Bubble watch

[ISUSOX13]

Nice to see everyone pulling for the 'Birds.

Feel like tonight was a punch in the gut though.

Really hope Wichita goes on a long run. To hell with all the power fives.

[shocker3]

With many of the bubble teams losing this week, I was really starting to feel pretty good about the Redbirds chances. Then K-State beat Baylor tonight. That one really hurts a lot. Hopefully, the Redbirds can still make it in.

[Red]

I hate that wins by KState and TCU against teams who don't have much to play for or have suspended players could knock out non-BCS teams from the bubble.

[BirdsEyeView]

I hate that wins by KState and TCU against teams who don't have much to play for or have suspended players could knock out non-BCS teams from the bubble.

Bracketology has knocked us into First Four Out...it was only a matter of time

[BEARZ77]

I hate that wins by KState and TCU against teams who don't have much to play for or have suspended players could knock out non-BCS teams from the bubble.

The system is so skewed anymore towards the power conferences. RPI means little except when being used as a weapon against a midmajor. Everything is about top 50-100 wins and avoidance of bad losses, but of course the opportunity for the wins and the potential for the losses is upside down for teams like ours. I've never felt you should get too much credit for home wins; a power conference team playing a home and home in conference schedule is going to get 4-8 opportunities on their home court for top 50-100 wins. Even mediocre teams given that many opportunities usually win a couple of those. And the whole idea that wins in a conference tourney when you're playing teams that already have NCAA Tourney locks should all of a sudden take a proven 7th-10th place team in over a conference champion from midlevel conference is just wrong. I think the at large bids should be decided prior to that with the only impact being if a regular season champion gets beat and they clearly are a top 68 team, then adjusting so they are in the tourney. The idea that the NCAA tourney is about getting the "subjective best" 68 teams in is not what the tournament was about, else-wise you would never have begun inviting even the conference or tournament winners from the lower end conferences to it to begin with. It's supposed to be about an objective recognition of the teams that excelled during the regular season and then seeing how they compare against a field of other achievers. I already know how the 9th place team in the Big 12 will do against it's constituents, I don't know how a St. Mary's or an ISU will unless given the chance.

[BuBrave2006]

I hate that wins by KState and TCU against teams who don't have much to play for or have suspended players could knock out non-BCS teams from the bubble.

You could hardly say that teams like Baylor or Kansas don't have much to play for. Everyone wants to win their conference tournament. Everyone wants to lock up as good a seed as they can get for the NCAA tournament. Some teams may be more desperate than others, but everyone is still trying to win. A win over Baylor is a damn good win. As for playing Kansas without Josh Jackson due to a suspension, I don't think Illinois State is the right program to be able to complain about that given some of the incidents with some of your players.

[Stickboy46]

I hate that wins by KState and TCU against teams who don't have much to play for or have suspended players could knock out non-BCS teams from the bubble.

You could hardly say that teams like Baylor or Kansas don't have much to play for. Everyone wants to win their conference tournament. Everyone wants to lock up as good a seed as they can get for the NCAA tournament. Some teams may be more desperate than others, but everyone is still trying to win. A win over Baylor is a damn good win. As for playing Kansas without Josh Jackson due to a suspension, I don't think Illinois State is the right program to be able to complain about that given some of the incidents with some of your players.

I kind of disagree. Baylor yes, but KU no. They went from a 1 Seed ... To a 1 seed with the loss. It really did zero harm to them, and gave them 2 extra days rest for a roster that really only goes 7 deep.

[hot nuts]

Illinois state is not selected to participate in the NCAA tournament this year, I'm having a hard time figuring out why I would ever go to another regular season game again. Perhaps if there was a compelling matchup against a high-profile team I would reconsider.

[BuBrave2006]

I hate that wins by KState and TCU against teams who don't have much to play for or have suspended players could knock out non-BCS teams from the bubble.

You could hardly say that teams like Baylor or Kansas don't have much to play for. Everyone wants to win their conference tournament. Everyone wants to lock up as good a seed as they can get for the NCAA tournament. Some teams may be more desperate than others, but everyone is still trying to win. A win over Baylor is a damn good win. As for playing Kansas without Josh Jackson due to a suspension, I don't think Illinois State is the right program to be able to complain about that given some of the incidents with some of your players.

I kind of disagree. Baylor yes, but KU no. They went from a 1 Seed ... To a 1 seed with the loss. It really did zero harm to them, and gave them 2 extra days rest for a roster that really only goes 7 deep.

Everyone wants to win every game they play. Sure Kansas likely stayed at a 1 seed. But you don't think Bill Self wants to continue his conference dominance and win the Big 12 Tournament? You think he wants a loss on his resume? If you watched the game yesterday, you could tell that several of the Kansas players did NOT want to lose that game. It's tournament atmosphere.

It's a tough break for ISU that TCU got to play against Kansas with Jackson suspended. But that's all it is, a tough break. To imply that Kansas was unmotivated for this game is just wrong to me. I'd be way more inclined to believe that they simply looked passed TCU and assumed that they would win.

[Red]

Dayton just lost to a 16-14 Davidson team so it's possible that the A10 could steal a bid.