MTSU Blue Raiders....

[CarolinaHerdzilla]

DISRESPECT.....is the word. The Blue Raiders won 12 games on the road (beat Murray State, Belmont, Vandy, Mississippi, Princeton), lost twice to a very good Marshall team, lost to Auburn 76-70, So Cal 89-84, Miami [ACC] 84-81, and they made the Big Dance the last two years, beating a #2, Michigan State in 2016.

Bottom Line: The HERD is expecting big things next season, adding Bennett & Cook to the returning Five & good bench players. However, we better WIN the Conference Tourney title---or most likely----The HERD will not be Dancing with a chance to play in US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota....Final Four (you have to dream and say..."Why Not The HERD?")

No Respect for CUSA.

Yet the power brokers selected Oklahoma (lost 11 of their last 15 games); Arizona State (coached by ex-Duke star, Bobby Hurley) lost 5 of 6 down the stretch; Rhode Island went 4-4 last 8 games. Not sure Syracuse was deserving either...in my opinion!

Jay Bilas (ESPN) exploded with Michael Smith yesterday after the selections were made! Oklahoma State really got the shaft.

HerdZilla22 in wet Charlotte

 

[AllEers6]

DISRESPECT.....is the word. The Blue Raiders won 12 games on the road (beat Murray State, Belmont, Vandy, Mississippi, Princeton), lost twice to a very good Marshall team, lost to Auburn 76-70, So Cal 89-84, Miami [ACC] 84-81, and they made the Big Dance the last two years, beating a #2, Michigan State in 2016.

Bottom Line: The HERD is expecting big things next season, adding Bennett & Cook to the returning Five & good bench players. However, we better WIN the Conference Tourney title---or most likely----The HERD will not be Dancing with a chance to play in US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota....Final Four (you have to dream and say..."Why Not The HERD?")

No Respect for CUSA.

Yet the power brokers selected Oklahoma (lost 11 of their last 15 games); Arizona State (coached by ex-Duke star, Bobby Hurley) lost 5 of 6 down the stretch; Rhode Island went 4-4 last 8 games. Not sure Syracuse was deserving either...in my opinion!

Jay Bilas (ESPN) exploded with Michael Smith yesterday after the selections were made!

HerdZilla22 in wet Charlotte

I have said for years that the TV networks play a roll in this stuff and its seems they flexed their muscle more then ever this year. If anyone watched an Oklahoma basketball then you know they wanted young for TV. Same thing with Syracuse. The problem with MTSU is honestly the team that got screwed was Oklahoma State.

 

[RhinoD]

If MTSU would have made it to the CUSA title game and lost they would have gotten in... You cant be a mid-major and lose in the first round of the conference tournament, no matter what your RPI or SOS is.

Oklahoma getting in over Oklahoma State is a joke. The committee basically made it clear that they were not leaving Trae Young out of the tournament no matter how shitty OU was over the last 15 games, and boy were they shitty. The somehow even bigger joke is that they arent in a play-in game.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

Sounds like Kermit has had enough and is jumping on a P5 offer:

 

[AllEers6]

If MTSU would have made it to the CUSA title game and lost they would have gotten in... You cant be a mid-major and lose in the first round of the conference tournament, no matter what your RPI or SOS is.

Oklahoma getting in over Oklahoma State is a joke. The committee basically made it clear that they were not leaving Trae Young out of the tournament no matter how shitty OU was over the last 15 games, and boy were they shitty. The somehow even bigger joke is that they arent in a play-in game.

Agreed, the only team that really has a right to bitch is OSU(and maybe Saint Mary's). Other then the Trae Young card being played by the networks the brackets were pretty good.

 

[The Real SamC]

You could double the size of the tournament field, and eventually they will, and the committee will just take more losers from "power" conferences. Same thing can be said about football, which is something that those of you joining the ESPN mind-control army's cry for 8 then 12 then 16 team playoffs should remember.

