NCAA Bracketology

[EastStang]

I wouldn't mind playing Michigan in the play-in game. They are a mess right now.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

San Diego

(3) Texas Tech vs. (14) WESTERN ATHLETIC/New Mexico State

(6) Alabama vs. (11) SMU
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/n ... 906756001/

That would be great. Alabama is so overrated.

[shadowman]

Latest from Joey Brackets: https://twitter.com/ESPNLunardi/status/ ... 97/photo/1

SMU is the last team in at the moment...of course that's in Joe's bracket, who follows this super closely.

Lord knows what will happen when the Selection Committee - comprised of Athletic Directors who know more about sports facilities, scheduling, and athletics workforce planning than they do about which current basketball teams around the nation are actually good - makes the official selections. For all teams except for blue bloods in the top 25 and conference champions it is a total crap shoot with those folks picking.

After Memphis beat Temple at home tonight, Joe switched us back to Memphis last 4 in and us first 4 out.

You have to feel Joe is flat out wrong on this. You can make the case that neither Memphis or SMU deserves to be in the tournament at this point, that is fine. It is impossible, however, to suggest that Memphis would get the nod over SMU if the selection happened today. SMU has a much better overall record, a better conference record and has beaten Memphis twice. We are also ahead of them in the NET rankings. Not really sure his reasoning, but if another AAC team is getting in as of today, it would definitely be SMU.

[Terry Webster]

I think Joe is being a bit lazy on the SMU front but he does have a point in that the tourney's might change everything. If Murray State loses in their tourney they will still get an at large bid which throws some of the bubble teams out. Beat Houston.

[shadowman]

Yes,

SMU has two "certain" paths to the tournament, beat Houston and we are in, or win the Conference Tournament, both are possible, obviously, it would be nice to take care of it on Saturday at Houston, then we can just work on our seeding.

[DC-Pony]

Yes,

SMU has two "certain" paths to the tournament, beat Houston and we are in, or win the Conference Tournament, both are possible, obviously, it would be nice to take care of it on Saturday at Houston, then we can just work on our seeding.

I think that with the path of beating Houston, we can’t afford to lose to Tulane or Cincy or the first round of the AAC. Any of those losses, I suspect, put us in very unstable territory. Because we are SMU and the NCAA is the NCAA. And I’m serious about that. Nothing in history would suggest to me we’d be in a great position with such a loss.

[Dukie]

The worst omen for SMU is that there are a *ton* of P5 programs around the bubble. And all of the Big XII (Iowa State), ACC ("U"NC), SEC (Alabama), B1G (Minnesota), and PAC 12 (UCLA) are on the committee this year. So is the Big East (Butler).

https://hoopshd.com/ncaa-selection-committee/

And, as has been the case for every one of the FULL DECADE of years that SMU has been in the American, there is zero AAC representation on the committee. This is Hart's biggest failure, in my opinion.

[mustangxc]

Jerry Palm has had us in since the Memphis win and not just last 4 in. Memphis gets credit for scheduling much better than us. They also have more brand recognition in basketball and a much more high profile coach as well as recruits. We are going to have to earn it. Let's just beat Houston, Cincinnati, and Tulane.

[Charleston Pony]

I'm thinking auto-bid or NIT for our guys after another lopsided road loss, although the ESPN guys think the AAC deserves a 2nd bid and expect SMU to play Memphis again in the semi-finals with winner getting into the NCAAs. Of course, our guys still have to beat Cincy & Tulane and get to the semis which could be a pretty tall order, especially without Phelps. Really could have used his defensive intensity against Houston today

[geezerdonk]

Two blow out losses to teams that are under .500 in the American Conference - disqualifiers. Also, if a team is on the edge, doesn't the selection committee look to see if it has actual fans and what the attendance is at home games? In terms of fans/attendance, SMU must be the worst in their conference and among the worst in Division 1.

[Charleston Pony]

Two blow out losses to teams that are under .500 in the American Conference - disqualifiers. Also, if a team is on the edge, doesn't the selection committee look to see if it has actual fans and what the attendance is at home games? In terms of fans/attendance, SMU must be the worst in their conference and among the worst in Division 1.

You might be right. I'm sure fan attendance is at the top of the selection committee's criteria as they try to identify the best 68 teams. Perhaps SMU is destined to be relegated to the NIT where we could be matched up against your beloved TCU horney frogs

[mustangxc]

We would face TCU for a trip to NY or in NY but not before then. SMU and TCU would both be 1 or 2 seeds in the NIT.

[EastStang]

Win out in regular season, and win first round and then beat Memphis in tournament and we're in UNLESS, there are a ton of bracket buster upsets in conference tournaments. If that happens, then we have to win the tournament against Houston who has figured us out. Rain threes and hope they go in.

[horsemanx]

Win out in regular season, and win first round and then beat Memphis in tournament and we're in UNLESS, there are a ton of bracket buster upsets in conference tournaments. If that happens, then we have to win the tournament against Houston who has figured us out. Rain threes and hope they go in.

If we get Houston again in the tournament, we should probably consider just shooting a three right away on offense every time. Since we know we have to make a bunch of threes against them it makes sense to me to maximize the number of attempts in order to make the most threes possible.

[PonyTime]

We would face TCU for a trip to NY or in NY but not before then. SMU and TCU would both be 1 or 2 seeds in the NIT.

A lot of the "Experts" indicated that TCU cemented their tournament creds by beating Tech this past weekend - assuming they take care of WV in final game (this also assumes they lose both to Kansas).

As much as I hate to say it - Only way they end up in NIT is if they lose to WW or in first round of Conference tourney - or if a bunch of upsets in other conference tournaments.