Monday, March 16, 2015

Conference-by-conference postseason recap

Yes, let's look at all 32 conferences, really quickly:

A-East:
1 NCAA (Albany), 3 EIEIO (New Hampshire, Vermont, Stony Brook)
These were the only teams above .500 overall, and above .500 in conference, and all 4 deserved their bids.

AAC:
2 NCAA (SMU, Cincy), 3 NIT (Tulsa, UConn, Temple)
Memphis turned down the CBI.  No one else below them deserved any postseason, and none of them got it.

A-10:
3 NCAA (VCU, Davidson, Dayton), 3 NIT (Richmond, George Washington, Rhode Island)
I'm not sure what the A-10 policy on the CBI/CIT are, but UMass, St Bonaventure, and LaSalle all had profiles worthy of the CBI and I'm guessing all 3 turned them down.  Couldn't find confirmation though.

ACC:
6 NCAA (Duke, UNC, UND, UVa, NC State, Louisville), 2 NIT (Miami, Pitt)
No surprise Clemson and FSU aren't in the CBI, they turned them down.

A-Sun:
1 NCAA (UNF), 2 EIEIO (FGCU, USC-Upstate)
3 teams in the A-Sun had 20 wins, 3 teams above .500 in conference...3 postseason teams.  Perfect.

Big 12:
7 NCAA (Texas, OSU, Oklahoma, Iowa St, Baylor, Kansas, WVU)
Kansas St left out of the NIT, which I'm okay with.  Surprised TCU, even at 4-14 in conference, didn't wind up in the CBI.  I'm guessing the Big 12 in general has a CBI boycott.

Big East:
6 NCAA (Nova, Geurgetown, Butler, Provi, Xavier, St John's)
No NIT for Seton Hall, who did finish above .500 but careened to 6-12 in conference.  No confirmation they turned down CBI, but I'm assuming that happened.

Big Sky:
1 NCAA (EWU), 1 NIT (Montana), 2 EIEIO (Sac State, Northern Arizona)
I'm glad the other 2 teams in the 4-way race for the Big Sky title made the CBI/CIT.  Perfect.  The conference did have a Northern Colorado team at 15-15, 10-8 and Portland St team at 15-14, 9-9, but neither made it.  I think that's right too, neither should've been a postseason team.  Checkmark.

Big South:
1 NCAA (CCU), 1 NIT (Charleston Southern), 3 EIEIO (High Point, Gardner-Webb, Radford)
Did Winthrop turn down a bid?  At 12-6 in conference, 19-13 overall, might be the first questionable miss.  UNC-Asheville was the 7th team here in contention for the title in midseason, but they finished under .500 overall, so I'm ok with them missing out.

Big 10:
7 NCAA (Wisky, Maryland, MSU, Iowa, Purdue, OSU, Indiana), 1 NIT (Illinois)
Michigan and Minnesota miss the NIT.  I'm guessing all turned down the CBI, even Penn St who limped home above .500 overall.

Big West:
1 NCAA (Irvine), 1 NIT (Davis), 1 EIEIO (UCSB)
After the top 3, LBSU was 10-6 in conference, but under .500 overall.  Hawaii was .500 in conference, but had 22 wins.  I understand neither being in either EIEIO tournament.

CAA:
1 NCAA (Northeastern), 1 NIT (W&M), 3 EIEIO (JMU, UNCW, Hofstra)
All 5 teams were way above .500 overall, and were the only 5 conference members above .500.  Fair and just postseason bids here.

CUSA:
1 NCAA (UAB), 3 NIT (ODU, LaTech, UTEP), 1 EIEIO (MTSU)
Only one issue here, is Western Kentucky.  20-12, 12-6, and clearly deserving of a EIEIO bid.  Of course, since they turned down the bid, they can't complain.

Indys:
1 EIEIO (NJIT)

Horizon:
1 NCAA (Valpo), 1 NIT (Green Bay), 2 EIEIO (Cleveland St, Oakland)
The 4 teams that separated from the rest of the league all get into the postseason.  Well done.

Ivy:
1 NCAA (Harvard), 1 EIEIO (Dartmouth)
The real surprise here is Yale turning down a CBI/CIT bid.  Obviously there's no way the CBI or CIT wouldn't invite them, that would be insane.  Princeton was 9-5, 16-14, and might have a postseason argument as well, but I'm guessing they turned down a bid as well, as lower Dartmouth got in.

