I wish I felt differently, but we don't have a snowball's chance of getting in. Let's go win the NIT, like in 2009.
Update on teams we're rooting against today - according to Bracketology
- Thread starter TenerHallTerror
- Start date
As a basketball fan, I hope that Middle Tennessee gets in. They've got all the makings of one of those 12ish seeds that could make a nice run (extremely experienced, defend well, crash the defensive boards, and have gone toe to toe with some good teams).
I’m certainly not pretending to be an expert on how or why teams are chosen by the committee, especially since I often question why certain teams are in and others out. I saw some list today that had the last four bye teams, last four in, first four out and second four out. There were three P5 teams, each in separate groups. One led in Kpom metrics, and the other two led in different metric categories. Penn State and ND were two of the three, and I forget the third. If you took away the team name, it would be hard to tell them apart.
The whole "blind resume" thing that they will do on ESPN (or whatever other network) is such a joke. Putting up like 4-5 metrics for a team and then picking who is the best totally neglects the rest of the picture. And half the time they do it, they'll put up something like "record in last 10" or "conference record" that isn't even part of the selection criteria (at least stuff that the committee doesn't see on the team sheets).
I've been deep into Bracketology for about 15-20 years (not as much as I once was as I started shifting some of that time more towards handicapping). When I look at teams that didn't make any sense over that time, it's not teams with a star player or teams that the committee wants in for ratings. It's New Mexico, Tulsa, and Air Force. Teams that obviously have nothing to do with ratings. But yet every year, you'll read people say "the committee will select Syracuse because of ratings" or "they'll never leave Kentucky out", even though there is no historical truth to it.
Utah St just knocked off Boise in the Mountain West, which should end any realistic chance that Boise St had (also means that bubble teams will root very hard for Nevada the next two days).
Not to mention the fact that they've won a Tournament game each of the last 2 years (as a 15 vs. Sparty and as a 12 vs. Minny).
3 quad 1 wins (going 3-3). That compares pretty favorably to a lot of the other teams that will be right on the cut.
Against Murray State, Western Kentucky, and Old Dominion.
Just got beat by 16-17 Southern Miss.
But you been a bracketologist for 20 years. lol
Their RPI is 32. Our is 80. Their non-conf SOS is 8th. Ours is 267th. They lost 7 games against a schedule ranked 87th. We lost 13 games against a schedule ranked 74th.
Anyone that has an idea of what they're talking about here can see which of these teams have a better chance of getting in. MTSU is close enough to the bubble that it really come down to what happens elsewhere for them. But you deserve the merit badge in PSU fandom by pretending that they're done and we've still got a chance.
why are we not a tournament team? We are way better than a lot of mid-majors that will get in.....why not us>??????
Correct. The NCAA has eliminated the last 10 games column from their evaluation sheets. They no longer put an emphasis on recent games when it comes to making a decision on whether they get a bid or not. However, when it comes to seeding teams, it a team is playing well recently they may get a break on their seed. .
We lost some games that we shouldn't have and we played a weak out of conference schedule. Those are two big issues that are too much to overcome.
That’s kind of like putting a football team in the playoffs because they started the season off 8-0 but then lost three of their last four. With all the things they look at, it surprises me they don’t look at who’s hotter comin into the tournament season. Many teams fall apart as the season goes on and many teams come together and gel. Doesn’t make much sense.
didn't Ben Simmons LSU team miss the tourney the year he was there?
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I don’t like it. At all. But it was only fair to click “like” because what you say is truthful.
We may or may not get in. We really can’t say we earned it or that we were treated unfairly if we don’t.
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Is there still the AD/coach gripe that PSU is trying to schedule better teams and the solid programs aren’t interested? Haven’t heard that in a while, although our current schedule likely still reflects on that time? Thoughts?
I agree--I think that could go either way. Those are definitely "quality losses" and kudos to them for scheduling the way they did
I mean, we all knew that....that's been the case forever. The ACC, SEC, Big XII and Big East are respected. No other conference really is right now. I think Bama beating A&M pretty much locked them in. If they look good, they don't even have to win, against Auburn then it's a done deal
There was an article this week that indicated an extremely small budget for mens basketball. When you want a team to come play you at home without a return game, that costs money. Penn State basketball doesn't have the cachet of a Duke or MSU that would entice teams to play them for the experience. That being said, I think the solution here is for Penn State to sign up for one way road games against better teams. Maybe a "we'll play anyone, anywhere" mentality. This would make up for our mediocre attendance at OOC home games, while providing great exposure and the opportunity to boost the resume with quality road wins.
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I thought coach was saying that years ago but other programs just didn’t want to play Penn state in basketball. Maybe I’m remembering wrong. Price was wrong sounds more like it.
I absolutely think PSU should do this. There’s more juice in getting killed at Cameron Indoor or out in Westwood than losing to Rider.
I'm just trying to figure out why 9 teams from the ACC get in (as long as they have a .500 record in conference) but only 4 Big Ten teams get in (all ranked)
Teams get bids, not conferences.
Just means that they've got 9 teams with resumes that compare favorably to the other teams in the cut line, while the B1G only has 4.
Is they ESPN? If so they have a financial interest in SEC getting as many in as possible.
It isn't about "a conference gets X number of teams"...it is about the overall strength of the teams. We all know the Big Ten isn't very good this year. I don't know why we keep acting as though that isn't true
Agreed, we aren't getting in. We went 9-9 in conference. That's not good enough. Add to that a weak OOC schedule and a loss to Rider.
Some of the logic to this ESPN bracketology escapes me. Yesterday they had PSU in the ‘next 4 out’. IIRC it was-
Syracuse
Penn State
Boise State
Nebraska
Today PSU is gone from the new updated list (IIRC)-
Marquette
Baylor
Nebraska
Team X
Now, PSU may not deserve to go due to scheduling, losing to Rider, etc.....but how did PSU (who was 2 spots ahead of Nebraska yesterday) drop out while Nebraska stays on the list? Nothing has changed with regard to Nebraska or Penn State’s ‘resume’ since yesterday.
Syracuse
Penn State
Boise State
Nebraska
Today PSU is gone from the new updated list (IIRC)-
Marquette
Baylor
Nebraska
Team X
Now, PSU may not deserve to go due to scheduling, losing to Rider, etc.....but how did PSU (who was 2 spots ahead of Nebraska yesterday) drop out while Nebraska stays on the list? Nothing has changed with regard to Nebraska or Penn State’s ‘resume’ since yesterday.
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There has always been rumors that Lunardi gets some intel from inside the room. But even after a team is finished, other things are still fluid (ratings fluctuate, opponents that you played look stronger or weaker, etc). Joe has always been responsive to email so you can ask him yourself, although I wouldn't really expect an answer until the dust settles.
He did tweet this morning that it's "the most fluid it's been in several seasons".
PSU was always ahead of Nebraska today. As of now:
First Four Out
Oklahoma State
Notre Dame
Arizona State
Syracuse
Next Four Out
Marquette
Baylor
Penn State
Nebraska
Wish I had better computer skills for making gifs. Watching the SEC tournament (Kentucky and Georgia about to start). There are a ton of empty seats behind the basket with 1 row of like 8 people sitting just above railing banner that says “SEC- It just means more”. There are 10-15 completely empty rows in front of then and another 10 or so behind them. 
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Maybe they screwed up the graphic when I was watching earlier but PSU was not on the list they showed then.
It was Boise State.Penn St wasn’t team X (I just can’t remember who they listed there
