In March, it's personal! (Photo from Google Images)
Selection Sunday was madness! Joe Lunardi proved he is an expert at nothing. The Selection Committee may as well be as smart as the politicians currently in office. Data doesn’t matter. Facts do not matter. Conference tournaments do not matter. And according to my parents Pastor, “last year’s bracket winner didn’t know anything about college basketball”. For the record, I won their church bracket (my parents and twin brother finished 2-4th for the family sweep) and I won two other brackets last year. I don’t care if that was a sales pitch to get more people to play, I took it personal.
Six SEC teams; Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and LSU are going dancing. How Texas A&M didn’t get in the tournament and the BIG10 had nine teams get in is downright disrespectful to college basketball.
The University of Tennessee beat Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Texas A&M to win the SEC tournament for the first time since 1979. The 26-7 Vols played the fourth toughest schedule in college basketball, had zero “bad” losses, lost a key starter and went 16-0 at home. In the words of Head Coach Rick Barnes, “keep pushing P baby”.
The Madness
If Tennessee was a 3-seed going into the SEC tournament, how could they WIN the SEC tournament, the toughest conference in college basketball, and still be a 3-seed? Why even play a conference tournament if it “doesn’t matter” to the selection committee?
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, who is self-proclaimed as “the Bracketology” expert has now exposed he’s just an idiot. He’s been in bed with the selection committee and they have used him as a puppet, not as an expert. When Rece Davis asked Lunardi about how the University of Tennessee could be a #3 seed to Auburn and Kentucky, Lunarid had no answers. But what Lunardi did say with all his hot air, is that his “secret formula” is bullshit! It’s 100% marketing to make the selection committee look like they know what they are doing.
Tennessee beat Kentucky, again, on Saturday in the SEC semifinal and it changed nothing for the Vols. BUT, Lunardi said before the game “if Kentucky won the SEC tournament then Kentucky would be a #1 seed.” Not to mention, Tennessee has beaten #2 seed Kentucky twice, #2 seed Auburn and #1 seed Arizona. This is madness!
Rece Davis absolutely decapitated Joe Lunardi, ESPN’s bracket “expert,” on seeding issues. Rece Davis! Watch this: pic.twitter.com/qGfAjxTZQy
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 14, 2022
The Eye Test
Here is a visual and how Tennessee ranks with other #2 seeds. (Definitions are below.)
The NET includes more components than just winning percentage. It considers game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses
KenPom measures teams based on efficiency to not only paint a picture of how a basketball team compares to the rest of the nation, but also a fairly predictive formula that can chart where a team might be heading, as well.
Strength of Schedule (SOS) represents a team’s average schedule difficulty faced by each team in the games that it’s played so far or for all season.
Q1 Wins = Good wins, beating teams with 1-30 NET.
Q2-4 Losses = bad losses, losing to teams with 31-353 NET.
How is Duke a #2 seed? HOW? It’s pretty clear that the ‘Selection Committee’ does everything they can to boost the current blue bloods of college basketball. However, there’s new blood bringing life to college basketball and the SEC. Before the SEC tournament, the Vols were ranked #9 in the country. In the latest Associated Press (AP) poll, Tennessee is now ranked #5 going into the NCAA tournament. In other words, the Vols deserved #2 seed.
When Tennessee Freshman Guard, Zakai Zeigler’s home in Queens was lost to a fire, his mother lost everything. Vol Nation took it personal and set up a GoFundMe page. In less than 24-hours, over $350,000.00 was raised. Summing up the #3 seed; it is now personal to the Vols and to all to of Vol Nation. In other words, expect a lot of noise.
Tennessee is #3 seed in the South (upper right) bracket. The Vols will play the #14 seed, Longwood on Thursday at 2:45 EST in Indianapolis. And while you are spending money betting on who will win, you can click the link below and make a donation of any size to keep the post coming. I really appreciate your support! https://alisonstclair.com/donate/
Mom, to understand what “pushin P means, read this article.