NCAA At Large Bids

quote:

Originally posted by grateful:
I believe it is much more difficult for a team from the weaker conferences to get to a regional tournament than it is for the teams in the SEC, ACC, etc.

A team in the top two or three conferences doesn't really have to win any tournaments or qualifiers to get a regional bid. They simply have to finish their season, perhaps out of the last one or two places in their conference/division.

The teams in the weaker conferences actually have to qualify for their conference tournament AND THEN WIN the tournament to receive a regional bid. The best team does not always win their conference tournament.

Fair enough answer. I'll buy that.

My son's team (Norfolk State) doesn't offer any big guarantees. Yet it has a better non-conference schedule than a lot of teams in the country year after year because it gives Northern teams a chance to get on the field.

Do any of those games matter in terms of RPI and NCAA consideration? Of course not (maybe if it went, say, 15-1, but probably not even then). Smaller, traditionally weak conferences like the MEAC understand the situation. And many if not most years, the league champion plays some pretty competitive games, though losing, in the NCAA.

As some complain of conferences like the MEAC in the tournament, a lot of schools won't schedule teams from smaller conferences because it will hurt their RPI, even if they win. And, as some of these hyped-league bubble teams know and won't say, they don't want to take a chance on losing to them because they're better than most people think.

OLDVaman,
I don't think bigger schools won't schedule weaker teams because they are afraid to lose. Coaches will schedule teams based on a whole lot of different factors, long time friendships, attendence maybe. What they will do, is schedule top teams in weaker divisions, early on, for hopes of getting above 500 for the first half before they go into stronger conference play.

You're right that some won't. But others, especially those who figure to be on the bubble at the end, don't want any part of those schools because of their RPI. But the possiblility their might lose also is a factor.