***** Selection Sunday Thread *****

[Chaotic_zx 1,047]

I look at like this. If Auburn was to win the National Championship they'd have to play multiple tough teams. Respect isn't given. It is earned/taken. Beat Yale, Beat UAB/SDS, and then beat UCONN. Then the respect will come. If Auburn is good enough, they will have to take it. Just like the Auburn team did to make the Final Four.

[gr82be 14,456]

10 minutes ago, Chaotic_zx said:

I look at like this. If Auburn was to win the National Championship they'd have to play multiple tough teams. Respect isn't given. It is earned/taken. Beat Yale, Beat UAB/SDS, and then beat UCONN. Then the respect will come. If Auburn is good enough, they will have to take it. Just like the Auburn team did to make the Final Four.

That’s the way I feel too. I hate that the travel is more expensive and difficult for the many fans. We have a really good team and some people may not have realized that no one is happy to see us in their bracket either. 

[gr82be 14,456]

So there is no way this committee sits around and waits on Sunday games to be over before they start the seeding. We were a 4 seed heading into the tournament and I’m thinking the brackets were pretty much done as well as the locations. Sure, NC State threw a wrench in things and probably another game or two but I think 90-95% of it was set before the conference tournaments started. 

[TuscaloosaTiger 285]

9 hours ago, cbo said:

I'm not one to typically whine about these things, but we got completely hosed. 

Glad we have a coach that knows how to use this. 

One of the posts I read had a link to the UCONN booster site. They are at least as upset with having AU in their bracket as we are being in UCONN's bracket.  They cannot understand why as the top seed that they don't have the worst rated team in the 4 seed line in their bracket, which would be UA. Very concerned about AU depth and defensive prowess, but not UA. I don't understand their bracket either with Iowa St., Illinois, and AU as their 2, 3, and 4 seed lines (all conference tourney winners). They cannot believe AU was not at least a 3 seed. Last I checked there were 23 pages of UCONN booster concerns. The committee did us and them no favors. 

[arktiger1975 536]

30 minutes ago, TuscaloosaTiger said:

One of the posts I read had a link to the UCONN booster site. They are at least as upset with having AU in their bracket as we are being in UCONN's bracket.  They cannot understand why as the top seed that they don't have the worst rated team in the 4 seed line in their bracket, which would be UA. Very concerned about AU depth and defensive prowess, but not UA. I don't understand their bracket either with Iowa St., Illinois, and AU as their 2, 3, and 4 seed lines (all conference tourney winners). They cannot believe AU was not at least a 3 seed. Last I checked there were 23 pages of UCONN booster concerns. The committee did us and them no favors. 

And bama, the weakest 4 seed, gets the weakest 1 seed in UNC. Their AD is a bigwig on the committee. Coincidence? I think not. Bammer always seems to be able to pull political strings to get their way in all sports.

[JDUBB4AU 5,121]

New season baby. Make us the 10th seed. Who cares???? The time is now. WDE

[Eagle-2 255]

7 hours ago, Viper said:

Compete BS.

UK won at TN. We lost at TN.

Switch those two wins around and we are the 3 and UK is the 4.

That opponent on the road was THAT important. It's as simple as that.

Complete HS.

Kentucky also lost to Tennessee at home, and to Florida at home.

So, does beating Tennessee on the road carry more weight than losing to them at home?

If you want to argue that Kentucky beating us at home was bigger I'll give you that, but as Kentucky did to Tennessee Auburn did not get the chance at a return match at Rupp. 

I will admit that I exaggerated a little saying that they would have been a 2, but no doubt that if the resume was flipped there is no way Kentucky is not a 3 with Auburn's record, and no one will convince me otherwise.

Keep in mind also Kentucky lost to South Carolina by 17 points. A team that Auburn beat by 40, and 30 points respectively.

Edited March 18 by Eagle-2

[fishepa 1,908]

I think it would also help if the SEC changed the SEC tournament to end on Saturday instead of 2 hours before the selection.  There is no way the committee is going to use the results from the SEC tourney and switch seeds all around hours before the reveal.  It is what it is - the bracket seeding is completed probably by sometime Saturday.

[Mikey 16,710]

2 hours ago, arktiger1975 said:

And bama, the weakest 4 seed, gets the weakest 1 seed in UNC. Their AD is a bigwig on the committee. Coincidence? I think not. Bammer always seems to be able to pull political strings to get their way in all sports.

