Good Article From ESPN

[wloopanther]

Article about MVC tournament and chances of other schools making it to the dance. Altman actually says some good things...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/champweek2005/news/story?id=2007899

[Panthers to the Bone]

Great article! Good to see Altman say some nice things about "Northern"!

I'm going to elaborate on the RPI thing for just a sec. I have stated that no conference ranked 7th in the RPI at the end of the year had fewer than 3 invites, well, here is my proof back to 2000. I am still trying to find the more "historical" stats, but here is what I can find as of now.

2000: ACC: 3 teams (last team in from ACC was UNC with an RPI of 41, Wake Forest with an RPI of 58 was left out)
2001: A-10: 3 teams (last team in from A10 was Xavier with 21 wins/44 RPI, UMass with 64 RPI was left out)
2002: Mountain West: 3 teams (last team in from MWC was Wyoming with a 64 RPI, UNLV with 20 wins and 48 RPI was 1st team out)
2003: C-USA: 4 teams (last team in was Cincy with 17 wins and 29 RPI, 1st team out was SLU with 16 wins and 57 RPI)
2004: A-10: 4 teams (last team in was Richmond with 47 RPI and 20 wins, 1st team out was George Wash with 17 wins and 74 RPI)

First team not taken in NCAA's with high RPI:
2004-
LSU (RPI of 38)---lost 6 of last 7...NCAA took South Carolina as the 6th team from the SEC with an RPI of 45. LSU also had one of their starters hurt down the stretch, and b/c of him not being able to play, it made the decision easier for the committee.
Utah St. (RPI of 43)---lost 3 games all year, but only played 2 teams in top 50. Also had a SOS ranked 186!!!

2003-
UNLV (RPI of 40)---from 8th toughest conference...Took 3 teams from MWC, had 20 wins, but 3rd highest RPI in conference (lower ranked RPI won tourney)...7-3 in last 10.
Seton Hall (RPI of 42)---from 6th toughest conference that took 4 teams...Lost 3 of final 4...was only 2-7 against RPI top 50....record was 17-12.
NC State with an RPI of 53 was the last team selected as an "at-large".

2002-
Villanova (RPI of 43)---from 6th toughest conference that took 6 teams...lost 6 of final 11 games...was only 3-10 vs. RPI top 50.
Arkansas (RPI of 46)---had a below .500 record, and thus wasn't post season eligible
South Carolina (RPI of 47)---from top conference that took 6 teams...was only 3-7 in last ten games

2001-
Mississippi St. (RPI of 40)---from #2 conference that took 6 teams...was 5-5 in last ten, and only 3-8 vs. top 50 teams.
Richmond (RPI of 43)---from 13the best conference that took 1 team...only played 2 top 50 games, and had an SOS of 121.
Interesting case: Alabama (RPI of 51)---won 21 games, but b/c of weak schedule, 5-8 in top 50 games, and 4-6 in last 10, the Tide was left out! Seems earily similar to Iowa...I think.

2000-
SW Missouri St. (RPI of 34)---from the #11 conference, had a SOS of 60, was 9-1 in last 10, and the MVC got 2 teams in....Truly one of the biggest shaft jobs to the MVC in it's history...but remember, the conference rank was #11.
Kent St. (RPI of 36)---from the #9 conference that took 1 team, only won 19 games, only played 2 top 50 teams, and was 6-4 in last 10 games.
Vanderbilt (RPI of 39)---also not taken, but was 4-6 in last 10 and the SEC had already put in 6 teams.

So, from this data, you can see that no team with an RPI of 45 or better from the 7th best conference has not been taken in the last 5 years. Also, the only teams not making the Big Dance whose RPI was below 45 either had issues with not finishing strong, not winning enough vs. top 50 opponents, from a conference below a #8 ranking, and only once or twice was a team taken for the NCAA's that had a worse RPI than a fellow conference team---and that was because that one team ahead of them were not post-season eligible or had won the conference/had 22+ wins).

