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Topic: Time to End the BracketBusters

Topic: Time to End the BracketBusters

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JSF
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Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 5:24:21 PM

CAA pulling out of the event.

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

My blog about depression and mental illness: https://bit.ly/3buGXH8

OhioStunter
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 5:58:54 PM

I agree. I've never really seen the value for mid-majors. I would rather see a rotation of mid-major conferences do something similar to the ACC-Big 10 Challenge at the beginning of the year. It makes for some interesting matchups.

Big Willy
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 7:21:42 PM

Agree. We should pull out of the Bracket Busters and start an MAC / CAA Challenge. The Bracket Busters can hurt you a lot more than it can help you.

Matt Noonan
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 8:06:30 PM

I disagree...

1) The Bracketbusters are a great way to assure yourself of being matched up with a similar RPI team provided that you've had a good season. Takes away the disappointment of a team like Northern Iowa who looks good only to tank later in the season.

2) It's something different in the middle of conference play that gets the fans excited. I doubt we would've had the same response for our Bracketbuster game this year if it was against a MAC West team instead.

Last Edited: 4/5/2012 8:07:29 PM by Matt Noonan

Pataskala
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 8:08:22 PM

Agreed. One problem with them is the need to guarantee schools a home game every other year. You often wind up with really good teams both getting either a home game or a road game in the same year, so schools have to settle for lesser competition that doesn't help your RPI. Plus I was never sold on the concept of letting ESPN set up a game for us at such a crucial time of year.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

Tyler
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 10:04:49 PM

I agree. It's time to get out. I've suggested a MAC-Horizon challenge before, but a lot of those teams already play on a semi-regular basis. I'd love to see something set up with the CAA or the MVC

bigtillyoopsupsideurhead
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 10:12:10 PM

I disagree also.

Some of our best non-conf home games in recent years were because of Bracketbusters.

The return game from New Mexico State and the George Mason game both in 2008 are the two that come to mind.

JSF
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 10:16:19 PM

ESPN stiff-arming the CAA significantly reduces the pool of quality teams. And at a minimum, we won't have another good home game out of it until 2014, six years since Mason came to town (which won't happen again for aforementioned reasons).

bornacatfan
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/5/2012 11:32:21 PM

So who is still in?

Butler back in withthe rest of the Horizon?

Valley?

MOuntain West?

A 10?

with a big time RPI in the non con and a good start in the MAC next year who would we get a roadie with that can only help an at large>?

pretty sure we are not going to be seeing an OVC opponent unless they are undefeated .......

never argue with idiots, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Winter comes and asks how you spent your summer.....

The game loves and rewards those who love and reward the game

JSF
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 12:06:11 AM

http://espnbracketbusters.com/site/teams

I don't want to have to fly to St. Mary's. If Butler is back, great. Otherwise, we're hoping for a MVC team in all likelihood.

bornacatfan
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 12:55:19 AM

JSF wrote:

http://espnbracketbusters.com/site/teams

I don't want to have to fly to St. Mary's. .....

I almost spit my drink up....without wnating to appear flip or condescending or anything but sincere ....and I say thsi with greatest admiration for your support of the program.......outside of maybe Wright State.....have you ever attended an away BB game? Geo Mason, NMSU, (was Winthrop a BB game?) ...or are you referring to the team flying?

I kind of really enjoyed heading off to the various gyms outside our conference and meeting OUr really great and active alumni in Va, SC and other places we have been the last 5 years. If you do get the chance you should really do it....there are great places and people out there....

JSF
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 1:51:53 AM

Heh. Got a chuckle out that. I meant the team, not me. When Kent made the trip, a lot of people said have to fly out, back, then get to BG in a short window really took a toll on them. I remember they lost at Anderson and looked pretty ragged in doing so.

Of course, I'll make a trip whenever it's feasible for me to do so. But that's less and less the case these days.

Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 2:09:39 AM

People in my newsroom were all speculating on what they'd do if they won the recent Mega Millions. I said I'd get a Madden Cruiser-like set-up and just follow the Ohio football and basketball teams around the country.

Yes, they did look at me like I was a crazy man. Then I told them I'd spend the rest of the year on a Greek island in the Mediterranean eating seafood and drinking copious amounts of scotch and wine. They agreed with that portion of my plan.

MonroeClassmate
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 3:07:36 AM

Don't know if it is much of a benefit but it would seem that playing a team on short notice is good prep for the coaching staff once tourney time comes. It puts a premium on a staff's ability to be able to game plan when you don't have all season to scout an opponent.

As for laying an egg at Anderson. Who needed a west coast trip to do similar in January?

mf279801
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 8:23:42 AM

Brian Smith wrote:

People in my newsroom were all speculating on what they'd do if they won the recent Mega Millions. I said I'd get a Madden Cruiser-like set-up and just follow the Ohio football and basketball teams around the country.

Yes, they did look at me like I was a crazy man. Then I told them I'd spend the rest of the year on a Greek island in the Mediterranean eating seafood and drinking copious amounts of scotch and wine. They agreed with that portion of my plan.

I've got 1 word for you: raki

OUVan
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 8:28:01 AM

I disagree completely. I don't care how much people think we benefit from it. I love the event and look forward to it every year. I like the speculation of who we will play. It creates interest. I even love the non-MAC matchups it brings. The whole weekend is a big winner for me.