 

Correct! It looks to me like bammer has a cakewalk to the sweet 16.

[Viper 3,132]

1 hour ago, Eagle-2 said:

So, does beating Tennessee on the road carry more weight than losing to them at home?

You betcha.

1 hour ago, Eagle-2 said:

If you want to argue that Kentucky beating us at home was bigger I'll give you that, but as Kentucky did to Tennessee Auburn did not get the chance at a return match at Rupp.

Such is life in CBB.

Home games are the least relevant for the home team, thus AU losing to UK wasn’t a big deal.

UK winning on the road at AU, a Quad 1 team, was big for UK, thus an additional reason they earned a 3-seed.

1 hour ago, Eagle-2 said:

Keep in mind also Kentucky lost to South Carolina by 17 points. A team that Auburn beat by 40, and 30 points respectively.

It’s all about venue and quality of opponent. Margin of victory is next to irrelevant. 

There’s a reason there’s a system in place to reward those who beat tough opponents on the road. 

1 hour ago, Eagle-2 said:

Complete HS.

It’s not HS or BS. It’s the way it always has been. You’re emotional about it now because it’s now happening to your team. If you study it annually, you would have been well aware it was coming.

[Chaotic_zx 1,047]

2 hours ago, JDUBB4AU said:

New season baby. Make us the 10th seed. Who cares???? The time is now. WDE

Your avatar matches the quoted statement. I like that.

 

[AUBwins 10,080]

To further illustrate the bracket disparity, the Kenpom totals of the top 4 read as this:

East - 20 (UConn - 1, Aub - 4, IAST - 5, Illinois - 10)

The other three range from 41-43.

East is twice as difficult as any of the other 3. LOL

 

But now that the field is set, we have a perfect opportunity to proclaim our Blue Blood status.  Run through this gauntlet to reach the final 4, we will have done this feat twice.

[AUBwins 10,080]

6 hours ago, gr82be said:

So there is no way this committee sits around and waits on Sunday games to be over before they start the seeding. We were a 4 seed heading into the tournament and I’m thinking the brackets were pretty much done as well as the locations. Sure, NC State threw a wrench in things and probably another game or two but I think 90-95% of it was set before the conference tournaments started. 

I wish they would figure out a way to finish the conf tourneys a week before the bracket reveal, like the women do.  Maybe move the season up a week on the major conferences like they do the mid majors, as well as the women's games so they can still have their weekend.  Then the women selection sunday is 2nd Sunday in March, a week removed from the games; and the men selection sunday stay on the 3rd Sunday, a week removed from the games.  That way you take the conference tourney into account.

[Mikey 16,710]

9 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

I wish they would figure out a way to finish the conf tourneys a week before the bracket reveal, like the women do.  Maybe move the season up a week on the major conferences like they do the mid majors, as well as the women's games so they can still have their weekend.  Then the women selection sunday is 2nd Sunday in March, a week removed from the games; and the men selection sunday stay on the 3rd Sunday, a week removed from the games.  That way you take the conference tourney into account.

That would be my preferred solution.

[nthemix 89]

the NCAA hates Coach Pearl & quite frankly Auburn athletics it seems ... this was a complete hack job by the committee which by the way includes Alabama AD Greg Byrne on it ... not saying AU should be a 1 or even a 2 but easily should be a 3 seed

 

[keeperoftheplains 141]

59 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

To further illustrate the bracket disparity, the Kenpom totals of the top 4 read as this:

East - 20 (UConn - 1, Aub - 4, IAST - 5, Illinois - 10)

The other three range from 41-43.

East is twice as difficult as any of the other 3. LOL

 

But now that the field is set, we have a perfect opportunity to proclaim our Blue Blood status.  Run through this gauntlet to reach the final 4, we will have done this feat twice.

AU certainly got screwed but UConn even more so.  I'd be even more pissed if I were them.  You do all that work over the entire regular season and then you get stuck in the same bracket with AU, Iowa St., Illinois, and FAU.  I guess the reward part is home court for almost the entire tournament.