If we were going by history, with our RPI, our rank in conference with the RPI, our conference RPI rank compared to the nation, and how we finished strong w/out any injuries....one would believe that it would be unprecedented for UNI to not make the tourney. But of course, this is just "history".

[AmesPanther]

Good stuff PTTB. So unless the "Bob" factor comes into play we are good to go.

[PantherHawk]

article from espn on mid majors

here is a article and read towards the bottom of it when they talk about Utah state how they didn't schedule anyone tough.



By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
The NCAA selection committee is on a barnstorming tour of conferences. Even Bristol U. was notified. Why? The members want everyone to know that the RPI is close to R.I.P.




They don't want you or anyone else -- the media, even coaches and players -- to get too invested in the power ratings. They continue to say that it is just one factor, a rather insignificant factor, in their decision process.


So, Greg Shaheen, vice president of Division I men's basketball, was dispatched to spread the word. Even though the selection committee is tinkering with their own RPI by adding a much-needed road win percentage, they still don't want anyone in the biz to think they rely on the computer ranking.


"The RPI is not as important as you guys [read: the media] have made it out to be in the past," said Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby, the reigning chair of the committee. "It makes for an easy comparison but much more is made of it than it should."


Fine. Point taken. But the selection committee still groups teams by their RPI rating to determine if teams are scheduling in the top 50, 51-100, 101-200 and 201 and below in their nonconference slate.


It's the nonleague scheduling that the committee is focusing on now more than ever. That's how they're going to determine if the mid-majors (we're still trying to come up with a better term) are playing enough high-quality teams.


Shaheen even said the selection committee has sought documentation from schools to see if they really tried to improve their nonconference schedule. Bowlsby said the schools have beaten the committee to the punch.


"You wouldn't believe the stuff that we get from emails to letters to the volumes of material on the subject," Bowlsby said. "Some of it is helpful and some of it is not. We've had people send in their correspondence of trying to get games but I'm not sure the committee is prepared to request that from certain schools."


Bowlsby cited Utah State as an example of a team a year ago that was hurt by its nonconference schedule. The Aggies were one of the last teams to get shoved off the bubble after they fell to Cal State-Northridge on a 3-pointer in the Big West tournament semifinals. That pushed USU, which had tied with Pacific for the regular-season title at 17-1, to the NIT; their 25-3 record (it became 25-4 after a first-round NIT loss to Hawaii) wasn't good enough for an at-large bid.


The reason? Their weak nonconference schedule.


"Utah State, by state mandate, has to play BYU, Utah and Weber State, but they made no attempt to schedule anybody [else of note]," Bowlsby said.


Utah State coach Stew Morrill said the Big West schedule of 18 league games leaves him with only nine games to schedule, with three taken up by their in-state rivals. The Aggies traditionally schedule an in-season tournament, but top-50 teams aren't going to come to Logan and give up two home games, so the field is usually lower-ranked. This year, it's South Carolina State, Loyola Marymount and Northern Arizona. That leaves him with four nonconference games to schedule.


And Morrill has a strict rule: he won't play a guarantee road game (without a return) and doesn't partake in two-for-one series where he gets only one game at home in the series.


The Aggies scheduled UC Davis, travel to IUPU-Fort Wayne, play a home-and-home this season against BYU, are at Idaho, host Utah and are in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. The marquee team in that event was supposed to be Mississippi State but the Bulldogs backed out of the tourney to play in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Northwestern replaced Mississippi State and is the only team from a high-major league in the field.


"I will play anybody that plays us home and home," Morrill said. "I can't sell our kids down the river and play guarantee games or two-for-ones. It's been that way for me when I was at Montana, Colorado State and here. If I could get a neutral site TV game I would play it. But until someone else sits in this chair and sees that teams won't come here they won't understand. Teams in the Pac-10 and Big 12 won't play us home-and-home."


Nonetheless, Morrill thinks it would be difficult to prove that point.


"I've heard every argument imaginable, including this one [about who you play], but I've never heard about documenting who wouldn't play you," Morrill said. "Sometimes, it's just a phone call."


