Why I love and hate college basketball

[heckler]

Love:
#1 Pittsburgh 73, Providence 81

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/gameTra...d=200902240472

Hate:
Playing in the Summit League (do or die) Tournament gets me a little nervous.

[BisoninNWMN]

If Bison played higher ranked teams in the NC then they would improve their RPI......could get an at-large bid. Until they do that, the league tourney championship is our only hope.

Oh ya, win those NC games!!

[bisonhusker]

nobody wants to play NDSU. We have a rep for upsets....scheduling isn't easy. They have done a nice job.

[zooropa]

nobody wants to play NDSU. We have a rep for upsets....scheduling isn't easy. They have done a nice job.

Why don't you guys play in bigger NC tournaments?

I mean, scheduling is tough when your choices are take a paycheck to lose on a BCS home court (yes, I know--you beat Wisc. & Marquette, but also have lost to Minnesota, USC, Florida, etc.), or bring in someone generally (but not always) inconsequential to Fargo.

So, why not play in an 8+ team neutral court type thing?

By my count you guys played in a 3 team tourney each of the first two years of eligibility, the Blue Ribbon Challenge (which at least gave you games against Florida and Rutgers--even though you had to play Florida on their home court) last year and then the 3 team HyVee classic this year.....

Of all four tourneys, only two of them gave you games against marquee opponents.

I mean, shoot, apart from the 60pt outburst against SFA, what was the benefit of participating in the HyVee classic? How much exposure did that tournament get you (again, apart from the 60 pt. game)?

[unbison]

kai's mom knows the answer

[zooropa]

kai's mom knows the answer

Wow. Those negative rep points REALLY got under your skin, didn't they?

[Blue]

Quote:
Originally Posted by unbison
kai's mom knows the answer
Wow. Those negative rep points REALLY got under your skin, didn't they?

I thought unbison's post was funny but true

[missingnumber7]

If we played big conference teams...Big East, 12,10 SEC Pac-10 teams, that were lower half wouldn't we benefit from their conference prestiege RPI later in the year, plus then we wouldn't have to deal with teams not sccheduling us because they are worried about an upset.

[zooropa]

If we played big conference teams...Big East, 12,10 SEC Pac-10 teams, that were lower half wouldn't we benefit from their conference prestiege RPI later in the year, plus then we wouldn't have to deal with teams not sccheduling us because they are worried about an upset.

I'm sure that most BCS schools would be willing to talk scheduling:

IPFW played and dang near beat Michigan & Arizona State
IUPUI almost beat Indiana and did beat Seton Hall
SDSU got Iowa State and Minnesota (as well as VCU & Drake among quality mid-majors)
ORU played Mizzou, North Carolina and also played USC (as well as Creighton) and beat South Florida (are they the worst Big East basketball program?)

In fact there was one weekend where the Summit was 2-0 against the Big East.

Besides, you guys got USC....

It's a balancing act, though. You make your non-conf schedule too tough and your guys are beat up and carrying a losing record before they get to the conference half of the season.

---

While you might see some RPI boost for beating a lower caliber Big East team, due to it being a Big East team, if the RPI system is structured properly it shouldn't be that much of a boost. Yes a low quality Big East team is more likely to upset a ranked Big East team than a low quality team outside the Big East, giving you a victory over a school with a victory over, say, a Louisville, but a good RPI system should account for the occasional conference upset.

[Kermit]

Why don't you guys play in bigger NC tournaments?

I think it's hilarious that Rabbit fans have been coming out of the woodwork to suggest that the Bison improve their scheduling, adopt SDSU's 4-guard offense, recruit studs like they do, etc. If you guys haven't noticed, NDSU is doing just fine, thank you. Why don't you guys try winning a road game? Seriously. Tonight would be a good time.