Hosts? Compare 2001 to 2002

[DblT81]

The first 20 in RPI in 2001 were given the first 20 seeds, 1 thru 5 in 4 regions. NC St was given a host with 10 losses because they had the 4th ranked SOS. Can Tech get there with 11 losses and a #2 SOS? Iowa got to host with 9 losses and a #16 SOS. Can Colorado get one with a SOS of #24 with 1 more win than Iowa had? How can the committee justify SEVEN teams from one conference? Texas should make it comparing to NC St and Iowa last year.

Seems like it was more clear cut last year based on RPI, record and SOS, where the teams should be placed. It looks like to me, based on last year, La Tech with a SOS of 96 shouldn't host this year.

<pre style="font-size: 10pt">
Compare to
2001 Actual 2002
RPI, Record, SOS Rank Seed RPI, Record, SOS Rank
1 Tennessee 29-2, 1 1 1 Tennessee 25-4, 1
2 UConn 28-2, 3 1 2 Connecticut 33-0, 19
4 Duke 28-3, 19 1 3 Oklahoma 26-3, 4
6 Notre Dame 28-2, 33 1 4 Duke 27-3, 8

3 Georgia 26-5, 2 2 5 Vanderbilt 27-6, 3
5 Oklahoma 26-5, 6 2 6 Purdue 23-5, 5
7 Iowa State 25-5, 9 2 7 Stanford 30-2, 51
8 Texas Tech 23-6, 10 2 8 Baylor 26-4, 39

9 La Tech 28-4, 42 3 9 Kansas St 24-7, 12
10 Vanderbilt 21-9, 5 3 10 So Carolina 22-6, 25
11 Purdue 26-6, 30 3 11 Florida Intl 26-5, 44
16 Florida 23-5, 52 3 12 Texas Tech 18-11, 2

13 N Car St 20-10, 4 4 13 Iowa State 23-8, 15
15 Rutgers 22-7, 27 4 14 Texas 20-9, 6
17 Xavier 27-2, 99 4 15 N Carolina 24-8, 29
18 Iowa 20-9, 16 4 16 Minnesota 21-7, 33

12 Utah 25-3, 64 5 17 Old Dominion 23-5, 63
14 Villanova 21-8, 15 5 18 Colorado 21-9, 24
19 Clemson 20-9, 18 5 19 Cincinnati 26-4, 93
20 SMS 25-5, 66 5 20 La Tech 23-4, 96</pre>



[This message has been edited by DblT81 (edited 03-08-2002).]

[RaiderPower1]

Nice find DblT81, as always! You made me http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif after the loss we just had in my game.

[dem]

Some notes from last two years of seeding:

2001: Best RPI NOT getting a top-four seed: Utah, #12, ranked 17/16 in the polls, 1-0 against top-25 RPI; Villanova, #14, NR/23, 2-6 against top-25 RPI; Clemson, #19, 23/19; SMS, #20, 15/15 (all seeded #5). [It's possible that the Utah case is special, since the Committee knew at seeding time that Iowa could not accept the hosting responsibility and Utah would end up getting it anyway.]

2000: Boston College, #15, 17/17, 2-5 against RPI top-25, [seeded #5]; Vanderbilt, #17 [NR/NR], seeded #9 (?!), Oklahoma, #18, 18/22, seeded #5;
N.C. State, #19, 23/16, seeded #5.


It seems that if you have top-16 numbers in BOTH RPI and poll ranking, you were okay. If one or the other was weak, you had problems.

I will say one thing: if La Tech gets a top-four seed this year, it would prove that they essentially have a permanent bye for a host seed. There is nothing in their objective record this season that would support a top-four seed: their RPI is 20 and they have NO wins against RPI top-40 teams. Their record against RPI top-25 is 0-3. Their big accomplishment: a 4-1 record against RPI 41-50. Last year, at least they had an RPI of 9 and one win against a top-11 team.

Well, I'm hoping that Hawaii can pull out a win tomorrow. Good chance that could mean one more host seed for the Big 12.

[swok34]

It's possible that the Utah case is special, since the Committee knew at seeding time that Iowa could not accept the hosting responsibility and Utah would end up getting it anyway.

I thought Iowa was the #4 seed but played at Utah, the #5 seed due to a wrestling tourney.

And Hawaii did a really good job today, but came up 3 points short to Louisiana Tech....Hawaii gave them a run for their money.

[dem]

You're right about the situation with Iowa and Utah last year. What I meant to say was that the Committee knew that Iowa could not actually host the games, so by giving Iowa the #4 seed (thus improving their draw in terms of which teams they played), they could still reward Utah with a hosting position even though only giving them a #5 seed. It's sort of a "split the difference" idea. You have two teams that might deserve a #4 seed, but one of them can't host, so you make the one with the #5 seed the host.

Something similar happened a couple of years ago when #3 seed Mississippi State could not host, and so the sub-regional was hosted by #6 seed Oregon (which had previously complained about being passed up for home seeds). Ironically, the team in that sub-regional that ended up making the Sweet Sixteen was UAB -- the #11 seed.

It's conceivable that something like this might happen this year with Florida International, if in fact they can not host. The Committee might reward their #11 RPI with a #4 seed and send them off to, say, Texas Tech to host as a #5 seed. I wouldn't bet on this, but it's certainly possible.

A shame that Hawaii couldn't pull out the win today. In addition to the rest of their underwhelming record, La Tech has now added a 3-point win over the RPI #42 team, to go along with their 5-point win over #109 Tulsa a couple of weeks ago.