Anyway, if I figure this right, the only two schools we played that made the tournament are NC Central, which draws that stupid "first four" play in game (reduce the field back to 64), and Xavier. Both MTSU and WKU got home games in the NIT, versus Vermont and Boston College, respectively, UNT is an away team in the CBI vs. South Dakota, and UTSA plays at Lamar in the CIT. Looks like UAB declined to pay. None of our non-conf. opponents paid into anything or made the NIT.

 

[herdalicious]

There's a reason Marshall took 31 years getting back to the dance, and why we should probably enjoy this as much as we can, because it might be another 30 years before it happens again. The only way for a mid-major to get to the NCAA tournament is to win their conference, so you've got about 240 teams in one-bid conferences fighting for 20 spots, while the other 48 are split among the 80 "Power Conference" teams.

Everyone loves the NCAA tournament because of how it elevates "Cinderellas," but if you look at the system as a whole, its every bit as skewed as the CFP.

 

[RhinoD]

The day is coming when eight teams (all from small leagues) are labeled as 16 seeds and there are 4 play-in games... This will allow four more teams from the big conferences to get in.

The same can be done with the 11 seeds, 4 play-in games to "give more teams a chance"... That model will expand the field from 68 to 76 teams.

Honestly, 76 isnt a terrible number. Every year there are 5-6 teams that get left out that you can make a case for. Expanding to 96, or even worse 128, is too many IMO.

 

[Herd Fever]

The day is coming when eight teams (all from small leagues) are labeled as 16 seeds and there are 4 play-in games... This will allow four more teams from the big conferences to get in.

The same can be done with the 11 seeds, 4 play-in games to "give more teams a chance"... That model will expand the field from 68 to 76 teams.

Honestly, 76 isnt a terrible number. Every year there are 5-6 teams that get left out that you can make a case for. Expanding to 96, or even worse 128, is too many IMO.

I actually agree with this.

 

[GreenDuke]

There's a reason Marshall took 31 years getting back to the dance, and why we should probably enjoy this as much as we can, because it might be another 30 years before it happens again. The only way for a mid-major to get to the NCAA tournament is to win their conference, so you've got about 240 teams in one-bid conferences fighting for 20 spots, while the other 48 are split among the 80 "Power Conference" teams.

Everyone loves the NCAA tournament because of how it elevates "Cinderellas," but if you look at the system as a whole, its every bit as skewed as the CFP.

I will agree with your Cinderella thought as the tourney begins but the ratings for the tournament clearly say fans like a few upsets the first weekend but after that they want power programs in the S16 and beyond. Marshall has a punchers chance of upending the apple cart this week.

 

[oldeherd]

You could double the size of the tournament field, and eventually they will, and the committee will just take more losers from "power" conferences. Same thing can be said about football, which is something that those of you joining the ESPN mind-control army's cry for 8 then 12 then 16 team playoffs should remember.

Anyway, if I figure this right, the only two schools we played that made the tournament are NC Central, which draws that stupid "first four" play in game (reduce the field back to 64), and Xavier. Both MTSU and WKU got home games in the NIT, versus Vermont and Boston College, respectively, UNT is an away team in the CBI vs. South Dakota, and UTSA plays at Lamar in the CIT. Looks like UAB declined to pay. None of our non-conf. opponents paid into anything or made the NIT.

Post says a lot in that the ONE area that MU and similar schools have in trying to improve their lot and post season chances is in scheduling, meaning non conference games. SamC's post indicates our OOC opponents did not have a Blue Ribbon season. The 3 OVC teams we played were the bottom of the barrel in that league. 2 MAC opponents, Akron and OU, had losing seasons, and Toledo, our best OOC victory, lost to Buffalo in the MAC title game. Per's SamC;'s post the Rockets are NOT in any post season tourney. Neither is, apparently, William & Mary, who we made look like the Houston Rockets in our game down in Willliamsburg.

Danny said he hoped to get OOC games with some of our traditional opponents. No doubt one reason was all the travel the team has to do in conference play. Yet, we have to ask, do our games with OU, Morehead and EKU, all traditional Herd opponents, result in that much more interest and attendance? Do those schools bring throngs of fans to the Henderson Center?

