Why no bracket buster?

[Mr. Neutral]

If the MVC, ranked #8, IS a midmajor conference, how is the A-10, ranked #7, not at least in that discussion?

I agree that X is not in that group, as do most commentators (this year, not so much in previous years). But I don't see how you can't look at some of our other teams and say how they couldn't have benefited from playing in the BB. Drake and Butler are ranked a LOT higher in the RPI than SJU, Temple and Charlotte, for example, and those two schools didn't think it was beneath them to play in the made-for-TV event.

For a conference that we all thought sucked in previous years, and that has not been a player at allin recent Final Fours, sometimes we get a little too high and mighty, I think.

[GoMuskies]

Again, I'm with you on Temple, St. Joe's, etc. benefitting. Match them up with Maryland and Ohio State, who could also benefit, and let's lace 'em up.

[Mr. Neutral]

Go, I see your point, and don't disagree. But we all know that come Selection Sunday, schools like Maryland and Ohio State are going to have a built-in advantage that schools like Temple, St. Joe's, etc., don't have, so I'd argue that our schools could use the extra boost that might have come from playing in the BB. OSU and Maryland already get that boost with most of their conference games, many more of which are on network TV and ESPN/ESPN2 than are our games.

[GoMuskies]

Exposure is nice, but I don't think exposure helps with the Selection Committee. They essentially make decisions based on raw data from what I can tell. Plus, (1) no one watches the Bracket Busters (not even me, and I consider myself a fan of mid-major basketball) and (2) no one watches the bubble teams from the ACC unless they are playing Duke or Carolina, and that tends to be negative exposure for those teams (Maryland clearly being the exception).

[Mr. Neutral]

<<no one watches the bubble teams from the ACC unless they are playing Duke or Carolina,>>

I watched Ohio State-Michigan last night, which has no national title implications, and OSU is likely a bubble team.

I just think it's funny that a mere few months ago, many of the posts on this board were about how crappy the A-10 was, how we needed to somehow align ourselves with a new conference, how the conference was dragging us down-and now our bubble teams are too good for the Bracket Buster games.

We thought the A-10 was big stuff after the '04 season, too, and then came 3 years of midmajor performance. This season could be the start of something big, or it could be an aberration, like '04.

[GoMuskies]

I watched Ohio State-Michigan last night.

You and about eight others.

[Mr. Neutral]

Maybe, but we're a very attractive demographic!