am
Gnar Gnar Duckets! says:
How is Ohio State not the overall #1? The 3 losses where to teams ranked ahead of them at the time. Florida lost 3 of the last 4 before the conference tourney.
Mar.13 at 9:16 am
Cub Buenning says:
I guess losing at the end of the year doesn’t matter that much……… Unless you are a service academy, then it wipes out the best season in your team’s history.
Mar.13 at 10:05 am
Matthew says:
Nastiest dunk of the weekend happened in that Vermont/Albany game.
Mar.13 at 1:58 pm
Drer says:
Big ten with six freakin’ teams in the dance is a joke!
Mar.14 at 10:49 am
Ryan Jones says:
Gnar Gnar: Were you watching when Ohio State and Florida played each other?