[Viper 3,132]

20 minutes ago, nthemix said:

the NCAA hates Coach Pearl & quite frankly Auburn athletics it seems ... this was a complete hack job by the committee which by the way includes Alabama AD Greg Byrne on it ... not saying AU should be a 1 or even a 2 but easily should be a 3 seed

AGAIN (for the 4th time)…the best team AU beat this season was 21-11 bammer, at home. 

The best team AU beat in a TRUE road game was 20-12 Ole Miss, who didn’t make the tournament.

We got exactly the seeding we deserved.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,710]

 

[gr82be 14,456]

5 hours ago, arktiger1975 said:

And bama, the weakest 4 seed, gets the weakest 1 seed in UNC. Their AD is a bigwig on the committee. Coincidence? I think not. Bammer always seems to be able to pull political strings to get their way in all sports.

I saw this on another site. I thought it was interesting. 
 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,710]

4 hours ago, fishepa said:

I think it would also help if the SEC changed the SEC tournament to end on Saturday instead of 2 hours before the selection.  There is no way the committee is going to use the results from the SEC tourney and switch seeds all around hours before the reveal.  It is what it is - the bracket seeding is completed probably by sometime Saturday.

Yeah that's a general request many people have had for a while, as I understand. I was made privy to it when we got hosed in 2019, but I don't think it's helped multiple teams since that point. It also just doesn't make sense to have it on Sunday

[GTNupe11 2,036]

21 hours ago, TuscaloosaTiger said:

Selection Committee Chairman stated that two of the main factors in bracket placement were Quad 1 wins and wins on the road. Home wins were diminished as a primary factor. These criteria hurt us.

Yeah...I don't trust anything he said. He also said the other teams (like Iowa State and IL) winning their championship games mattered and then when asked about Auburn he was mum. I said our Quad 1 record would keep us a 4 seed but damn, the way we were playing as of late I could see a move up as a 3 seed if the committee actually watched the games...And to be the third worst 4 seed? You've got to be kidding me. Disrespectful. But our boys will use it as fuel! No harm, no foul, just have to win your matchups. We've got what it takes.

Edited March 18 by GTNupe11

[WillMunny 1,383]

Even USA Today is calling our bracket (from Uconn's standpoint) "The Bracket of Death".

NYPost had similar things to say.

I thought the #1 overall seed was supposed to have the "easiest" road, but they (and we) are playing in the toughest bracket.

If we make the Sweet 16, we will play Uconn in their neck of the woods, where they will probably enjoy a "home crowd" like we did in Nashville on Sunday. I hope our defense travels to New England like our fans did to Nashville.

This assumes a lot: that we win 2 games in Spokane. The first one is pretty certain, but San Diego State (5 seed) made the Final Four last year.

[arktiger1975 536]

12 hours ago, gr82be said:

So there is no way this committee sits around and waits on Sunday games to be over before they start the seeding. We were a 4 seed heading into the tournament and I’m thinking the brackets were pretty much done as well as the locations. Sure, NC State threw a wrench in things and probably another game or two but I think 90-95% of it was set before the conference tournaments started. 

It seems very lazy to me on the part of the committee to finish things up 3 or 4 days ahead of time and not factor in conference tournaments. 

[arktiger1975 536]

4 hours ago, Viper said:

AGAIN (for the 4th time)…the best team AU beat this season was 21-11 bammer, at home. 

The best team AU beat in a TRUE road game was 20-12 Ole Miss, who didn’t make the tournament.

We got exactly the seeding we deserved.

Well, I think Florida is better than bama, but point taken.

[GTNupe11 2,036]

14 minutes ago, WillMunny said:

Even USA Today is calling our bracket (from Uconn's standpoint) "The Bracket of Death".

NYPost had similar things to say.

I thought the #1 overall seed was supposed to have the "easiest" road, but they (and we) are playing in the toughest bracket.

If we make the Sweet 16, we will play Uconn in their neck of the woods, where they will probably enjoy a "home crowd" like we did in Nashville on Sunday. I hope our defense travels to New England like our fans did to Nashville.

This assumes a lot: that we win 2 games in Spokane. The first one is pretty certain, but San Diego State (5 seed) made the Final Four last year.

If we make the Sweet 16, our fans will travel. Me included. 

San Diego State had like 5 starting seniors on that team. A lot different from last year. In the portal world unless you are the top teams in the country that get talent in every year what you did last year really doesn't mean much.