Squeaking into the tourney means you are right around the 64th best team in the country. In football, that same ranking would put us around 5-7, or 6-6; a Birmingham Bowl team. Why do we strive for that in basketball? There is no excuse for us to be so damn bad that we are praying for what is the equivalent to a Birmingham Bowl finish. Our basketball teams under Howland are a 3-4 win football team.
Is making the NCAA Tourney the same as making a bowl game?
- Thread starter D4L
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No. If you make the tourney you’re playing for a chance to potentially play for the championship. The liberty bowl doesn’t provide that same opportunity.
As others have said easier to make bowl. 80 teams out of 125 make bowl game.. 68 out of over 350 make big dance.
As others have said easier to make bowl. 80 teams out of 125 make bowl game.. 68 out of over 350 make big dance.
And at least half of those 350 play in a one bid league. We are in a league that should, in a good year, get at least 5 teams in.
There is no excuse for Howland’s under achievement the last 3-4 years. And don’t give me that mess that we were robbed of a tourney appearance due to Covid.
Not nearly the same
In some cases, you can have a losing record and still go to a bowl.
In basketball, the cutoff line is about top 32 or so, then the other teams kick in.
Like Creighton or Seaton Hall, Xavier, Marquet,
teams the frequently play in the Big Dance.
In some cases, you can have a losing record and still go to a bowl.
In basketball, the cutoff line is about top 32 or so, then the other teams kick in.
Like Creighton or Seaton Hall, Xavier, Marquet,
teams the frequently play in the Big Dance.
That stat is a little skewed. Well over 200 of those 350 teams have zero shot at the NCAA tournament other than winning their conference tournament. But the basic premise is right. NCAA tournament is a lot harder to make than a bowl game. If they were equal, this would be Howland's 5th straight bowl/tournament team at Mississippi State. Maybe 6th straight.
Usually 12 out of 14 SEC teams go bowling. Much easier to do that. A 6 bid year is a good one for the SEC Basketball. And no conference sends anywhere near 12 out of 14.
I look at it as going to the tournament is about like like finishing in the top 2 in the west in football. If a team is 3rd in the west then they could be considered on the bubble in basketball but the same position would be considered for the Outback bowl in football. If 4th in the west then it’s NIT.
I get that, but i don't really care about the Tourney to Bowl Game comparison. My point was, we are in a league where the path to get to the Dance is laid out if you play decent basketball and win half your league games. The OP was acting like because there are 350 teams, our chances are diminished. The fact is, we aren't even a decent team at this point. We lost all of our meaningful OOC games, winless on the road, and are not winning enough in conference.
And to make it worse, we still have fans that are hung up on Ray and Stansbury. Those dudes are ancient history. We are over half a decade into Ben Howland and seeing nothing. There are other SEC programs that are on their 2nd or 3rd or 4th coach since the Stansbury era that have MADE THE SWEET 16, yet we have a portion of our fanbase that treat that like it's an impossibility because we can't make the right coaching hire. ********. You have to try first. We aren't even doing that. We just hang on to old man Howland and his 1975 offense because we are scared of what the future holds.
Bowl game is much easier. As has been brought up there are more slots and less teams in FB than than NCAAT in BB. Also only have to win 6 of 12(0.500) to get a bowl slot and most FBS teams play 3 or 4 games they are practically guaranteed to win. BB generally requires at least 20 wins (0.700) to even be in the discussion and then you have to have a resume featuring good wins and no bad losses. We have historically been much better in BB than FB and we have been to twice as many bowl games as NCAA tourneys. Nuff said.
Easier to get a bowl bid. Football if you break even you get a bid. Basketball you have to beat the right teams and have the right record for RPI rankings. Making the tournament is like making it to a New Years 6 bowl game.
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