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Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > March > 16 > Entry
Non-BCS schools get no respect
The BCS schools have a racket going on when it comes to the NCAA tournament. Maybe it shows my bias for the hometown team, but you can’t tell me that schools from the six power conferences deserved to get 30 of the 34 at-large bids. No way.
They have almost all of the TV exposure, they have the big bucks from cash-cow football programs, and now they appear to have the ability to work the NCAA Selection Committee like puppets.
No Creighton or St. Mary’s in the field? Just one at-large team from the Mountain West Conference?
Only Dayton, Xavier, Butler and BYU made the tourney among teams outside the BCS. Despicable.
The Big Ten and other BCS teams load up on home games during non-conference play, maybe test themselves once or twice, and go 12-2. Then, if you split your conference games, you’ve got a 20-win season and an NCAA bid. It ain’t right.
I watched the Illinois-Penn State game in Champaign during the regular-season, and I thought both teams were awful. Penn State didn’t make the field, thankfully, but the Illini were a No. 5 seed. And they certainly didn’t look like an upper-tier Atlantic 10 team to me.
In 2003-04, 12 non-BCS schools were invited to the Dance as at-large teams. That number dropped to nine the next year, eight after that, six the last two seasons and just four this year. Pitiful.
At least the Flyers, deservedly so, made the field — but only as an 11 seed. That tells me the margin for getting in was so slim that another defeat, say losing at George Washington or La Salle instead of winning by two, and they were NIT-bound.
It was neat, though, to see the unbridled joy of the Flyers as they celebrated their NCAA bid Sunday. London Warren was so moved that he wept unashamedly — and he wasn’t the only Flyer crying.
Kurt Huelsman, Stephen Thomas and others let the tears flow.
“All the stuff has paid off, all the work you put into it,” Huelsman said. “This is why you play college basketball.
“For a lot of these guys, basketball is all they’ve got. It means everything to us. That’s why it’s a dream come true — and we’re going to take advantage of it.”
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Comments
By OSU Joe
March 16, 2009 7:38 AM | Link to this
Doug, you are a typical delusional mid-major UD fan. UD should not have been selected in the tournament. There is only one player on the Flyers who would even be considered by OSU and that is Chris Wright as a walk-on. 90 % of American’s have no idea where Dayton is for that matter.By andy
March 16, 2009 8:20 AM | Link to this
I agree to some extent, although Creighton and St. Mary’s weren’t that strong either. The selection committee continues to reward marginal Big 6 teams for playing tough schedules while not beating anyone. I am disappointed with Dayton’s seed, not that I thought they deserved anything higher than a 9. There is no logical reason that Xavier should get a 4 and Dayton an 11….there is not that big of a difference between their resumes. Similarly it is disappointing to see Maryland and Michigan make the field despite looking terrible for half the season. As for OSU Joe, nobody really cares about OSU here. In fact, I didn’t realize that they were in the Big 10 Championship yesterday until I heard the score. I’m sure that the folks who read the Columbus Dispatch would care more about what ‘dilusional’ Buckeye fans like yourself have to say. If you don’t like what you see here then why read it? I don’t care about OSU so I don’t go read thier articles or commentary.By Rick
March 16, 2009 8:27 AM | Link to this
I don’t know why I’m even replying to OSU Joe, probably because he’s so far off base. I’ve watched the bucks several times this season and they would give Dayton a game. There are at least 4-5 UD Flyers that could have made the bucks roster this year and would have received considerable playing time. I hope Dayton and OSU get to meet in the next several years so they can prove me tight. GO FLYERS!!!By CJ
March 16, 2009 8:38 AM | Link to this
I couldn’t agree more with Doug Harris’s article. The selection committee did a terrible job of selecting then seeding teams. This whole process has turned into a joke. I’m guessing that once the committee has chose the at-large teams they don’t watch the games in the following weeks to see just how many of the “mid-major” teams upset the big boys. COMMITTEE…REMOVE HEADS FROM A*S NEXT YEAR!!! YOU HAVE RUINED ONE OF THE BEST HOURS EVER ON TV GIVING SMALL SCHOOLS NO HOPE OF MAKING THE BIG DANCE.By RickB
March 16, 2009 8:41 AM | Link to this
Both College FB and BB suffer from a Bloated “Division 1”. The mid majors are being kept out by the lower tier conference champions. How can you be the best team in your league and still be an automatic 15th or 16th seed? NCAA money grab.By Steve
March 16, 2009 10:22 AM | Link to this
I also agree with Doug. I live in Arizona and it is difficult for anyone here other then die hard Arizona fans to understand how the UofA Wildcats got in the tournament. They lost five of their last six and have played very uninspiring ball. Meanwhile, San Diego State And St. Mary’s sits at home. Too many teams from the BCS conferences are ruining the tournament.By Go Away, OSU Joe
March 16, 2009 11:13 AM | Link to this
I’d love to see what would happen if you referred to Chris Wright as a “walk-on” to his face. It would surely be bad for your physical well-being. But, you would never have the guts to do that, would you? Aren’t you glad you can hide behind your computer, you wretched, disgusting troll?By RC
March 16, 2009 1:54 PM | Link to this
I honestly thought that George Mason’s Final 4 run a few years back would open the slection committee’s eyes. But unfortunately, it just seems that the committee wants to guarantee that it never happens again. Punks.By Jerseyflyer