If the goal is to improve our RPI and chances for a post season bid even when we aren't conference champs then it would be better to play the better teams in leagues like the OVC, meaning Murray State and Belmont. But that would mean more travel since Belmont is in Nashville and Murray is really way out in western KY, even past Bowling Green. Do we really need to be playing 3 MAC schools? Shouldn't we rather be trying to get games with Atlantic 10 type schools, Duquesne, St. Bonny, VCU, George Mason, or even some AAC schools?

We all know that the "majors" are not knocking down the door to play the Herd here in Huntington. So the next best thing is to try and get games with such foes at neutral venues, meaning early season and/or holiday tournaments. Apparently this may be something that we do in next year's schedule, 2018-19. Otherwise, we need to schedule as many good mid major foes as possible.

 

[Herdmeister]

Post says a lot in that the ONE area that MU and similar schools have in trying to improve their lot and post season chances is in scheduling, meaning non conference games. SamC's post indicates our OOC opponents did not have a Blue Ribbon season. The 3 OVC teams we played were the bottom of the barrel in that league. 2 MAC opponents, Akron and OU, had losing seasons, and Toledo, our best OOC victory, lost to Buffalo in the MAC title game. Per's SamC;'s post the Rockets are NOT in any post season tourney. Neither is, apparently, William & Mary, who we made look like the Houston Rockets in our game down in Willliamsburg.

Danny said he hoped to get OOC games with some of our traditional opponents. No doubt one reason was all the travel the team has to do in conference play. Yet, we have to ask, do our games with OU, Morehead and EKU, all traditional Herd opponents, result in that much more interest and attendance? Do those schools bring throngs of fans to the Henderson Center?

If the goal is to improve our RPI and chances for a post season bid even when we aren't conference champs then it would be better to play the better teams in leagues like the OVC, meaning Murray State and Belmont. But that would mean more travel since Belmont is in Nashville and Murray is really way out in western KY, even past Bowling Green. Do we really need to be playing 3 MAC schools? Shouldn't we rather be trying to get games with Atlantic 10 type schools, Duquesne, St. Bonny, VCU, George Mason, or even some AAC schools?

We all know that the "majors" are not knocking down the door to play the Herd here in Huntington. So the next best thing is to try and get games with such foes at neutral venues, meaning early season and/or holiday tournaments. Apparently this may be something that we do in next year's schedule, 2018-19. Otherwise, we need to schedule as many good mid major foes as possible.

Playing Memphis, Texas A&M and Maryland next year will help our RPI

 

[CarolinaHerdzilla]

Post says a lot in that the ONE area that MU and similar schools have in trying to improve their lot and post season chances is in scheduling, meaning non conference games. SamC's post indicates our OOC opponents did not have a Blue Ribbon season. The 3 OVC teams we played were the bottom of the barrel in that league. 2 MAC opponents, Akron and OU, had losing seasons, and Toledo, our best OOC victory, lost to Buffalo in the MAC title game. Per's SamC;'s post the Rockets are NOT in any post season tourney. Neither is, apparently, William & Mary, who we made look like the Houston Rockets in our game down in Willliamsburg.

Danny said he hoped to get OOC games with some of our traditional opponents. No doubt one reason was all the travel the team has to do in conference play. Yet, we have to ask, do our games with OU, Morehead and EKU, all traditional Herd opponents, result in that much more interest and attendance? Do those schools bring throngs of fans to the Henderson Center?

If the goal is to improve our RPI and chances for a post season bid even when we aren't conference champs then it would be better to play the better teams in leagues like the OVC, meaning Murray State and Belmont. But that would mean more travel since Belmont is in Nashville and Murray is really way out in western KY, even past Bowling Green. Do we really need to be playing 3 MAC schools? Shouldn't we rather be trying to get games with Atlantic 10 type schools, Duquesne, St. Bonny, VCU, George Mason, or even some AAC schools?

We all know that the "majors" are not knocking down the door to play the Herd here in Huntington. So the next best thing is to try and get games with such foes at neutral venues, meaning early season and/or holiday tournaments. Apparently this may be something that we do in next year's schedule, 2018-19. Otherwise, we need to schedule as many good mid major foes as possible.

