Just Stuff

No, no, not what y'all might think. It's about the inevitable whining and complaining about the makeup of the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament.

What has me especially grumpy today are the comments by a number of KSU fans, more or less to the effect that "We finished fourth in the Big XII, why did Arizona get picked and not us, we're a better team" and other general unhelpful comments like that.

Well, purple people, it's kinda simple. KSU tied for fourth in the Big XII, and given the fourth seed in the conference tournament due to tie breakers, but, in the ways that matter to the Selection Committee, KSU was seventh (see, e.g., Strength of Schedule; RPI; performance against teams ranked in the top 50 RPI; and other such statistics). Yes, I agree; Arizona should not have been selected; but Arizona has a better overall "picture" than KSU.

That said, I hope KSU does well in the NIT (where, interestingly, KSU is a fourth seed). A young team gets great benefit from the extra practices and games played post-season, and KSU is a young team. Plus, with sufficient improvement, and given what appears to be a very good recruiting class, KSU may have a good shot at the NCAA tourney next year, which will benefit all members of the Big Xii financially (conference revenue sharing). The latter, by the way, is why I hope all members of the Big XII win as many games as possible; more $$ to split.

ROCK CHALK.