Bid Thieves, final day

[SmellyCat]

So guess what? It was much ado about nothing. In the end, the only potential bid thieves are...

Rhode Island, who may have done enough to LOSE today and still get a bid, and maybe the Sun Belt winner (if Texas-Arlington gets an at-large bid, which is not too likely).

With Troy/Texas St. getting one bid and Princeton/Yale getting another, I see just six bubble spots left going into today.

These are the teams I see on the bubble today:
Marquette
Seton Hall
Kansas St.
Rhode Island
USC
Illinois St.
Providence
UT-Arlington
Clemson
Georgia
Houston
TCU
California
Indiana
Syracuse
Illinois
Alabama
Iowa

I'm about ready to make Marquette and Seton Hall locks, and K-State and Rhode Island are about there too. After that, it's USC, Illinois St. Providence, TCU, Cal, and Syracuse fighting for the last two spots I'd say.

 

[NURoseBowl]

You're forgetting the most important one, Smelly One - US. We are on the bubble . . . just ask Feli.

 

[SmellyCat]

Hah. Well we might have been if there were 10-15 bid thieves. This is a lesson for us all: don't anticipate more than a handful. In the end, there might even be zero.

 

[FeliSilvestris]

Rhode Island, who may have done enough to LOSE today and still get a bid, and maybe the Sun Belt winner (if Texas-Arlington gets an at-large bid, which is not too likely).

Considering that Michigan ended the B1G r.s. in 8th place, they can probably be viewed as thieves, since now they are virtually certain to get a bid, even if they lose the BTT finals. Without their BTT run they would have been in perilous situation, to say the least.
I haven't followed Arkansas, and don't know how much in doubt was their bid before their tourney (they finished 4th in the SEC). If they were viewed as a bubble team, I suppose their reaching their finals put and end to the doubts.

 

[FeliSilvestris]

You're forgetting the most important one, Smelly One - US. We are on the bubble . . . just ask Feli.

I have stated clearly that for me the win over Mary put and end to any doubt.

OTOH, if you believe in computer power rankings, NU is still ranked near #40. If that TRULY was NU's ranking it would be a bit uncomfortable (although probably just barely enough for a bid). Then again, the committee's ranking of NU could be quite different from (hopefully much better than) computer rankings.

 

[Walker Fan]

OMG FS is so off base and his BC bias is so comical. Check out the WSJ article on the cats for a clarification on why Collins turned around the basketball culture at NU by finally recruiting basketball players who are athletes and not settling for below Big 10 caliber players. One thing is obvious about FS, he has no clue about what good basketball is and most importantly what constitutes a great coach.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1_rivals]

Hah. Well we might have been if there were 10-15 bid thieves. This is a lesson for us all: don't anticipate more than a handful. In the end, there might even be zero.

Yep, that's why last year was so crazy. 15-16 true bid thieves made the NIT field incredibly compact.

 

[SmellyCat]

Rhode Island just won (and dunked at the end when VCU stopped playing D - that's bad karma for them). They basically took the last questionable bid up for grabs today (since the Ivy and Sun Belt are likely one-bid conferences).

So the committee doesn't have to do much more work right now. If they want Syracuse or Illinois State or Kansas State or Providence or whoever, they should be able to decide now.

 

[mikewebb68]

Considering that Michigan ended the B1G r.s. in 8th place, they can probably be viewed as thieves, since now they are virtually certain to get a bid, even if they lose the BTT finals. Without their BTT run they would have been in perilous situation, to say the least.
I haven't followed Arkansas, and don't know how much in doubt was their bid before their tourney (they finished 4th in the SEC). If they were viewed as a bubble team, I suppose their reaching their finals put and end to the doubts.

Wrong again, congratulations on continuing the streak! By ALL expert accounts, Michigan was in even if they lost their first round BTT game. Since I'm just here for the lulz, care to recap that pearl of wisdom where you stated that we had to finish 12-6 in the BIG regular season to be in the dance. ROFL!