I agree.

Every year about this time the same argument erupts.
Someone wails about how the world is coming to an end
because mid-major XYZ with an overall record of 21-7
and an RPI of 50-something may not get an at-large bid
while major ABC with an overall record of 17-12 and an
RPI of 30-something may get an at-large.

And every year the committee does (in my opinion,
anyway) a pretty good job, given the circumstances and
vagaries that they are faced with.

And, of course, every year not a minute goes by after
the brackets have been released that the coach of
mid-major XYZ is live nationally on CBS being
interviewed by Greg Gumbel and Billy Packer, telling
the whole world about what a travesty it is that his
boys didn't get a shot.

I'll grant that, every year, there are probably half a
dozen teams that have a legitimate gripe, but guess
what... if any of those half dozen teams was put in
the tournament, there would be another team left out
with a legitimate gripe.

And, of course, Dick Vitale will always argue that a
bunch of teams that didn't get in should have. If we
listened to Dicky V, the tournament would have about
80 teams.


--- jahart8 <jahart8@...> wrote:
> --- In collegerpi@yahoogroups.com, "dd564"
> <dd564@y...> wrote:
> > Big schools advancing, beating small conference
> schools
> > (because they are supposed to)is never talked
> about to
> > the degree of the small school getting an upset
> win.
>
> Of course it's not. People like to talk about the
> unexpected, not
> the expected. That's simply human nature. (Most)
> everyone loves a
> Cinderella story.
>
> Think back to 1999, when Gonzaga made the Elite
> Eight, or 2002, when
> Kent State did. It was an incredibly compelling
> story...maybe, just
> maybe, this is the year that the small school cracks
> the big time
> and reaches the Final Four. Whether or not you
> wanted them to
> succeed, I'm sure you watched those games.
>
> Frankly, I think the committee by and large gets the
> balance right.
> Despite assertions to the contrary, they don't rely
> too heavily on
> any one specific criteria for admission, and, while
> they might drop
> a clanger every once in a while, the at-large teams
> selected usually
> provide entertaining matchups.
>
>
>


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