How in the world can they be this far apart

Basketball Insider Board
#1

Lunardi has Wichita State as an 8 seed firmly in the field, and Palm has them as the last team on the first four out list. That’s a huge difference.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket … acketology

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

I lean towards Joe Lunardi when it comes to knowing what the committee will do, he’s the best in the business. But, I don’t see any way to justify Witchita State as an 8 seed. I could see them as a 10 or 11 seed. They have a 40 RPI, with a 149 SOS, and only 2 top 100 wins. I thought the committee was suppose to be rewarding teams for playing tougher schedules. If they do give Wichita State an 8 seed, that would be the exact opposite of what they’ve been saying. All of the high major teams on the bubble could play that schedule Wichita State has and end up with the same record or better.

#2

They’re also ranked.

School name and conference. It is all about recent success. Wichita St and Butler have been very successful recently.

#3

Lunardi is a Mid major pumper! Look at Illinois State. Neither school should get an at large bid. You can also look at the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12. Consider RPI, head to head and common opponent. Try to justify to yourself how TCU, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Syracuse are in! You may think the SEC is weak or down but look! In my opinion Vanderbilt, is more deserving than any of them, Ole Miss and Georgia.
If RPI means anything Vany is above them All. SOS if it means anything they are ahead of them there too. But oh I can’t forget this we will hear eye test ! We will also hear how horrible the SEC is! It’s a complete sham and if these teams get in over SEC teams this year with losing conference records and lower RPI and lower SOS and they disregard head to head and common opponent it will be firmly established that’s it’s the good ole boy system! That’s really what it is. A seed in the tournament should be earned not given or assigned! In years past past last 10 games was mentioned all the time. Now it’s not even one of the things they are suppose to look at. Complete body of work. All of these metrics have done nothing. These idiots have Rhode Island in the bracket they shows the A10 is a better conference than the SEC. People should see South Carolina got snubbed last year and 3 years ago Arkansas got snubbed. Everything used to left SC out and our hogs does not apply now. And to keep us no the bubble or edge and leave other SEC teams out this year. The money is all that matters! There’s no integrity in the NCAA selection committee. NONE!
And the comment about recent sucess is suppose to have no bearing! Xavier has lost 5 games in a row. There are injustices teams in the bracket and sees shown that are likewise unjustified. I’m old enough to understand how it works.

#4

The efficiency computer rankings love the Shockers despite their easy schedule. They are top 15 in most. Why? They have a lot wins over mediocre-to-bad teams by 35+ point margins. Is that indicative of a strong team that had too easy of a schedule, or does Marshall just not take the foot off the pedal in easy wins? It’s difficult to believe that they are top-10 good, as Pomeroy would have you believe, when you look at their results against the better teams. They played Louisville okay in a 10-point loss on neutral but lost to a not-prime-time Michigan State club, got blown out by OSU at home, and won a one-possession game against a mediocre Oklahoma. They are difficult to judge. I haven’t watched them play this season. So, I have no idea what an eyeball test would say. My guess is probably a solid at-large team but way overrated by efficiency calculations.

RPI thinks much less of them since it ignores margin. Lunardi basically splits the difference. Between Palm and Lunardi my guess is that Lunardi is more in tune with the weights that the committee puts on different factors. I haven’t been impressed with Palm’s comments on Arkansas. I’d favor Lunardi in this dispute.

BTW I’ve watched Butler’s last two games. They look like a very good basketball team to me.

#5

I don’t disagree, just using their name as an example.

#6

Wichita State would be in the bottom of the SEC. So would Illinois State. The RPI has just be pumped up by beating cupcakes some they had a hard time beating. Rhode Island from the A10 is a horrible team. They are showing them getting an at large bid. TCU form the Big 12 same story different verse. Big East Xavier is on a 4 or 5 game losing skid and shown in. If you go through the RPI click on the team and look at who they played you will see that the SEC is stronger than the Big 12, Big 10 and PAC 12.
I don’t see a team like TCU getting in.
We may see some coaches in the SEC take a microphone and tell the pundits where they can go! The SEC should get 6 teams in the Dance.
Lunardi has never like the SEC or the Razorbacks. Hogs should end up a 7 seed.
The losses are not over for any conference.

#7

Here you go:

Team A:

22-7, SOS 58, AWP 43, OOC RPI 10, OOC SOS 40 (10,9)

Team B:

22-7, SOS 74, AWP 39, OOC RPI 67, OOC SOS 266 (6,6)

Team C:

25-4, SOS 89, AWP 5, OOC RPI 55, OOC SOS 127 (6,5)

Team D:

26-4, SOS 149, AWP 13, OOC RPI 99, OOC SOS 160 (not listed, 8)

Team E:

24-4, SOS 123, AWP 12, OOC RPI 25, OOC SOS 14 (11,10)

Team F:

24-5, SOS 140, AWP 10, OOC RPI 88, OOC SOS 119 (12,11)

Numbers in parentheses are Palm and Lunardi’s (in that order) projection seed

#8

On further review WS had similar computer rankings last season. I had forgotten that they were upset in the semis of the MVCT and barely made it into the tournament as a #11 seed in the play-in game. However, they had some injuries early that led to some nonconference losses. Most observers considered them ridiculously underseeded, and few were surprised that they made it to the SS.

The MVC looks much weaker this season, and it’s suspicious that Illinois St. was also able to virtually run the table. WS had many more top-100 wins last season even with the injuries. You can certainly make a case that they should have to win the MVCT. I’ve seen mid-majors with more impressive accomplishments be left out. On the other hand, if they get in, I wouldn’t underestimate them if they are on a line opposite us. It’s not easy to win that consistently on the road in conference despite the opponent rankings. UT-A gave us all the game that we wanted and has lost to three RPI sub-150 teams on the road in conference.

#9

I agree with you on this. I follow Palm on twitter and for the most part he just likes attention and like to play the bad guy role. He argues daily with fans and picks schools to bash and tell their fan base how little of a chance they have of making it. Lately it’s been Wichita State and Vanderbilt fans. I still remember him going on Bo’s show and saying we needed to win 24-25 games in the regular season and win a couple in the SEC tournament to make the field, and even then we wouldn’t be a lock. He also, has us still as a 10 seed, when most others have us in the 8/9 range right now. My guess is once it’s time for his final bracket he’ll actually take his feelings out of it and try to predict it accurately.

Lunardi on the other hand doesn’t care about attention or arguing with fans, all he’s trying to do is be as accurate as possible at all times. He’s usually spot on the whole way through all the way until his last bracket.

#10