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Thread: Bracketology 2020
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01-07-2020, 12:58 PM #41We've come a long way since my bench seat at the Fieldhouse!
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01-07-2020, 01:26 PM #42
That's not how I remember the Bracket Buster. In 2001 no one from outside the power leagues was in the top half of the bracket, and in 2002 I think there were only like two teams. It wasn't until the Buster that you started to see more teams from what had been regular one-bid leagues get more bids and better seeds. The George Mason Final Four team probably doesn't even get into the NCAA Tournament if they don't win that game at Wichita State, and it didn't hurt Wichita State all that much because they still ended up in the top half of the bracket as a #7 seed and made the Sweet Sixteen. Just look at the NCAA Tournament brackets shortly after the Buster got off the ground and compare the number of "mid majors" that were seeded ahead of the last at-large teams, and compare it to what it looked like before. Almost no one who was connected to a mid-major program at that time thought it was a bad thing. In fact, they loved it. To say that it eliminated more mid majors from consideration is completely wrong. The selection committee members at the time would be the first ones to tell you that it if anything, it really helped.
The Buster actually became somewhat a victim of its own success. At least sort of. Those games did get strong ratings, and the result was that smaller leagues started to get TV deals with other networks, and since those networks had the rights to the games ESPN just didn't want to negotiate for it anymore, so they eventually dropped it.Last edited by xubrew; 01-07-2020 at 01:29 PM.
"You can't fix stupid." Ron White
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01-07-2020, 01:34 PM #43
What seems to happen now (at least in my mind) is that the mid-majors who do make the tournament seem to play each other in the first round quite often. This may be just selective memory, but it seems like the mid-majors are disproportionately matched against each other rather than against a power 5 team so that one will guaranteed to be eliminated.
We've come a long way since my bench seat at the Fieldhouse!
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01-07-2020, 01:38 PM #44
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Not really - for the teams in the "marquee" matchups, they were likely already going. For everyone else, it didn't mean much. Because initially the event got so much hype, the losers often felt they were left with very little chance of making the tournament (had the feel of a glorified play-in game). It was a ploy to make them feel like they mattered.
https://www.midmajormadness.com/feat...s-bitter-sweet
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01-07-2020, 02:00 PM #45
It’s not selective memory. It’s definitely true. But when more than half the teams in the field are mid-majors, or when a mid major earns a 5, 6, or 7 seed, it’s kind of hard to avoid. That happens a lot more now than it used to.
And it also assured that a mid major will make the round of 32"You can't fix stupid." Ron White
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01-07-2020, 02:55 PM #46
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01-07-2020, 03:02 PM #47
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01-14-2020, 09:46 AM #48
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Don't look now - Lunardi's latest update projects us in the "Last 4 In". I don't know that I can argue it either.
I know it's just one man's projection, but I think the rest of the country is catching on that we're not that good. Swift and brisk fall from grace over a very short period of time.Last edited by drudy23; 01-14-2020 at 10:15 AM.
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01-14-2020, 09:57 AM #49
I can't believe he still has us in. Given our "resume" to date, it just goes to show how low a bar it is to sneak into the Tournament from a major conference.
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01-14-2020, 10:31 AM #50
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