Agree 100% with you oldeherd......I submit unless The HERD wins next year's CUSA Tournament....Marshall will not be dancing in March Madness. The committee will select glamour names from Big Conferences (ie, Oklahoma, Syracuse, Bama this year) even with as many as 13 or more losses and negative losses in their conference leagues. Just my Opinion.

HerdZilla22

 

[CarolinaHerdzilla]

Playing Memphis, Texas A&M and Maryland next year will help our RPI

But Herdmeister....The HERD needs to win all or some of those contests! Recall, Marshall played #1 Seed, Xavier close on the road [L 81-77]...but that close loss would not have mattered to the selection committee had we not won the tournament.

HerdZilla22

 

[RhinoD]

But Herdmeister....The HERD needs to win all or some of those contests! Recall, Marshall played #1 Seed, Xavier close on the road [L 81-77]...but that close loss would not have mattered to the selection committee had we not won the tournament.

Thats not necessarily true... Losing a close game to Xavier this year would not have helped us because we have 9 other losses, 3 of which are to garbage teams... If we would have gone, say 28-5, and one of the losses were to Xavier it would have helped us.

It's also important not to provide revisionist history, when we played Xavier close they were without two of their starters due to injury and one of their bench guys was suspended. The Xavier playing now is not the same team we played four months ago.

 

[CarolinaHerdzilla]

Thats not necessarily true... Losing a close game to Xavier this year would not have helped us because we have 9 other losses, 3 of which are to garbage teams... If we would have gone, say 28-5, and one of the losses were to Xavier it would have helped us.

It's also important not to provide revisionist history, when we played Xavier close they were without two of their starters due to injury and one of their bench guys was suspended. The Xavier playing now is not the same team we played four months ago.

OK...I'm buying that......[Xavier stats]

Zilla22

 

[GK4Herd]

Thats not necessarily true... Losing a close game to Xavier this year would not have helped us because we have 9 other losses, 3 of which are to garbage teams... If we would have gone, say 28-5, and one of the losses were to Xavier it would have helped us.

It's also important not to provide revisionist history, when we played Xavier close they were without two of their starters due to injury and one of their bench guys was suspended. The Xavier playing now is not the same team we played four months ago.

And it was also before the emergence of Williams and George as well. If we want to get history right we need to get it right on both sides.

 

[CarolinaHerdzilla]

And it was also before the emergence of Williams and George as well. If we want to get history right we need to get it right on both sides.

I'm buying that too.......GKHerd......

HerdZilla22

 

[Sash19]

To kick MTSU more when "down," it was announced online that their coach is taking the Ole Miss job....announced BEFORE their NIT game...Bet the house on their opponent!

 

[Herdmeister]

To kick MTSU more when "down," it was announced online that their coach is taking the Ole Miss job....announced BEFORE their NIT game...Bet the house on their opponent!

That was known yesterday and then they won last night.

 

[Sash19]

To kick MTSU more when "down," it was announced online that their coach is taking the Ole Miss job....announced BEFORE their NIT game...Bet the house on their opponent!

That was known yesterday and then they won last night.

For some reason thought they played tonight. Was watching the real tournament so missed it. Thanks though for the update.

 

[The Real SamC]

And right on schedule, the NCAA is looking at...

Yep.

MORE major conference losers in the tournament. Apparently the NCAA is shopping a second "first four" site, with the same two day "double header" format with the early games being smaller conferences being shafted out of their automatic bid by sharing the #16 seed and the late games being yet more major conference losers.

The mind controllers at ESPN were all for it, of course.

 

[Herd Fever]

They should have play in games for all 16 seeds and all 11 seeds

 

[chuck1069]

Like to see MTSU and WKU playing each other in the NIT championship game!!

 

[The Real SamC]

They should have play in games for all 16 seeds and all 11 seeds

They already have "play ins" for the 16 seeds. It is called the "conference tournament final". They also have "play ins" for the 11 seeds. It is called "win more than 18 games in a so-called 'power' conference".

 

[Tim Hensley]

The more the merrier. No man left behind.

 

[RhinoD]

As I mentioned above, the tournament is going to expand to 76 teams soon. All 16 seeds and all 11 seeds will "play-in." I personally don't want to see the tournament expand to 96 teams with a first-round bye (which has also been floated) so I am on board with 76.