MAAC:
1 NCAA (Manhattan), 1 NIT (Iona), 2 EIEIO (Rider, Canisius)
One interesting note:  Canisius (16-14, 11-9) jumps Monmouth (18-15, 13-7) for a postseason invite.  From all appearances, Monmouth wanted that CIT bid, so hmm.

MAC:
1 NCAA (Buffalo), 1 NIT (CMU), 4 EIEIO (Kent St, Bowling Green, EMU, WMU)
All 4 EIEIOs are reasonable selections.  The 2 teams missing postseason are Akron (21 wins overall, .500 in conference) and Toledo (20 wins, 11-7 in conference).  Toledo definitely rejected invites; while I can't find definitive word on first glace, I'm willing to bet Akron did the same.

MEAC:
1 NCAA (Hampton), 1 NIT (NCCU), 3 EIEIO (Norfolk, UMES, Delaware St)
I think the MEAC got one too many in DSU.  Heck, even Howard had a better conference record and was .500 overall and didn't get a postseason invite.

MVC:
2 NCAA (Wichita, UNI), 1 NIT (Illinois St), 2 EIEIO (Loyola, Evansville)
Indiana St at 15-16 overall, but 11-7 in conference, have no CBI invite.  I figured that'd be the type of team to go to the CBI at under .500 overall.

Mountain West:
3 NCAA (Wyoming, SDSU, Boise), 1 NIT (Colorado St)
While I can't find definitive word, Utah St and UNLV are sitting out the EIEIOs, and I'm not surprised.

NEC:
1 NCAA (RMU), 1 NIT (St Francis(NY)), 1 EIEIO (St Francis(PA))
So the PA version of St Francis is in the postseason, at .500 in conference, but Bryant at 12-6 and Mount St Mary's at 11-7 are not.  I cannot find word on if either turned down a bid.  If not, here's a questionable decision made by the CIT right here.

OVC:
1 NCAA (Belmont), 1 NIT (Murray St), 3 EIEIO (EIU, UT-Martin, EKU)
Mostly okay here.  Morehead St at 10-6 in conference didn't get a postseason bid, and them vs. EIU is an interesting debate.

Pac-12:
4 NCAA (Arizona, Utah, Oregon, UCLA), 2 NIT (Stanford, ASU), 1 EIEIO (Colorado)
Cal and Oregon St (and probably Washington) turned down CBI bids.  Why Colorado is playing, I have no idea.

Patriot:
1 NCAA (Lafayette), 1 NIT (Bucknell)
2nd place in this conference was Colgate, but they were under .500 overall.  Lehigh was 3rd, but just 10-8.  It would seem like a conference would deserve a 3rd postseason team under almost any circumstance, but it's tough to actually find a deserving one here.

SEC:
5 NCAA (Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU), 3 NIT (A&M, Bama, Vandy)
Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina...all probably turned down CBI bids.

SoCon:
1 NCAA (Wofford), 1 EIEIO (Mercer)
2nd place Chattanooga isn't anywhere.  It sounds like they turned it down based on coach chatter.  There's really no one behind Mercer who deserved a bid.

Southland:
1 NCAA (SFA), 4 EIEIO (Sam Houston, NW State, TAMU-CC, Incarnate Word)
4 seems high, butt IWU is in transition and the other 3 were at least 13-5 in conference.  I'm okay with it.

SWAC:
1 NCAA (Texas Southern)

Summit:
1 NCAA (N Dakota St), 1 NIT (S Dakota St), 2 EIEIO (ORU, IPFW)
IPFW might be one too many for this conference.

Sun Belt:
1 NCAA (Ga State), 2 EIEIO (UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette)
Developing situation here.  Remember, this was a 4-team race, and Georgia Southern was the 4th (and lost on Selection Sunday to Ga State).  No invite for them, and all indications are that they wanted to play.  They clearly deserved a bid somewhere, so this begs the question:  did playing on Sunday cost them?  Since the CBI and CIT didn't want to wait to see if they were available?  If that's the case, this is a gross violation by these two tournaments.

WCC:
2 NCAA (Gonzaga, BYU), 1 NIT (St Mary's), 2 EIEIO (Portland, Pepperdine)
Okay.

WAC:
1 NCAA (NMSU), 2 EIEIO (Grand Canyon, Seattle)
Seattle is really stretching it as far as deserving the postseason goes.

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