If Wichita St. runs the table, do they deserve a #1 seed?

[Sumdumguy]

WSU might be a victim of circumstance, but it still isn't ironic.

[ljay]

We'll, Indy State crapped all over today's top hypothesis. Tennessee pooped the bed too.

[cu blujs]

What would putting WSU and CU in the same region to go head to head prove that would be different than putting WSU in a region against Villanova or Duke or NC or the top team in any other major conference or any other potential 2 - 3 seed? Why should CU be the standard of validation for WSU? Why should CU have any more obligation than any of the afore mentioned schools to schedule WSU this year to let them prove whether they are deserving of a number one seed? I do recognize SLU played them this year, so not knocking that - except that you guys could have ended all of this last December by not pissing away that game).

CU is rated where they are becuase we took down Nova twice and lead the 3rd/4th best conference in the country. Had CU been in the MVC this year, and lost two conference games (leaving aside WSU), then given our OOC schedule and record (losses to SDSU and GW), had we swept WSU, they would have been dropped out of the top 25 and CU would still be rated somewhere in upper teens, if that. Had we split, we'd probably both be sitting somewhere in the upper teens to low 20s and either of us would be lucky to get a 4 seed. Most likely, whoever went the furthest in the tourney would get a 4 and the other a 6. So, our leaving did not take three potential top ten games away from WSU. In fact, if WSU gets a one see, or even a two seed, they more likely than not owe it to CU leaving the MVC - except of course they could have swept us to in which case it would have made no difference.

[Bill Marsh]

Starting to sound to me like Buckswope has a dog in this fight.

A SLU season ticket holder. I respect both WIchita St and Creighton and would love to see them paired as the 1 and 2 in the same region.

I think the anti-Wichita St 1-seed arguments are largely misguided, as if Wichita St intentionally engineered a soft schedule in order to go undefeated and claim a 1 seed...

Misguided argument becomes ironic when coming from Creighton fans.

"Misguided"? Really???

Someone who has a serious disagreement with you is simply "misguided"? What? They don't see the light?

Do you seriously think that anyone thinks that WSU "engineered a soft schedule in order to go undefeated"? I don't.

I think that WSU put together the schedule that made the most sense for them, given a variety of factors that affect student athletes and the university as a whole. I don't think that WSU should be punished for that, not do I think that something other than a 1-seed would in fact be a punishment.

The schedule is what is is. And that's the point. The teams who have the greatest accomplishments during the regular season get the highest seeds because they've already demonstrated a high level of accomplishment. Those who have accomplished less during the regular season are seeded lower, which will result in a more challenging tournament schedule to some degree so that on their way to a championship they will be able to prove what they weren't able or didn't have the opportunity to prove during the regular season.

That seems like the way to go about it. If you're going to win a championship, you're going to have to earn it. And you're going to have to prove yourself one way or another.

It's simply about evaluating the schedule for what it is. It's not about impugning anyone's motives.

[handdownmandown]

BTW, the biggest reason CU has not signed a home and home with the Shockers is because one coachimg staff can't stand the other.

And looking at the offending staff, I can't blame Creighton for not doing so.

[OutlawWales]

If Creighton tried to keep the series going and Wichita St denied them, I will stand down and retract my statement - but my understanding is that Wichita St will play anyone home and home starting the series on the road - thus I assume Creighton is (more) to blame for the lack of a head to head OOC matchup in 2013-14.

Like I said, the perfect solution is to just stick them in the same region and let it play out naturally on a neutral court in the regional final (assuming each side can beat 3 other teams).

It's Creighton's fault they aren't playing a home and home starting this season? Are you crazy? The decision to jump to the BIG EAST came at a time where almost all of Creighton's OOC schedule for this year was already in place. You can't just magically schedule teams that want to still play you if there aren't openings on your schedule to do so. It's kind of the same reason that Wichita's final four run last year didn't magically open all kinds of doors for them to put together a decent out of conference schedule this year. And given the history between the schools and the coaching staff and past behavior of Wichita's, Creighton doesn't "owe" Wichita a darn thing.

I think the perfect solution is to just give Wichita a #1 or #2 seed and then watch them get upset in their first or second game. I don't think Creighton has anything to do with whether Wichita can validate its ranking when it plays some real competition. So far there really isn't a single really good team on Wichita's entire schedule for this year, and that's just the way it is. Creighton fans absolutely understand how hard it is to schedule really good teams in out of conference play. And I absolutely give Wichita credit for winning against every inferior and mediocre opponent that they have faced -- Creighton can't say the same, as every loss we have had was a game we supposed to win. That deserves credit and recognition. It still doesn't change that the way everything ended up working out Wichita's schedule was terrible this year. Just the way it goes sometimes.

This may all end up being a meaningless discussion anyway. Wichita has never, in the history of the program, managed to win the conference tourney in St. Louis. It doesn't matter how good or how dominant Wichita has been in a given year, they have choked and blown it in St. Louis every single time. It's really, really, really hard to imagine how they could do that again this year -- but until they actually get through it without being upset, history says they will lose there. And when they lose on a neutral court to anyone in that conference this year, it will be a very bad loss, coming a full week before brackets and everyone else gets to make a case for #1 or #2 seed in other conference tourneys, etc.

[cu blujs]

Wichita's RPI is stuck around 8, and I don't see it moving up no matter whether they win out or not - unless several of the top 7 teams lose multiple games. And it is still possible that a couple of the teams currently in the 9-12 or so slots will move up becuase they are playing higher RPI teams. WSU has one top 50 win, I believe. I have said all along and I will continue to say that I do not think the committee will give WSU a number one seed just because they ran the table. There are too many teams deserving a higher bid that they would have to pass over just for a feel good story of putting WSU at the 1. But, if I am wrong it won't be the first time.

[senditinjerome]

Wichita #2 in both polls now.

If Florida wins out and Wichita's #2 (or worse) ranking holds as they enter the tourney, this is a good thing for them, especially if they do get a #1 seed...Marshall will use this as motivation; try to get them to play with a chip on their shoulder.

[Bluejay]

Creighton fans are the last ones who should be playing this card. YOU LEFT. You chose to stop playing Wichita St. You're a huge reason why their schedule is so weak.

Wait a second --- Creighton is responsible for WSU's weak schedule? WSU could have (and frankly should have) adjusted their schedule to take into consideration the fact that they wouldn't be playing Creighton in the conference any longer. WSU knew that CU was leaving. WSU had complete control over their own schedule (outside of the stupid bracketbuster return games, for which Creighton also had to deal with).

Whether or not WSu deserves a one seed has ZERO to do with Creighton's scheduling decisions. It is true that the MVC is not as good without Creighton, but it is equally true that WSU knew that prior to the start of the season.

[theNEWbigeast]

Creighton fans are the last ones who should be playing this card. YOU LEFT. You chose to stop playing Wichita St. You're a huge reason why their schedule is so weak.

I'm more of a lurker, than an active participant, on this board. But the above sentence, which is maybe the dumbest argument I've ever read, prompted me to comment.

My comment: this is the dumbest thing I've ever read. I can't believe any person with an IQ above 71 would really blame a Creighton program for Wichita State's weak schedule, especially given how things played out. I'm literally in shock at how unintelligent that is.

But putting that utter nonsense aside, WSU's non-conference RPI is ranked ahead of Kansas and Kentucky, according to ESPN's numbers today. WSU's non-conference strength of schedule is ranked ahead of Villanova, Arizona, Syracuse (by more than 100 spots), and Creighton. See it all here: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi

WSU can't help how bad the MVC is, but these stats are favorable to WSU in all this "weak schedule" discussion.