At the end of the day, until double-digit seeds make serious noise (the final four) on a consistent basis having to play-in for the SWAC, MEAC, Southland, NEC, Ivy League, Patriot League, etc. is what it is.

It's all money and TV rights... Anyone who thinks the committee didn't cringe leaving out Notre Dame, USC and Louisville while being forced to take LIU-Brooklyn, Lipscomb and Radford is fooling themselves. Cinderella stories are cute for a few days, but they don't pay the bills.

 

[Herd Fever]

They already have "play ins" for the 16 seeds. It is called the "conference tournament final". They also have "play ins" for the 11 seeds. It is called "win more than 18 games in a so-called 'power' conference".

I just feel the 8 lowest ranked conference champions and the 8 lowest ranked At-Large teams to get in should all have play-in games

 

[The Real SamC]

I just feel that the 8 lowest ranked "at large" (AKA so-called power conference losers) should try harder next year and enjoy the NIT.

 

[Herd Fever]

I just feel that the 8 lowest ranked "at large" (AKA so-called power conference losers) should try harder next year and enjoy the NIT.

How about this, All Regular Season and Conference Champions get in the Tourney then the next highest ranked teams overall fill out the rest of the bracket?

 

[RhinoD]

How about this, All Regular Season and Conference Champions get in the Tourney then the next highest ranked teams overall fill out the rest of the bracket?

With all of the advanced analytics we have now, why not let the conference champs make it and then put together a computer program to determine the at-larges?

That would work fine until the first time the computer picked a school like Western Kentucky over a Syracuse.

Using the rankings, either from the coaches or the AP, would simply lead to the rankings being even more skewed in favor of the big conferences all season.

 

[Herd Fever]

With all of the advanced analytics we have now, why not let the conference champs make it and then put together a computer program to determine the at-larges?

That would work fine until the first time the computer picked a school like Western Kentucky over a Syracuse.

Using the rankings, either from the coaches or the AP, would simply lead to the rankings being even more skewed in favor of the big conferences all season.

At that point if both Regular Season and Conference Tourney Champs get in, nobody has nothing to complain about. You have 2 chances to punch your ticket.

 

[RhinoD]

At that point if both Regular Season and Conference Tourney Champs get in, nobody has nothing to complain about. You have 2 chances to punch your ticket.

In theory it sounds good... But does anyone really want two teams from the SWAC, MEAC, NEC, Ivy League, Southland, OVC, etc. taking up space in the tournament? Of course not.

Also it would incentivize losing your conference tournament if you win the regular season. If small conferences know that they will get two bids if the team that wins the regular season loses in their tournament, they could handshake their way into two bids.

 

[Herd Fever]

In theory it sounds good... But does anyone really want two teams from the SWAC, MEAC, NEC, Ivy League, Southland, OVC, etc. taking up space in the tournament? Of course not.

Also it would incentivize losing your conference tournament if you win the regular season. If small conferences know that they will get two bids if the team that wins the regular season loses in their tournament, they could handshake their way into two bids.

Very True. At least it guarantees the best team from the 32 conferences.

 

[herdfan429]

The more the merrier. No man left behind.

Yep lets keep rewarding mediocrity

 

[The Real SamC]

I have no issues with the tournament as it was, with 64 teams including the automatic bids for the tournament champions of each conference and an automatic NIT game for regular season champions not selected. The "play in" games are just stupid. Yeah, that means the #1 and #2 seeds get an almost certain walk over in the first round, but, hey, that is why you try to get a high seed.

Really, if they want to tweak it, set an arena capacity and live gate standard like there is between I-A and I-AA in football, and toss out the very bottom conferences. The SWAC, MAAC, America East, MEAC, Northeast, and maybe the Big South are really Division II level schools that should compete at that level.

When (not if) the tournament further expands we will see every single team from the so-called power conferences with a winning record, and, still one team from all the rest. No thanks.

 

[HenryMuto]

I thought MT should got in over 1 of those crappy Pac 12 schools. Congrats to Marshall on winning against Wichita State.