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FWST: Big 12 gauntlet leaving teams battle-tested with blemishes

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
Big 12 gauntlet leaving teams battle-tested with blemishes

BY STEFAN STEVENSON
sstevenson@star-telegram.com

Big 12 men's basketball is the toughest league in the country and the teams keep proving it each week.

The onslaught of opponents has nearly rendered the conference standings beside the point. What does it even matter with seven of the teams within one game of third place? Every game means everything.

So if you're TCU coach Jamie Dixon, league records and positioning aren't even on your radar at the moment. The Big 12 standings are a big, beautiful mess with four teams tied for sixth place, including TCU (17-8, 5-7 Big 12).

Read more at http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/mens-basketball/article199515544.html
 

Portland Frog

Full Member
“Big 12 men's basketball is the toughest league in the country and the teams keep proving it each week.
The onslaught of opponents has nearly rendered the conference standings beside the point.”

Well put. ISU for example right now is in last place. They have wins against TT, WV and OU.
 
“Big 12 men's basketball is the toughest league in the country and the teams keep proving it each week.
The onslaught of opponents has nearly rendered the conference standings beside the point.”

Well put. ISU for example right now is in last place. They have wins against TT, WV and OU.
That’s absolutely crazy. What a conference
 

Frog DJ

Active Member
“Eating their own” will probably exclude a deserving team or two at selection time for The Big Dance, but the high level of competition in the conference will be an advantage for the teams that do make the cut.

Go Frogs!
 

Wexahu

Full Member
“Eating their own” will probably exclude a deserving team or two at selection time for The Big Dance, but the high level of competition in the conference will be an advantage for the teams that do make the cut.

Go Frogs!

Maybe so, but it's not like the team(s) that don't make it can say they didn't get a fair shot. At some point you have to string together some wins. I still think 8-10 in conference play with a win in the B12 tournament is a virtual lock. Go 8-10 and then lose in the first round and it becomes dicey.

That we're even talking about teams that might finish below .500 in their conference making the NCAA tournament speaks to how too many teams make that field IMO. You should have to earn the right to play for a national championship in a single-elimination, all neutral site tournament. Not sure losing more than half your games qualifies, but hey, take it if you can.
 

Frog DJ

Active Member
Agree, Wexahu. Fair is a subjective assessment, but it is what it is.

Win games and go to The Dance - lose games and play in The NIT.

To me, that seems perfectly fair, and TCU has a chance if they win 2 at home.

Go Frogs!
 

Wexahu

Full Member
Agree, Wexahu. Fair is a subjective assessment, but it is what it is.

Win games and go to The Dance - lose games and play in The NIT.

To me, that seems perfectly fair, and TCU has a chance if they win 2 at home.

Go Frogs!

If it were up to me, I'd reduce the field size down to 48, give the top 16 regular season conference champions first round byes, and weed out all the .500 or barely above .500 teams. Stop rewarding mediocrity and start making conference championships meaningful again. A team can go 27-4 and their only "reward" in the tournament over a team that goes 19-12 is that they get ONE easier game. Seems like a 30+ game schedule should differentiate teams a bit more than that. A bonus byproduct is that the NIT field would instantly get much, much stronger and that tournament would get a major boost.

I know something like this will never happen though.
 

Tom Brown

Active Member
If it were up to me, I'd reduce the field size down to 48, give the top 16 regular season conference champions first round byes, and weed out all the .500 or barely above .500 teams. Stop rewarding mediocrity and start making conference championships meaningful again. A team can go 27-4 and their only "reward" in the tournament over a team that goes 19-12 is that they get ONE easier game. Seems like a 30+ game schedule should differentiate teams a bit more than that. A bonus byproduct is that the NIT field would instantly get much, much stronger and that tournament would get a major boost.

I know something like this will never happen though.

No thanks, dont mess with my march madness.
 

froglash88

Full Member
Maybe so, but it's not like the team(s) that don't make it can say they didn't get a fair shot. At some point you have to string together some wins. I still think 8-10 in conference play with a win in the B12 tournament is a virtual lock. Go 8-10 and then lose in the first round and it becomes dicey.

That we're even talking about teams that might finish below .500 in their conference making the NCAA tournament speaks to how too many teams make that field IMO. You should have to earn the right to play for a national championship in a single-elimination, all neutral site tournament. Not sure losing more than half your games qualifies, but hey, take it if you can.

Tournament needs to go to 80 teams. Only 22 teams got in when my father played for Providence in 1966. Now over 300 teams in D1 (347). Heck, didn’t UConn win the NC after finishing 5th in the Big East. Expand the field please.
 
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