• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

Should Auto Bids be eliminated?

B

bilsker

Tom Osborne
15 Year Member
onestar.gif
onestar.gif

21.gif
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/blog?...me%3dbilas_jay

First let's acknowledge that the 68 "best" teams don't get into the tourney as it is now. Looks like there are 31 conferences with "automatic bids". And for purposes of conversation let's just assume that "RPI" is a fair ranking of the "top 68". Also, let's assume the top "ranked" team in these conferences would normally win their conf. tourney.

Just a spot check shows that Bucknell in the patriot league is ranked 73...out.

Akron, in the Mid American league at 64 is in.

Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt is in.

Lamar in the Southland at 114 is out.

Belmont in the Atlantic Sun conf. at 70 is out.

The targets for this proposal aren't conferences like the Valley, West Coast, Horizon, etc....as these leagues will always have at least one team in the top 68...more actually.

For instance...the valley is a two bid league this year. As of NOW UNI would make it at 63.

The wac is a 1 bid league this year. Under the "top 68" format it gets 2.

Big 10 gets 7. Which is about what they'd get anyway.

So by eliminating a few real "botton feeder" conferences like the SWAC what do the big conferences really pick up? (which is really want bilas wants) Not that many teams really because you still get a lot of teams from non power conferences that make it that WOULDN'T under the current system.

The real problem I have with it is this. I think if teams play in a Division..Division 1 in this case...they should have a shot at the Title. In theory the worst team in the SWAC has a path. Realistic path? No. But major programs are more than happy to use these teams as scheduling fodder. Whoop up on them, pack the arena and send them on their way. Let's not be naive and think that these teams would have much of any chance to make the dance without the conf. title. If you are going to eliminate them from contention then break them out into another division. Give them something to play for other than paychecks early in the year.

I have the same opinion in a way about D1 football. You've got pretty much 1/2 of D1 that cannot under any realistic circumstances play for a title in the division in which they reside. If that is going to be the case then why doesn't the NCAA split D1 in half. I think it sucks that Akron plays a sport in which they are not allowed to at least compete for a title.

As much as some would love to stick it to "mid major" leagues with a process like this...it's not the "mid majors" that would be hurt. It's the low majors. The MMs would, as often as not, actually PICK UP bids they wouldn't normally get.​
 

Further...it's a proposal that would likely not get anywhere near the support needed. I assume it would come down to a vote of membership. And those bottom feeder leagues get a vote as well. And I don't think you'd get unanimous support even from big 10, big 12 type leagues either. They know the SWACs of the world serve a purpose too...and to not give them 1 out of 68 bids would be pretty elitist.

The NCAA tourney is the greatest sporting event going. It's great for a lot of reasons. The Big Boys get more than enough opportunity to make it. Way more. And the Big Boys are usually the ones that get through to championship time. But who doesn't enjoy watching Belmont, or whoever, party like it's 1999 when they simply make it to the Dance?
 
the year CU didn't get in with 25 wins or whatever? They get in with this method. Just sayin.
 
No, keep the auto-qualifier. If you remove the auto-qualifier, then you may as well break D1 basketball into two divisions. I would be more in favor of going by some sort of ranking formula for the 37 at-large berths. Essentially take out all the auto-qualifiers, and the at-large teams get in based on the ranking.
 



You either leave the automatic's in or you kick them out of Division I. You can't have a hundred or more teams in your division who can't realistically make your post season. Now I would think it might be better to have the small conferences have their regular season champ go. Might be a better representative. BUt that's up to the invidual conferences. They can do that now if they want. But that takes away drama for the smaller schools as a whole, too. Just leave it as is. If a bigger conference school wants in, earn one of the 37 spots. Not that hard. You aren't that great if you don't get one anyway. Go play in one of the other tourneys.
 
This is one of the worst ideas I have ever read about. All teams have a chance to make the NCAA's, just win your conference tournament. All this talk about continuing to expand the tournament or take away the one bone that teams like UMKC have to keep their fans interested in basketball in late February/early March is just ridiculous.

I still think the tourney should go back to 64 teams. That's not overly exclusive. If you aren't one of the top 33 at large teams you didn't earn an NCAA bid. The NIT is where you should be anyway.

I realize VCU slipped in the play in game last year and they made a great run. I'm okay with the 68 team format but I liked 64 teams better. Again even VCU had lost some games where you could argue they didn't really earn an exclusive bid.
 
bilsker said:
First let's acknowledge that the 68 "best" teams don't get into the tourney as it is now.​
Click to expand...
This is impossible. We are told that the more teams in the playoff guarantees the best teams will "prove it".
 




bilsker said:
They will. Don't bring your football playoff opposition nonsense into this conversation. Totally unrelated.
Click to expand...
Also wrong. March madness is almost ALWAYS mentioned when discussing football playoffs. So it is completely related. Otherwise why would you guys bring it up so much......
 



I'm okay with giving each conference an automatic bid, but the change should be to give that automatic bid to the regular season champ, not the post-season tourney champ.

Take one of those "bottom feeder" conferences - who deserves a chance in the dance: the team that goes 24-8, with one loss in conference play or the team that goes 18-16, finishing in the middle of the conference standings, but gets hot over during the conference tourney, and sneaks out a bid?

One of the biggest knocks on college basketball is that the regular season largely does not matter (and yes, it is perfectly fair to bring football into this discussion, especially when March Madness is used as the shining example of what a football playoff could be). The NCAA should do whatever it can to make the regular season relevant.

Of course, at the end of the day, these teams will still be a sacrificial lamb for the #1 seeds.
 
They could all be like the Ivy League but all the other leagues want some of that post season tourney money. It's their choice.
 

Dave Feit said:
I'm okay with giving each conference an automatic bid, but the change should be to give that automatic bid to the regular season champ, not the post-season tourney champ.

Take one of those "bottom feeder" conferences - who deserves a chance in the dance: the team that goes 24-8, with one loss in conference play or the team that goes 18-16, finishing in the middle of the conference standings, but gets hot over during the conference tourney, and sneaks out a bid?

One of the biggest knocks on college basketball is that the regular season largely does not matter (and yes, it is perfectly fair to bring football into this discussion, especially when March Madness is used as the shining example of what a football playoff could be). The NCAA should do whatever it can to make the regular season relevant.

Of course, at the end of the day, these teams will still be a sacrificial lamb for the #1 seeds.
Click to expand...

As Mizzourah said it's up to the conferences. If they want their regular season champ to get the auto bid its up to them.

As for comparing to college football it's NOT really relevant. Nobody is saying that every conference should get a bid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top