Dunn Done

[TheHall]

How many other 9th place teams in any conference have gotten an NCAAT bid in history?

Never, because it was an unprecedented year. One conference was really deep while the bubble was also really weak. That's your argument? Just that? Wow. So your argument boils down to, "A 9th place team has never made the tournament before, theyrefore they couldn't have possibly been a tournament team prior to that run...because it's never happened before." Sorry, something's unprecedented nature doesn't work as an argument. Sports has plenty of once-unprecedented things.

There's nothing revisionist about my analysis. Warren Nolan had them as a friggin 5 seed before they went on that run; that was his actual projection, no change. ESPN bracket analysis listed them as a lock (that I remember). It's hard to find other information simply because it was three years ago and not even the final bracket projections, since the conference tournaments hadn't happened. There's nothing revisionist about their resume either. About the only thing you could say is that maybe Marquette wasn't a top 50 team but fell just outside prior to the postseason (just as Michigan State, who they beat, fell just outside after the postseason). Okay, so in that case they were 8-8 vs. top 50 teams instead of 9-9 and 3-1 vs. 51-100 instead of 2-0. Really, not too much different of a resume, as they went 1-1 against a borderline top 50 team, not a borderline top 100 team (the latter being at risk of being a bad loss but the former being nothing unusual). Everything else is absolutely what the resume was prior to the tournament. Maybe you thought they weren't a tournament lock, but that's not much of an argument when you have shown that you don't have a great sense of how the Selection Process works.

So a 9 seed in the BET was pegged as a 5 seed in the NCAAT....5 seed = top 20 ranking...what was Uconn ranked going into the BET? More homework....

[TheHall]

I'm cracking up at the two of you trying to use one of the most unique years in cbb history to make points about this season....carry on.

[XUFan09]

Shawn Siegel (7th overall in the Bracket Project) had them as a four seed on February 21st when they were 8-6 in conference. Do you really think they would have gone from a 4 seed to out of the tournament because they finished the season 1-3 (losing to top 50 teams, mind you)?

http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/bracketo ... -in-169027

Jesse Kramer (a little below average at 52nd) had them as a 4 seed on February 27th, just prior to finishing 1-3.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/6194 ... ebruary-27

Chris Dobbertean (not part of Project) had them as a 4 seed just prior to losing their final game of the season.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball ... s-duke-byu

Steve Deace (not part of Project) had them as a 4 seed prior to losing their last two games.

http://stevedeace.com/news/deaces-2011-bracketology/

These guys, along with Warren Nolan mentioned before, have different levels of reputation within bracketology, but they all reached very similar conclusions on UConn in the closing games of the season, that they were a 4 or 5 seed. Warren Nolan's was after the regular season had concluded, and the other search results I found were all near the end of the season (between 1 and 4 games remaining). UConn was a tournament team, plain and simple.

[XUFan09]

So a 9 seed in the BET was pegged as a 5 seed in the NCAAT....5 seed = top 20 ranking...what was Uconn ranked going into the BET? More homework....

That's cute. Yes, they were pegged as a 5 seed. Or even a 4 by some, as I just linked. And the info is already in the Warren Nolan link. When he had them projected as a 5 seed prior to the BET, they were ranked 21st by AP and 19th by Coaches, with an RPI of 23. And I already mentioned that Kenpom had them ranked 26th.

[stever20]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... ogy-update
Bracketology from Joe Lunardi on March 6. Big east with 11 teams and none last 4 byes or last 4 in...... should tell you something...

[XUFan09]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/24930/joe-lunardis-latest-bracketology-update
Bracketology from Joe Lunardi on March 6. Big east with 11 teams and none last 4 byes or last 4 in...... should tell you something...

I think he's just trolling on a board he actually frequents by this point. He was wrong initially, then he realized it but didn't want to admit it, so he persisted in making dumb arguments. Either that or he's just really, really stubborn.

[XUFan09]

What kills me is I wasn't even a Big East fan at the time, but I knew UConn was still a lock for the field despite their struggles. He was a Big East fan then, yet insisted contrary to that truth.

[stever20]

I'm cracking up at the two of you trying to use one of the most unique years in cbb history to make points about this season....carry on.

the point is, if Nova is anything near competent in conference play, like 9-9 for sure, they would have at least 20 wins(21 if they beat Syracuse). That's just about a lock. And, I'd say this, if they weren't a lock to get in with that- that would speak VERY badly to the Big East in the NCAA committee's eyes.

[TheHall]

So trolling is saying a team wasn't a lock. Somehow you believe saying a team is a lock or not isn't a judgement call. I watched both of you ratchet up & call me an idiot dumb and a troll. Your opinions cool but no more conversation from me.

[stever20]

So trolling is saying a team wasn't a lock. Somehow you believe saying a team is a lock or not isn't a judgement call. I watched both of you ratchet up & call me an idiot dumb and a troll. Your opinions cool but no more conversation from me.

Show us 1 bracketologist who said they weren't a lock entering the BET. Just 1. Not your opinion not well they were 9th place so they couldn't be a lock. Show us anyone who said they weren't a lock......

I'm expecting crickets galore here.....