NCAAB dropping last 12 games criteria

by AdamShell on Jul 1, 2009 12:43 PM EDT

Of course... I'm pretty sure they dropped it last year for Arizona...

but here's the article: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/26155/ncaa_to_stop_ignoring_first_20_games_of_college_hoops_in_tournament_selection

The Division I Men's Basketball Committee has decided to no longer consider the results of a team's last 12 games as one of the tools available in the selection criteria for the 2009-10 season.
While the basketball committee uses several variables when it comes to selecting the 34 at-large teams that are placed into the bracket each March, its members concluded that college basketball stakeholders were confused by the last 12 games being part of the process.

"As the committee continues to hone its message regarding how it views the season, parsing a particular segment of games and implying it had greater weight than others seemed misleading and inconsistent," said committee chair and Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive. "The removal of this reference avoids confusion in the room and brings our reporting in line with our process."

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Makes sense

It totally flies in the face of total body of work which is what they have stressed to the public.

"I'm colonel cool! And I'm the captain on this rocket to the stars!"

by psuphiman80 on Jul 1, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed

It’s pretty stupid IMHO to count the last 12 games (or whatever number) as more important than any other games. The whole body of work should count and be considered equally.

by Laaaaazzz on Jul 1, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

So Stupid

Hell, why even play the last 12 games then?

by MeetMeAtTheCorner on Jul 1, 2009 1:17 PM EDT reply actions

disregard my comment

my confusion was confused

by MeetMeAtTheCorner on Jul 1, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I still hate Arizona for this:

20 Jan 24, 2009 Final 91 Houston 21 – 12 96 – 90 W
21 Jan 29, 2009 Final 15 Washington 25 – 9 106 – 97 W
22 Jan 31, 2009 Final 90 Wash State 17 – 16 66 – 56 W
23 Feb 05, 2009Final 110 @ Ore State 16 – 18 56 – 53 W
24 Feb 07, 2009Final 177 @ Oregon 8 – 23 87 – 77 W
25 Feb 12, 2009Final 39 USC 22 – 13 83 – 76 W
26 Feb 14, 2009Final 28 UCLA 26 – 9 84 – 72 W
27 Feb 22, 2009Final 29 @ Ariz State 25 – 10 68 – 70 L
28 Feb 26, 2009Final 90 @ Wash State 17 – 16 53 – 69 L
29 Feb 28, 2009Final 15 @ Washington 25 – 9 78 – 83 L
30 Mar 05, 2009Final 44 California 22 – 11 77 – 83 L
31 Mar 07, 2009Final 95 Stanford 20 – 14 101 – 87 W

And then to lose in their first round game in the Pac 10 Tourney

Pac 10 Conference Tournament (Los Angeles, CA)
32 Mar 12, 2009Final 29 vs Arizona State 25 – 10 56 – 68 L

and then to get in the tournament over Penn State.

/Arizona wouldn’t have won the NIT

by AdamShell on Jul 1, 2009 3:09 PM EDT reply actions

That's ridiculous

Sure, you want the best teams to be in the tournament, but what if a team loses it’s best player and loses the last 10. Sure, they might be 22-10 in a big conference, with some marquis OOC wins, but they aren’t a tournament team for tournament time. You want the teams that are best equipped to play in the NCAA tournament: frankly, and especially for power conference teams, I think a strong close to the regular season is far more indicative of a team’s likelihood to compete than a win in OCTOBER against a decent team as opposed to against a crappy one. All they’re doing is overvaluing the OOC when compared to the conference schedule, and I don’t like that.

NittanyWhiteOut.com. Arguably the second best Penn State blog I know of.

by PSUdevon on Jul 1, 2009 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

Kind of

Unbalanced conference schedules really can skewer these last 10 or 12 game things. We played Indiana 3 times in our last 12 (I believe, I could be wrong but I can’t really check) and Iowa. So 33% of our games were against the weakest 2 teams in our league. Now what if one team only got one game against these 2? Why is it fair to compare the last 12?

Of course I’m not picking on PSU, as I’m sure there are 20 other examples of the unbalanced schedules coming into play. Regardless, we had a better resume than Arizona.

by STU Boy on Jul 1, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

there's better ways to not overvalue OOC, and instead overvalue the conference slate

than by overvaluing the last 12 games, namely by overvaluing ALL the conference games, not just the last 12 ones.

Also, what is the mission of the tournament. Is it to reward the teams with the best season, like the bowl games, or is it to match the teams that are on fire towards the end of the season? Should a team be penalized because their one best player is hurt and they do wind up losing down the stretch?

I don’t really have an opinion either way, but really, if we’re trying to just put the teams that have the best chance of winning thee tournament, then pretty much none of the minor conference teams should be allowed to make it in, either, since that 22-10 major conference team without its best player that you mention would still likely destroy many of those teams. They should then just take the top 64 RPI teams in the nation.

by The JuggerNitt on Jul 1, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

You want the teams that are best equipped to play in the NCAA tournament

I disagree. The tournament is for ~~- or should be for -~~ the teams with the best overall season performance. If a team is great all season and loses it’s best player, it still deserves to go. Yeah, they might crap out quickly, but they’ve earned the right to participate based on the body of work.

Having a playoff already lessens the impact of regular season games. Placing an added emphasis on a handful of late season games (or on some concept of how teams are playing at the time of selection) only makes the first half of the season that much more meaningless. Which is sad.

by Laaaaazzz on Jul 1, 2009 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions