College Basketball: The whores are hard at work, laying their groundwork for screwing over BYU, SDSU, Others

Video: 2011 NCAA Tournament chairman, Gene Smith has connections. He can defer suspension to his OSU football players allowing them to play in bowl games and go pro the next season.

Media Whores and Big School Whores chomping at the bit to oppress BYU

BYU lost their second best player due to an in-house suspension. They then lost their next game to a good New Mexico team by eighteen points at home.

The media whores and 'big school' whores that run the NCAA Tournament selection committee were chomping at the bit to knock BYU down. The real math did not even have to add up. They just had to get 'eighteen point loss' and 'man down' out there and it was done.

Before the loss to New Mexico, BYU was a projected number one seed on cbsbracketology.com. After the loss, they were dropped to a four seed!

Unheard Of Happenings!

Recently, Shots Heard posted the stat that never in the history of the NCAA Tournament has a team with an RPI of one and only two losses been denied a number one seed. Yet, an ESPN media whore was making a very salacious argument that BYU was somehow unworthy of the number one seed despite having that credential.

Here is another Shots Heard reality check: Never in my years of following the NCAA Tournament have I ever seen a team dropped from a projected one seed to fourth in the span of a one loss! It is unheard of! But as long as you think 'embarrassing loss at home' and 'man down' then the whores are counting on the general consumer to not care.

Trying to make sense of the illogical

But that does not mean that the general consumer, who likely follows a 'big market' team should not care. Fairness should be a cornerstone of any major American event like the NCAA Tournament.

For the sake of focus, Shots Heard will not debate exactly what BYU's seed should be. But let us look examine CBS's projection that Syracuse should be a two seed. Let us try to imagine if it is justified that Syracuse would be a two seed while BYU is relegated to a four seed. 

And by the way, the four seed is a full four seed projection. While the selection committee reserves the right to bump a team a seed in either direction to accommodate geography, BYU was projected as a four seed in the Southeast Bracket. Had they been a projected four seed in the West or Southwest then it would be conceivable that they were bumped from three to four to get placed in their geography.

BYU vs. Syracuse Comparison

BYU: Record 28-3, RPI 4, Strength Of Schedule 20

Syracuse: Record 25-6, RPI 18, Strength Of Schedule 33

As you can see, BYU is the  better team across the board. 

But what about BYU's eighteen point loss at home to New Mexico? That's what the media whores will point out.

Okay. (Media Whore Gottlieb Style. Okay (Listen). As Shots Heard has mentioned before, the RPI is a measure of strength of schedule and performance. The numbers basically speak for themselves.

But if that is not enough for you, then take into account Exhibit B. Syracuse got their buts kicked by twenty two points to 13-17 Seton Hall. BYU lost to 20-11 New Mexico by less at home.

And then you might bring up, well BYU's second best player is gone. So what? If Paul Pierce gets injured on the last day of the season, will the NBA drop the Celtics from a one seed to a six seed? Teams earn whatever they earn. If Jimmer got hurt would that mean that BYU should be a 12 seed? The media whores love such arguments even though they have no real merit. Merit is what a team accomplishes and not how good the media whores think a team is at any given moment.

So what gives?

We'll tell you what gives. The first thought is perhaps they are going for the highest ratings. But the reality is more people are chomping at the bit to see the soon to be crowned player of the year, Jimmer Fredette than a Syracuse team that nobody outside of New York cares about. And if ratings was the trump card, then Stephen Curry's 'lowly' and deserving Davidson squad would have made the NCAA tournament his final year at college.

Although ratings are always a factor (like when the committee gave Duke a softball bracket in last year's tournament). The precedent for deciding who gets into the tournament and who gets the favored spots goes to who is from a 'major' conference. The committee is made up of administrators from those conferences.

What does it matter? (A four seed is almost as high as a two seed anyways)

Well, besides the basic principle of right and wrong there is a huge difference between getting a two seed and a four seed. With the four seed, BYU is projected to play last year's finalist, Butler. With the two seed, BYU would play someone like the weak Long Beach State squad (and we say that with all deference to Long Beach State as we will be rooting for them).

 

Other Mountain West Teams getting screwed

Now mind you, that just about all of the conference tournaments are yet to be played and the landscape will significantly change in the upcoming days. But let's look at how the Mountain West is tentatively scheduled to be screwed over by the selection whores.

San Diego State

San Diego State should be a projected number one (not Notre Dame, according to CBS). They would be undefeated and have an RPI if not for their losses to BYU. But let's not justify based on fuzzy math like the media whores. Let's look at the numbers.

Notre Dame is 25-5 and has an RPI of 9 and SOS of 27. SDSU is 29-2 and has an RPI of 4 and SOS of 34. Clearly SDSU, who has a better record and RPI is more deserving.

UNLV

UNLV is projected as a six seed. With a 23-7 record, 25 RPI and 37 SOS UNLV should be about a six seed. We honestly are not sure what the occasion is that they are getting what they deserve. Is it the Las Vegas connection? Hmmmm.

Colorado State

CSU (4th - MWC) has a 19-11 record, 43 RPI and 34 SOS. What about that resume says that they do not deserve to be in the tournament? 

But let us look at some of the 'major conference' teams that are projected to be in the tournament.

Marquette (9th - Big East) - 18-13, 67 RPI, 41 SOS

Clemson (T4th - ACC) - 20-10, 58 RPI, 74 SOS

Virginia Tech (T4th - ACC) - 19-10, 64 RPI, 87 SOS

Michigan State - (4th Big Ten) - 17-13, 48 RPI, 9 SOS

The numbers speak for themselves. CSU has better numbers than all of those teams and yet it is the 'non major conference' team projected to get the shaft. This stuff is like clockwork for the selection whores though.

New Mexico

New Mexico (5th MWC) has a 20-11 record, 71 RPI and 90 SOS. They truly are a bubble team. But if New Mexico was from a 'major conference' you would be hearing the bubble talk anyhow. As it is, you are hearing nothing about them even though they have two very impressive wins against BYU on their resume and comparable numbers to the other bubble teams.