This could be the weakest year of college basketball ever

[KipsBayEagle]

When I posted in the bracketology thread that was started earlier that us getting a 10 seed and not even being in the last four in defies logic, i started to look at some of the teams right now vying for spots in the tournament and the seeding some teams got.  Wow.  West Virginia has a 5 seed?  Baylor doesn't have one quality win?  Just clock on some of these teams on the bubble.  I thought our record was spotty.  There are a lot of crappy teams out there.

[drbchilds]

Thank God!!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

When I posted in the bracketology thread that was started earlier that us getting a 10 seed and not even being in the last four in defies logic, i started to look at some of the teams right now vying for spots in the tournament and the seeding some teams got.  Wow.  West Virginia has a 5 seed?  Baylor doesn't have one quality win?  Just clock on some of these teams on the bubble.  I thought our record was spotty.  There are a lot of crappy teams out there.

Yup

[Rubie Q]

When I posted in the bracketology thread that was started earlier that us getting a 10 seed and not even being in the last four in defies logic, i started to look at some of the teams right now vying for spots in the tournament and the seeding some teams got.  Wow.  West Virginia has a 5 seed?  Baylor doesn't have one quality win?  Just clock on some of these teams on the bubble.  I thought our record was spotty.  There are a lot of crappy teams out there.

Andy Glockner and Jerry Palm share your thoughts:

@aglock
Why Butler fans shouldn't panic (yet): After picking every team that seemed clearly in, there are 9 at-large spots left for 13 teams or so.

@jppalm
I had over a dozen. NOT a good field. RT @aglock: After picking every team that seemed clearly in, there are 9 at-large spots left.

@jppalm
Even for this early, the lack of accomplishment of potential tournament teams is galling.

[NersEllenson]

To me all this is reflective of is that there is more parity than ever in College Basketball.  The mid majors can contend in that their programs almost always have 4 and 5 year players - the elite/signature programs often have early draft entry candidates - more roster shuffle/less continuity - and this levels the playing field slightly.

Personally, I love it and think this is part of what makes college basketball so fun.

[KipsBayEagle]

To me all this is reflective of is that there is more parity than ever in College Basketball.  The mid majors can contend in that their programs almost always have 4 and 5 year players - the elite/signature programs often have early draft entry candidates - more roster shuffle/less continuity - and this levels the playing field slightly.

Personally, I love it and think this is part of what makes college basketball so fun.

I guess it's parity, but just look at us as an example.  We would be slotted 10th with 2 quality wins.  Think about that for a second.  If you were to flash our resume to this point, a win at home against wvu, and a win at home against notre dame.  that is it.  And according to Lunardi we are easily in the tournament.  No other team we have beaten is worth being mentioned.  you can call it parity, i'd call it a plethora of extremely below average teams

[StillAWarrior]

I guess it's parity, but just look at us as an example.  We would be slotted 10th with 2 quality wins.  Think about that for a second.  If you were to flash our resume to this point, a win at home against wvu, and a win at home against notre dame.  that is it.  And according to Lunardi we are easily in the tournament.  No other team we have beaten is worth being mentioned.  you can call it parity, i'd call it a plethora of extremely below average teams

But it also might make for a hell of a fun tournament.  Then again, might not.

[Rubie Q]

I guess it's parity, but just look at us as an example.  We would be slotted 10th with 2 quality wins.  Think about that for a second.  If you were to flash our resume to this point, a win at home against wvu, and a win at home against notre dame.  that is it.  And according to Lunardi we are easily in the tournament.  No other team we have beaten is worth being mentioned.  you can call it parity, i'd call it a plethora of extremely below average teams

Agreed, and that's Glockner's point, in a nutshell: half the BCS conferences are really struggling (is anyone going to qualify out of the SEC West?) and the mid-majors -- hello, Butler! -- haven't been able to take advantage.

[KipsBayEagle]

Kansas state, a 9 seed, has no rpi top 50 wins, and whose marquee wins to this point our james madison, virginia tech, gonzaga, and washington state.

St. marys is an 8 seed with incredible wins over saint johns and San francisco.  Their third best win is long beach state

memphis gets in at a 12 seed with a win over miami.  their next 3 best wins: marshall, southern miss, and uab

Thats just sad

[MUBurrow]

theres no such thing as a soft bubble

[RawdogDX]

Same thing gets said every year mid January.  Lets hold off for a month before we bust out the superlatives.

[PGsHeroes32]

I said this on another thread. All though the win was a blow out it was DePaul and even though it wasnt a bad loss, we did lose a game. So we went 1-1 this week and managed to raise from play in game to a 10 seed. If we play good ball here at home and pull off two wins against Uconn and Cuse we are basically a lock as crazy as it could sound.