That probably won't change when Utah State goes to the WAC in 2005-06, but Morrill could have more room to schedule with a 16-game league schedule instead of 18. Still, Morrill is a realist. He has been open about the Big West's status as a one-bid league.


That's why when the Aggies weren't selected, he didn't whine about it. But Morrill's policy on scheduling probably means the selection committee doesn't need documentation. They'll know that high-major schools aren't going to Logan for a road game in November or December.


Murray State, which won 28 games last year along with the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship, takes a different tact, signing on for some one-way games with the hope it helps their standing with the committee.


The Racers are playing at Missouri and UAB, and worked out home-and-home games with fellow mid-majors Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Texas-San Antonio, mostly because those last three schools were struggling to get games, too.


"The reality is people don't want to play you and I don't blame them," Murray State coach Mick Cronin said. "But if I can get any name school to do a two-for-one, I would do it because it would be great for our fans. I'd like to reward our fans as much as possible, but it's virtually impossible to get it done."


Doing it for the fans may be the only payoff, because helping an at-large bid seems unlikely. The OVC has had two teams in the Dance only once -- in 1987, when Austin Peay (which then stunned Illinois in the first round before falling in OT to Rick Pitino's Final Four Providence team) and Middle Tennessee State went.


Southern Miss, not necessarily a household name but a member of Conference USA, did a home-and-home series with Murray State. The Racers beat the Golden Eagles last season in Murray, Ky. New Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy chose not to renew the series.


The National Association of Basketball Coaches tried to push scheduling amongst mid-major teams when they held a meeting at the Final Four in San Antonio. Assistant coaches were sent to different corners of the room for those who needed home, road or neutral games.


"My assistant was getting laughed at because he was standing by himself, because he was looking for any games," Cronin said. "He should have had a sign on him that said, 'Desperate.' The only way it's going to change is if we do what Gonzaga did and that's win in the tournament.


"You have to break into the club where your boosters aren't going to scream if you lose to a team, like Gonzaga," Cronin said. "Then maybe it would be in vogue for ESPN to put the game on television. You have to win in the tournament."


Gonzaga still struggles to get true nonconference home games, but that is slowly changing. The Bulldogs do play in-state schools Washington and Washington State at home on a rotating basis and got Saint Louis in Spokane this season. The Bulldogs have more luck getting neutral site games like Illinois in the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis and Georgia Tech in the Las Vegas Showdown. Gonzaga also plays at Oklahoma State and is at Missouri, the latter a return for the Tigers playing Gonzaga in Seattle last season.


In the past, Gonzaga has played in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York, the Jimmy V Classic in New Jersey and in the Pete Newell Challenge in Oakland.


The Bulldogs typically build up a decent power rating before going into the West Coast Conference, which usually brings it down a notch. What they do (notably, because they can) is play quality nonconference teams regardless of the locale.


Utah State can't and won't play one-way games. Some teams like Murray State will, but even by doing that, it still might not be enough to ever get them an at-large berth.


"Last year, we got one comment from a coach who said, 'I'm frustrated because I'm trying to do what you're asking me to do, but I'm failing,'" Bowlsby said. "We want to see how you're trying, but how it's factored into [the selection or even seeding] is different for me than it would be for others on the committee. It's more of an art than science."


So, don't be surprised to constantly hear the committee members try and dispense the RPI throughout the season. But part of the selection process may have already occurred with the nonconference schedules about to begin. That alone could weed out some of the potential teams if they happen to fall into the at-large pool come March.

[Panthers to the Bone]

When was this article published/printed?

[PantherHawk]

Article

It was published just recently, it just had some good examples about teams with good records who don't schedule anyone. I think UNI non-conference schedule is comparable to the rest of the mid major, yeah we only won 1 big game, but i think the committee will see that we played Cinci and Iowa on the road and took them down to the wire. I think we are one of the top mid major teams and should be considered first after the major conferences get all their bids in.