Andrew Ruck
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 8:32:32 AM

Without the buster...how would be spend our January and February if we can't obsessively wonder who our opponent is going to be and what teams match up with our RPI?

Andrew Ruck
B.B.A. 2003

athena
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 8:34:44 AM

We could always have more threads about how we should move to another conference.

OhioStunter
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 10:15:13 AM

So I took a look at the BracketBuster participants to see if any of the games may have had an effect on helping them secure an at-large tourney birth (the original intent of BracketBusters). It looks like Iona's win over Nevada may have helped put them over the top to get into the tourney. But it didn't directly help any of the other 25 teams. Drexel's win over CSU didn't help.

Some great match-ups, no doubt. But helping teams get into the tournament? Not so sure.

Northern Iowa vs. VCU - 7:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 17, ESPN2
Valparaiso vs. LMU - 9:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 17, ESPN2
Drexel vs. Cleveland State - 11:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPNU
Wichita State vs. Davidson - 12:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPN or ESPN2
Buffalo vs. South Dakota State - 1:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPNU
Akron vs. Oral Roberts - 2:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPN or ESPN2
Drake vs. New Mexico State - 3:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPNU
Nevada vs. Iona - 4:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18. ESPN or ESPN2
Old Dominion vs. Missouri State - 5:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPNU
No. 18 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Murray State - 6:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPN or ESPN2
UNC-Asheville vs. Ohio - 7:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPN3
UT-Arlington vs. Weber State - 8:00 p.m., Feb. 18, ESPN3
Long Beach State vs. No. 13 Creighton - 10:00 p.m. ET, Feb. 18, ESPN2

Pataskala
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 11:00:58 AM

OhioStunter wrote:

Did it HURT anybody's chances? or their seeding? CSU tanked all through Feb, and their 1st round loss to Detroit in their conf tourney kept them out more than anything. Long Beach St had a close loss at Creighton but won their tourney to get in. And how about momentum? Two years ago, the Cats used the bracketbuster as a springboard to the MAC tourney championship. This year, Akron's loss to ORU started them on a spiral where they lost 3 of the last 5 regular season games and went 1-1 in the tourney.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

OhioStunter
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 11:33:13 AM

Did the BracketBusters hurt? Oh, I don't know. Good question. Some might say that Iona's win over Nevada may have put them in and Nevada out. Without that game, who really knows if either, one or both get in?

I certainly think it provides interesting matchups. Maybe it provides the players/coaches a break from conference play. Maybe it gives some teams some ESPN visibility that they wouldn't normally have. Maybe it detracts from concentrating on winning the conference (and add to travel lag for a long mid-week matchup). It's a good discussion.

I'm just not seeing a clear set of benefits for the teams involved if the goal was to give mid-majors a better chance of an at-large.

Maybe if it were called the Mid-Major Matchups instead of BracketBusters, it might be more accurate.

CATman
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 11:44:13 AM

The bracket buster always seemed really silly to me, in the sense that mid-majors playing mid-majors isn't really "busting brackets". Each year, mid-major conferences get what? Maybe 2-3 at large bids? These "bracket buster" games have next to no barring on any brackets.

It would make a lot more sense if this ESPN event pitted mid-majors against majors that were on the bubble. That would fall in line with "busting brackets". The problem? Major schools would NEVER agree to that.

Can you imagine someone like West Virginia saying:

Coach: "Ok, who did we draw in the bracket buster?"
AD: "You drew Ohio coach".
Coach: "Ohio, as in the Ohio that went to the sweet 16 and returns their whole team?"
AD: "Yes, that Ohio."
Coach: "#%$*#."
AD: "Umm......And it is @ Ohio this year."
Coach: Silence.......

With the CAA bailing, I'm not sure how this makes sense for everyone else? Removing Drexel, VCU and George Mason from an already "meh" field would be the breaking point for me as an AD. The MAC would be better off trying to organize a conference challenge, as others have mentioned.

If the CAA or MVC were at all remotely interested, I'd bail out of the "bracket buster" in about .1 seconds.

My high school basketball coach had an old saying.....There are two things that don't last: Dogs that chase cars and teams that don't make free-throws.

MedinaCat
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 11:50:28 AM

Calling it "Bracket Busters" is a farce. It's simply the mid-majors eating their own young. A top team from the MAC beats a top team from the MVC. It greatly reduces the odds of the MVC getting into the NCAA tourny as an at-large selection. But it doesn't greatly enhance the MAC team's odds. If it were truly a "Bracket Buster", it would include the teams that fall into the lower half of each high-major conference. Will never happen. Change the name of this weekend round robin and I am okay with it.

Plus, CAA doesn't have our problem, which is football+ESPN+mid-week+November.

Last Edited: 4/6/2012 11:51:36 AM by MedinaCat

CATman
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 11:58:07 AM

Just saw the reason for the CAA getting booted from the bracket buster series was they struck an agreement with the new NBC sports network. Interesting.

Colonial Athletic Association signs broadcast deal with NBC Sports Group

My high school basketball coach had an old saying.....There are two things that don't last: Dogs that chase cars and teams that don't make free-throws.

anorris
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RE: Time to End the BracketBusters

Posted: 4/6/2012 1:16:21 PM

CATman wrote:

Not sure about this from the CAA. Yes, they may get more coverage, but I think their ratings will probably suffer -- people just don't channel surf to NBCSN (yet, the question becomes, will they?). NBCSN has positively hemorrhaged viewers since they switched the format from Versus.

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