[NersEllenson]

I guess it's parity, but just look at us as an example.  We would be slotted 10th with 2 quality wins.  Think about that for a second.  If you were to flash our resume to this point, a win at home against wvu, and a win at home against notre dame.  that is it.  And according to Lunardi we are easily in the tournament.  No other team we have beaten is worth being mentioned.  you can call it parity, i'd call it a plethora of extremely below average teams

Good points you make for sure.  Though I'm not sure the lack of "quality" bubble teams speaks so much to the fact that there are a bunch of below average teams, as much as it does that there is so little that separates the great teams from the good ones, and even the good ones from the "below average."

Almost anyone in the Big East (for example) save DePaul, Rutgers and USF this year - can beat anyone on their home floor.  Trying to measure quality across conferences - when WVU beats a Purdue - who is a power in the Big 10, yet WVU gets beat by MU which is a middle of the pack team in the Big East - gets hard to sort out.  Most fans of our opponent schools think we are a definite NCAA caliber team - so said the Vandy and Lville fans - I think we pass the eye test..even though our resume might not be too impressive when looked at solely from the perspective of W-L record and "quality" wins.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Funny, last year when a very similar thread was started it was because the TS obviously hated on Buzz and just wanted to trash on his accomplishments.   

LOL.  It was funny then and even funnier now.

[KipsBayEagle]

Funny, last year when a very similar thread was started it was because the TS obviously hated on Buzz and just wanted to trash on his accomplishments.   

LOL.  It was funny then and even funnier now.

Are you saying I am ripping Buzz because of this?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Are you saying I am ripping Buzz because of this?

Not at all...but if some other people started this thread (like last year), that's exactly what 4 or 5 people would be saying.  Case in point, that's exactly what they said last year when virtually the same thread was started.  That's what I find funny.

The fact of the matter is that you're dead on right, college basketball is weaker at the top and continues to be that way.  Parity is certainly a major reason why, kids leaving early, kids playing in foreign countries, etc, etc. 

[NersEllenson]

Not at all...but if some other people started this thread (like last year), that's exactly what 4 or 5 people would be saying.  Case in point, that's exactly what they said last year when virtually the same thread was started.  That's what I find funny.

The fact of the matter is that you're dead on right, college basketball is weaker at the top and continues to be that way.  Parity is certainly a major reason why, kids leaving early, kids playing in foreign countries, etc, etc. 

Kids leaving early has definitely hurt the blue blood programs, but there are very few US players who have skipped college ball to go play overseas - certainly there have been just as many "imports" to the college basketball scene, as have there been exports.  To me, the quality of kids coming out of High School is better than ever as more kids are specializing in just 1 sport, devoting all of their time to perfecting their sport of choice, and playing AAU ball/select teams, etc. - to where the skill level of players coming into college ball has probably never been greater.

In another thread you mentioned your boy was a pretty good basketball player - are you steering him toward focusing/specializing in basketball alone - so as to maximize his chances to be able to play at the high school/college level?  Probably a tough call to make as a parent - guess it is probably a choice best left ato a kid - but from everything I've seen...kids do tend to be specializing now more than ever.

[Lennys Tap]

Funny, last year when a very similar thread was started it was because the TS obviously hated on Buzz and just wanted to trash on his accomplishments.  

LOL.  It was funny then and even funnier now.

There were slight differences. Before last season began you said that if Buzz could get MU to the tournament he deserved to be coach of the year. When we got off to a poor conference start you ripped the coach a new one on a regulalar basis, culminating in several diatribes following the DePaul game. In your view that game ended any chance of us making the NCAAs. When we fought our way back into the picture you diminished the accomplishment and began referring to the "soft bubble" insinuating that our chance of making it was due to the sorry state of college basketball. When we blew away the "soft bubble" and your conditions for Buzz to be named coach of the year by getting a 6th seed, (rating us 21st-24th), it would have been the perfect time for you to admit you were wrong and beat the drum for Buzz. You didn't, of course.

So if you take it out of context I suppose you could LOL about Kips and your postings. But you'd REALLY have to take it out of context.

[downtown85]

There were slight differences. Before last season began you said that if Buzz could get MU to the tournament he deserved to be coach of the year. When we got off to a poor conference start you ripped the coach a new one on a regulalar basis, culminating in several diatribes following the DePaul game. In your view that game ended any chance of us making the NCAAs. When we fought our way back into the picture you diminished the accomplishment and began referring to the "soft bubble" insinuating that our chance of making it was due to the sorry state of college basketball. When we blew away the "soft bubble" and your conditions for Buzz to be named coach of the year by getting a 6th seed, (rating us 21st-24th), it would have been the perfect time for you to admit you were wrong and beat the drum for Buzz. You didn't, of course.

So if you take it out of context I suppose you could LOL about Kips and your postings. But you'd REALLY have to take it out of context.

I never thought I would do this but I will come to Chico's defense here.  I was looking for signs of hypocrisy and back tracking on belief that Buzz should considered "COY" if we go to the tournament.  I would try to find the post (but I am to lazy).  However, I do recall that he basically said Buzz should be BE COY on more than one occasion.  Correct me if I am wrong Chicos.