March 16, 2009 2:15 PM | Link to this
CDub is no walk on. But he sometimes does things like a walk on. Chris… Please develop a facing the basket shimmy shake ball fake before you bulldoze down the lane and get charging foul called on ya. You’ll be unstoppable once you get this move down. And stop guarding your man so tight way off the ball out on perimeter.Your opponent won’t hit crap that far out. Gregs is the coach so he’s in on this to some extent. Term is called Slack off your man. He is not going to hurt you from 30 ft out. Plus it keeps you from ticky tack fouling you always seem to be saddled with. Here’s my rotation for a win against WVU’s Slobadon Huggins from Serbian Army. Go with Wright at Center, Little at power forward,CJ at small forward. Point guard is The Jet and MJ gets off guard. Play this unit 70% of the game and we’ll run Hillrats out the building.By CJ
March 16, 2009 4:37 PM | Link to this
Right on Jerseyflyer!!! Play small against the boys with no DNA (one big happy family for thost that don’t get that)!!! That’s the best chance they have to pull off the upset. But…for some reason….BG is devoted to Huelsman. Good luck Flyers…By Hank
March 16, 2009 6:44 PM | Link to this
I’m thinking more and more that Rick Barnes (of Texas) was on it when he pointed out that the problem with the tournament is that CBS owns it. The committee is beholden to CBS’s interests and their marketing people know that having Big East teams in the final four will bring in the most revenue. They need to keep some Cinderella’s in there, but they don’t want to dilute the gene pool with their shenanigans. UConn/ Pitt rates a ton better than UD/ Syracuse as the finals. Maybe I’m cynical, but ESPN has been telling everyone all year how the Big East is all that matters and the mid-majors are only good for a distraction from the real basketball being played. Now CBS is doing what it takes to raise the ratings. It is sad and there is no end in sight. UD needs to start being considered a rogue A-10 team, like Memphis in Conf. USA, Gonzaga in the Big West, and, I hate to say it, x in the A-10. Those schools are a part of mid-major schools, but people mostly think that they are lowering themselves for the benefit of their conferences. The average fan thinks those teams really are a cut above the rest of their conference-matesBy jimbo
March 16, 2009 8:56 PM | Link to this
I’m pretty sure that CBS ratings reached a peak when George Mason made it to the Final 4. There was a hige buzz around GM that year.By Hartman
March 16, 2009 10:07 PM | Link to this
Hank, UD barely made the tournament because we played a gawd awful non-conf schedule and we were 5-5 in our last 10. There is no grand conspiracy against the mid-majors. Same goes for St Mary’s.By Kevin Brown
March 16, 2009 10:55 PM | Link to this
The big schools get the most spots because they play the toughest schedules and they are BETTER teams. I don’t care what St. Mary’s record was-they played a crap schedule and didn’t win their conference tournament. I would rather see Maryland in the tournament than St. Mary’s, who would get killed by a 1 or 2 seed in the first game anyway. The NCAA tournament is the BEST of the best, not just the teams with the most wins. I want to see good basketball games in the tournament. I could care less about watching St. Mary’s or Creighton. I have to watch enough crap teams as it is (North Dakota St./N.Iowa,Binghamton,Chatanooga,etc)that win their weak conference tournaments. If St. Mary’s had won 25+ games against first-class competition, then they would have gotten in, but they didn’t. Dayton did, and they are in. If you want to watch a bunch of mid-majors with decent records, then watch the NIT!!By outside guy
March 16, 2009 11:40 PM | Link to this
First. no real fan of one school would really hang out on another school’s sight, unless they had “issues”…so be kind to X, WSU and OSU whack jobs. Secondly, don’t you really think most of the “outside fans” are done by the DDN staff to get fans going, post comments and view the ads? seriously? do you really think that a real OSU, WSU or X fan wold hang out on a UD blog? I love OSU, Joe has issues or…is a Dayton Daily news intern set-up to create controversy… hmmm! “CW should be at OSU if he were a real player”, “CW should be in the NBA”, Thad Matta can get any player he wants…he doesn’t think about the player he doesn’t have, but the ones he does. As a Dayton area guys, I’m sorry WSU didn’t get in, Brad is awesome, they will have their day. I also love UD and hope X and Temple go far in the Tourney. Crazy, huh?By outside guy
March 16, 2009 11:49 PM | Link to this
If you don’t think there is double standard for the selection, you should be committed. Football requires so much depth, that no one team can beat another and no one player can dominate a game… in basketball this can happen. NC could dismantle nearly every team outside of 5 or 6 this year and they will be the only ones who have a chance…including OSU, Purdue, Tennessee, Wake, Arizona.By DCBuck
March 17, 2009 9:23 AM | Link to this
I’m an OSU alum and Columbus resident. As an OSU alum and Columbus resident, I want to disavow OSU Joe on behalf of all real Ohio State fans. We have a horde of thinly or un-educated trash in Columbus that never set foot on campus, yet claim to represent Ohio St. fans. These idiots bear primary responsibility for the horrible national perception of Ohio St. fans. Its a sad need for reflected glory with these miserable people, and OSU Joe reeks of this insecurity. Dayton has a great team, and Chris Wright would be a monster for Ohio St. and in the Big Ten (so too, for that matter, would Marcus Johnson). Good luck to the Flyers on Friday.By 3-Peat
March 19, 2009 1:50 AM | Link to this
Actually, Xavier gets respect - because it has been earned on the court. When’s the last time UD won an NCAA tourney game? That’s right - 1990 and counting. Win a NCAA game for once and see what happens.