Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale might want to go incognito for awhile (nt)

[Blackhat]

lo siento,  throw this in the VCU-Butler thread.

[KenoshaWarrior]

Why?  They were right VCU Did not deserve to get in.   I will be cheering for VCU but they still did not deserve to get in.

[Blackhat]

the masses think simple and have the memory span of a fish (myself included).  Most aren't going to rationalize it 5, 10 years from now, they'll just remember Bilas and Vitale were complaining about VCU getting in and VCU throwing it in their faces.  That "Love you too, Jay" from Shaka will be remembered also.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Why?  They were right VCU Did not deserve to get in.   I will be cheering for VCU but they still did not deserve to get in.

Who did? not VT, they didn't beat anyone other than Duke & Penn St.

[wadesworld]

Who did? not VT, they didn't beat anyone other than Duke & Penn St.

Who did VCU beat?  UCLA...beyond that?  Old Dominion?  George Mason?  Impressive...

The "other than Duke..." is a VERY big "other than."  MUCH bigger than anything VCU had done.  Not to mention VT beat Florida State twice as well.

As far as bad losses, VT had one to Wichita State.  VCU lost to USF, Georgia State, Northeastern, Drexel, and James Madison.

VT took 4th in the ACC, VCU took 4th in the Colonial.

Based on what they did in the regular season, VT should have made the tournament over VCU.  Obviously VCU has shown they belong, but their regular season didn't warrant a bid.

[brewcity77]

Who did VCU beat?  UCLA...beyond that?  Old Dominion?  George Mason?  Impressive...

The "other than Duke..." is a VERY big "other than."  MUCH bigger than anything VCU had done.  Not to mention VT beat Florida State twice as well.

As far as bad losses, VT had one to Wichita State.  VCU lost to USF, Georgia State, Northeastern, Drexel, and James Madison.

VT took 4th in the ACC, VCU took 4th in the Colonial.

Based on what they did in the regular season, VT should have made the tournament over VCU.  Obviously VCU has shown they belong, but their regular season didn't warrant a bid.

It's scarcely debatable. VCU did not deserve to go in over Virginia Tech. Looking at their resume, it's really hard to put them in over Colorado or St. Mary's either. Yes, they made a great run, no one expected this, but Bilas said off the bat that just because VCU didn't belong doesn't mean they couldn't win games. It's a great run, but at-large bids are given out based on regular season merit, not post-season possibilities. Just because VCU got this far doesn't mean that Virginia Tech couldn't have done the exact same thing. VCU did not belong in the field. They still don't belong in the field.

What is most unnerving about this is that it's an even stronger case for a 96-team field.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Who did VCU beat?  UCLA...beyond that?  Old Dominion?  George Mason?  Impressive...

The "other than Duke..." is a VERY big "other than."  MUCH bigger than anything VCU had done.  Not to mention VT beat Florida State twice as well.

As far as bad losses, VT had one to Wichita State.  VCU lost to USF, Georgia State, Northeastern, Drexel, and James Madison.

VT took 4th in the ACC, VCU took 4th in the Colonial.

Based on what they did in the regular season, VT should have made the tournament over VCU.  Obviously VCU has shown they belong, but their regular season didn't warrant a bid.

This is exactly why I say the NCAA Champion is not the best team in the country, but rather the team that won the tournament.  That's a monumental difference.  Some teams have easier paths, some play closer to home, some encounter teams that just pee themselves and have a bad day, etc, etc.  VCU is not the best team in the country.  They are not one of the 4 best teams in the country either.  They're not one of the 25 best teams in the country.  Yet here they are, with a chance to be NCAA Champion.  Gotta love the tournament where the best team doesn't always win (in fact, USUALLY doesn't win).

[Tugg Speedman]

Chicos, not to hijack this thread but have you read "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis. 

The book is about Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland As and his use of statistics to find and produce winning teams.  The As have been very successful during the regular season as the sample sizes are large enough that the numbers eventually bear themselves out.  However, Beans bristles as the playoff format (which, in this case of baseball is not one and done but best of seven) as he finds the playoff format produces random results.

I agree with you and with Beane, that March madness might as well be "the best half-way decent team that got hot without important injuries in the second half of March."

And this year;s Final Four is also a good best defense for the college football format, by picking the best two teams to play for the National Championship they remove a lot of random noise.

[Warriors10]

Why?

Both pointed out that VCU could win in this tournament.  Its just being given the chance.  Colorado/VT/Alabama were still more deserving.  Even if they win it I'll say the same thing.

[thekahoona]

Dick Vitale should always go incognito because the arguments he makes are emotionally-based pap.  His conclusions, drawn on his emotion happen to be correct, but based on his reasoning, they could just have easily been wrong.

On the other hand, Bilas rocks.  Smart, well reasoned arguments for the why the committee should only consider accomplishment for inclusion into the tournament.  

I loved when Vitale used the argument "How do you think those kids from VT feel?"  Bilas said, "Dick, I don't want to say 'I don't care about how the VT kids feel,' but, I don't care how they feel!  It's about what each team accomplished!"

[KenoshaWarrior]

Why?

Both pointed out that VCU could win in this tournament.  Its just being given the chance.  Colorado/VT/Alabama were still more deserving.  Even if they win it I'll say the same thing.

+1