Wisky,2nd in B1G Reg Season& in BTT,goes to Buffalo while a team it beat 2x(Minny) goes to Milwaukee

[Franisdaman]

And the Badgers and their beat writers are clearly not happy about it. Obviously they would prefer playing close to Madison (so their fans can dominate in the stands) and you can't get much closer than Milwaukee.

A 5 seed for Minny? An 8 seed for Bucky? My thoughts? Too bad! And, you gotta feel bad for Wisky today and for their future!

From Madison.com:

UW will play nine seed Virginia Tech in an East region game in Buffalo following a short, Sunday-to-Thursday turnaround. Should they win, the Badgers likely would play Villanova, the defending national champion and the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.

That simply isn’t fair, though the Badgers declined to go there when asked if that were the case.

“I might get in trouble if I answer that,” coach Greg Gard said. “I don’t know exactly what goes on in those meetings. How do they evaluate schedule? They said they’re not looking at trends during the year, they’re just looking at the top teams. I don’t know exactly the logic or reasoning behind that, so for me to try and throw out an opinion probably wouldn’t (be smart). We just need to get ready to play on Thursday, accept it for what it is and get ready for Virginia Tech.”

UW, which has an RPI of 32, tying it with Maryland. Those same Terps lost to the Badgers in their only meeting, yet still got a sixth seed from the committee. Purdue (18), Minnesota (19) and Michigan (30) all have higher RPIs than UW.

Clearly, UW’s RPI was dragged down by a non-conference schedule that was ranked 303rd out of 351 teams. There were two reasons for the Badgers’ poor strength of schedule. They expected victories over tournament regulars Syracuse, Oklahoma, Georgetown and Tennessee to help them, but none of the four made the NCAA field after experiencing down seasons. And UW’s five so-called buy games were against teams of such dubious quality that all five finished 307th or worse in the RPI.

Virginia Tech hasn’t played since Thursday.

“That one I can never understand,” Gard said. “Regardless of conference, if you’re playing on Sunday, why are you getting Thursday games?”

The Badgers haven’t been snubbed this badly by the committee since 2004, when they finished second in the Big Ten, won the conference tournament and were given a six seed. At least the committee threw them a bone that year and sent them to Milwaukee for the first weekend. There were no such favors this time around.


Link to entire story: http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/...cle_63b89082-44d7-5eb3-b601-a12837639ffa.html

 

[Gabe Sifuentes]

I have no love for Wisky but the committee's seeding of the Big Ten was bogus and based largely on perception, especially considering some of the teams that got higher seeds. The Big Ten might not have been top heavy but its much deeper and tougher competition internally than the SEC/Big XII. Wisky's slump shouldn't have hurt them as much as it did. The commitee/experts will rip the Big Ten if it fails to get teams past the 2nd round but the committee put matchups in place that will make it difficult for anyone in the Big Ten to make the Sweet 16.

 

[Franisdaman]

I have no love for Wisky but the committee's seeding of the Big Ten was bogus and based largely on perception, especially considering some of the teams that got higher seeds. The Big Ten might not have been top heavy but its much deeper and tougher competition internally than the SEC/Big XII. Wisky's slump shouldn't have hurt them as much as it did. The commitee/experts will rip the Big Ten if it fails to get teams past the 2nd round but the committee put matchups in place that will make it difficult for anyone in the Big Ten to make the Sweet 16.

iowa fans love to hammer our non conf schedule but check this out, which comes from that article:

Clearly, UW’s RPI was dragged down by a non-conference schedule that was ranked 303rd out of 351 teams. There were two reasons for the Badgers’ poor strength of schedule. They expected victories over tournament regulars Syracuse, Oklahoma, Georgetown and Tennessee to help them, but none of the four made the NCAA field after experiencing down seasons. And UW’s five so-called buy games were against teams of such dubious quality that all five finished 307th or worse in the RPI.

 

[Auger]

The B1G didnt help itself this year with perception. Most outside the B1G love to hate the conference and if given the excuse will make things hard for the B1G. The B1G always has an uphill battle for itself. Things intensified after the B1G Network gained steam, maximized their market base and drove up the price on B1G game rights for other networks. Now most outside the B1G love to watch the confernce fail any chance they get. $$ Jealousy is strong with them.

 

[championhawk]

I thought the idiots on the committee weren't going to use the RPI as much this year? It appears that is all they used.

 

[NI hawk]

No matter what formula is used, Wisky should be seeded higher than Minnesota.

 

[KuwaitHawk]

Swap Wisky and Minnie? Who actually earned a better seed?

 

[Franisdaman]

Minny was a fraud. No way they were a top 20 team worthy of a 5 seed.

 

[bagdropper]

After seeing Iowa get beat 3 times in their history of the tournament playing on what amounted to the opponent's home court, I for one am happy Wisconsin did not get that advantage.

 

[Myvue]

I am having trouble with my computer and can't seem to get the quote option to work but wanted to reply to the first post.

I imagine the seed is chosen first. I don't have any opinion of whether Wisconsin deserved better than an 8 seed but the committee chose not to put a 1 seed in Milwaukee thus Wisconsin had to be moved to an area where a 1 seed resides because in a perfect bracket an 8 seed would meet a one in the second round. I doubt the committee even considered moving a 1 to Milwaukee for the sake of an 8 seed. I heard them say (or read) they asked one of the 1 seeds maybe only Villanova since they got the over all #1 seed which sight they would like to play. Don't know if they gave the other three ones a choice of what was left or not or whether the four sites for sure are determined early in the committee's discussions.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

I thought the idiots on the committee weren't going to use the RPI as much this year? It appears that is all they used.

I believe the seed list also strongly correlated with Strength of Record. I'm not sure how that was calculated, but it appears that metric is gaining steam.