Jump to content

Bracketology


Old Titan

Recommended Posts

That's right - you heard me:  B-R-A-C-K-E-T-O-L-O-G-Y!!

That's becase our ol' buddy Joe "Joey Brackets" Lunardi of ESPN actually has ORU in his most recent bracket projection, playing a 16-seed play-in game in Dayton vs. Jackson State, presumably just because ORU is currently in first place in the league standings:

http://m.espn.com/ncb/bracketology?iteration=195&region=2&year=2018

I think you will all agree this probably says more about how little thought Joe puts into the low-major teams in his bracket projections than it does whether ORU is a legitimate contender in Sioux Falls.

But, hey - so what?  It's still kinda fun to be in the conversation, albeit prematurely.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

An absolute joke by Lunardi.  He literally put zero thought into that projection.  A quick scan of the standings and he plugged in the team on top.

...

What is the line between low-major and mid-major?  I noticed the league is projected to have the 15th best RPI this year.  Ahead of more recognized leagues   --- Conf USA, Horizon, Sunbelt, etc.

5a579b3967bd5_Screenshot-2018-1-11RPIForecast.png.04c81c517dae3cf86bb8a152f8dd764d.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my view, a "low-major" conference is one that has virtually no chance of getting an at-large team in the dance; your classic "one bid league", with that one team being the conference tournament champion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably as good a definition as any......what would that be --- only 5 or 6 legit mid-major leagues then??

My guess is that most CBB fans would consider Conference USA, The Horizon, and The Sunbelt as mid-major leagues.

The Summit has steadily improved as a league the last 10 years, but has not seen it's profile / name ID improve much (if at all). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ORUalum said:

Probably as good a definition as any......what would that be --- only 5 or 6 legit mid-major leagues then??

My guess is that most CBB fans would consider Conference USA, The Horizon, and The Sunbelt as mid-major leagues.

The Summit has steadily improved as a league the last 10 years, but has not seen it's profile / name ID improve much (if at all). 

I'm not sure there are even 5 or 6 mid-major conferences these days; it's just "haves" and "have not" leagues. 

Several upper-crust mid-majors have been sucked up into leagues like the Big East and American Athletic of late,  plunging perennial multi-bid leagues like The Valley, the Mountain West and The Colonial closer to becoming de facto one-bid leagues, though these conferences still have a better chance of getting at-large bids than does the Summit, Southland, C-USA, etc.

The Horizon League is a perfect example of a previously multi-bid league that's been reduced by defection to permanent bubble status:  unless more than one of their teams makes a big splash in non-conference play by knocking off a couple of "power conference" teams, their tournament champion is most likely the only member going to the dance these days.

So, does that still qualify as "mid-major"?  Or are they just a really good "low major" league?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Old Titan said:

That's right - you heard me:  B-R-A-C-K-E-T-O-L-O-G-Y!!

That's becase our ol' buddy Joe "Joey Brackets" Lunardi of ESPN actually has ORU in his most recent bracket projection, playing a 16-seed play-in game in Dayton vs. Jackson State, presumably just because ORU is currently in first place in the league standings:

http://m.espn.com/ncb/bracketology?iteration=195&region=2&year=2018

I think you will all agree this probably says more about how little thought Joe puts into the low-major teams in his bracket projections than it does whether ORU is a legitimate contender in Sioux Falls.

But, hey - so what?  It's still kinda fun to be in the conversation, albeit prematurely.

I like the matchup with Jackson State.  They did beat Omaha by 2 points this year so it's not a sure win but I still like your chances.  It would count as a win even though it is a play-in game so that would bring more money to ORU and the conference.  Plus, it would be another win for the conference.  

I do think that later in the season Joe might (hopefully) put a little more thought into it.  If ORU has a win or two this week they still have all of the Dakota schools coming to their place, it could make thing interesting.  ORU will have 6 games played by jan 18th while SDSU will only have 4 so this week might say more about ORU.

SDSU will only have ORU and Denver at home so they could be 4-0 but they will still have a pissed off NDSU (at home), still have to play USD and IPFW twice and have to go to Tulsa, yet.  There could be other bumps along the way.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Woooo! Feels good to see our name in some sort of ESPN lights again, even if it's just laziness on the part of Joe Lunardi! In his defense though, I doubt very many people are really looking at the who hes put in the 11-16 seeds this early in the season. 

8 hours ago, Old Titan said:

I'm not sure there are even 5 or 6 mid-major conferences these days; it's just "haves" and "have not" leagues. 

Several upper-crust mid-majors have been sucked up into leagues like the Big East and American Athletic of late,  plunging perennial multi-bid leagues like The Valley, the Mountain West and The Colonial closer to becoming de facto one-bid leagues, though these conferences still have a better chance of getting at-large bids than does the Summit, Southland, C-USA, etc.

Is the American really a high major conference now? I've always thought that was on the cusp of it, but not quite there.  I guess the Wichita State addition put them over the edge. How many teams did they get into the tournament last year? I remember it being more than they actually deserved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe Lunardi isn’t lazy.  He just is really impressed by this ORU squad and so am I.  Play in game here we come... :slight-smile:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After last nights' game at SDSU...TheEagleman isn't too sure we should dismiss Lunardi's pick for the Summit League title....ORU surely could have won a tough road game with slightly better shooting and a some refs who didn't graduate from the Stevie Wonder School of Basketball Officiating....:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, EagleManiac said:

Is the American really a high major conference now? I've always thought that was on the cusp of it, but not quite there. 

Connecticut is the school that has put the AAC in the premier ranks of college basketball, with their 4 national titles since 1999 (more than Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas or Michigan State during that span) and their symbiotic relationship with ESPN ("The Worldwide Leader In Sports" got its humble start back in the 70's as the "KGEB" of UConn athletics).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Old Titan said:

Connecticut is the school that has put the AAC in the premier ranks of college basketball, with their 4 national titles since 1999 (more than Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas or Michigan State during that span) and their symbiotic relationship with ESPN ("The Worldwide Leader In Sports" got its humble start back in the 70's as the "KGEB" of UConn athletics).

blech. So TU is considered a major program by default? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TheEagleman watched some of TU vs. Houston last night....the Golden Hurricane aren't anywhere close to being a major program...they were awful...fell behind by 30 before halftime.....:geek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonder what Jefferies is thinking about his move?

TU is regressing. I have never understood the Haith hire. Not a good bench coach. And they are stuck with him for a while because they can't justify paying his contract our - or can they? It looked like his team quit on him last night - and Wichita State is next.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, EagleManiac said:

blech. So TU is considered a major program by default? 

It's the ONLY way to explain how TU made the 2016 NCAA tournament as a 12-seed, after finishing the AAC regular season in a 3-way tie for THIRD, then losing in the first-round of the AAC tournament.

No WAY that happens if they are in C-USA, The Valley, etc.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How the heck did TU only lose to Wichita State by 3???.....:blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...