After the Wichita State Shockers lost for the second straight year in the semifinals of Arch Madness, this time to the Northern Iowa Panthers. The Panthers will get the automatic qualifier out of the Missouri Valley Conference for the second straight year. Now, the big question is whether or not the Shockers will get an at-large bid to the tournament?
There is a big variance in opinion between people. Some people think that the Shockers are safely in, some think they are barely in, and some think that Wichita State are out. To be honest, I agree with the people that think that the Shockers have not done enough to deserve an at-large bid.
First of all, they only have one win in the RPI Top 50, which was at home against number nine Utah. That is it. That win compared to four losses. They are 3-3 against teams ranked 51-100. 8-1 against 101-200, and 8-1 against 200+.
I get it, they were hurt awfully bad in Orlando at the Old Spice Classic. They lost USC, Alabama, and Iowa. Those would have all been big wins, but there is no guarantee that they would have won them. I know that the committee will bring that into play, but I don't believe that it will be enough.
I do agree that I would rather see a mid-major like Wichita State instead of a middling major conference team like Vanderbilt. But, the committee usually favors the major team in that situation. The Monmouth Hawks also have an argument, but, again only have two top fifty wins, but have had fewer chances, so the Shockers and Hawks get a bad deal with that.
CBS's Jerry Palm has the Shockers in the final four teams out
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology
ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Shockers as a eight seed
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology
Bracket Matrix averages bracketolgists, and ranks them
http://www.bracketmatrix.com/
Andy Bottoms, the top ranked veteran bracketologist, has the Shockers in a play-in game as a ten seed
http://assemblycall.com/ncaa-tournament-bracket-projections-march-8-2016/
(331)
No comments:
Post a Comment