31-0

[CuseFan]

No matter how you get there, 31-0 is impressive.
Always going to have some luck involved, but never losing is amazing. Good for the Hawks.

 

[jncuse]

In one way I hope Miami wins their conference tourney. Undefeated teams heading to the tourney are always great stories, no matter how, since its pretty darn rare.

But on the other hand, Miami losing would create chaos related to bubble discussion. And I'm always here for that.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

UMass 87, Miami 83..

 

[ar inj]

UMass 87, Miami 83..

They lost to a team from the Big10?

 

[cusefan88]

10 or 11 seed for them?

 

[HyattsCuse]

That sound you hear is the bubble popping for an unlucky P4 team.

 

[Cappy3]

10 or 11 seed for them?

Not sure they deserve to get in. They were 54in the NET before today, and 26of their wins were Q3 or 4. Maybe sneak into the play-in games.

 

[UpstateSM]

UMass outright in Cleveland Thursday morning, unfortunately.

It was always my Minutemen

 

[upperdeck]

I would much rather have a team thats 54th and 31-0 then a team thats 45th and 22-10

 

[Charbroil]

Not sure they deserve to get in. They were 54in the NET before today, and 26of their wins were Q3 or 4. Maybe sneak into the play-in games.

I would prefer Miami get in over a team like Indiana or Auburn. But I agree a case can reasonably be made against them with how few decent wins they actually have.

 

[Cappy3]

I would much rather have a team thats 54th and 31-0 then a team thats 45th and 22-10

Not if the team that was22-10 was Syracuse. If they’re gonna use the NET then it has to mean something. They didn’t have a Q1 game and only 2 Q2. (3 wins vs non D1 opponents)

 

[Briancuse]

That sound you hear is the bubble popping for an unlucky P4 team.

See ya indiana and auburn.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

UMass 87, Miami 83..

A lot of folks called this one. They'll be one of the teams in the First Four now for sure.

 

[LAorange44]

Bye USF! Thanks for playing

 

[upperdeck]

Not if the team that was22-10 was Syracuse. If they’re gonna use the NET then it has to mean something. They didn’t have a Q1 game and only 2 Q2. (3 wins vs non D1 opponents)

I dont care.. I watched them a bunch of times. They play hard and they played pretty solid 31 times to win all the games. They are not one of the best 30-40 teams but they are also better then 10-20 teams that will get in on other criteria too.

the teams that lost 10-12 games might have a higher cieling but also played to a lower floor a few times. We have 68 teams, I think reward for a 31-0 schedule should also count.

 

[Cappy3]

I dont care.. I watched them a bunch of times. They play hard and they played pretty solid 31 times to win all the games. They are not one of the best 30-40 teams but they are also better then 10-20 teams that will get in on other criteria too.

the teams that lost 10-12 games might have a higher cieling but also played to a lower floor a few times. We have 68 teams, I think reward for a 31-0 schedule should also count.

If the idea is to have a national championship tournament, then at large bids should, imho, go to teams with a high ceiling. It’s really not a “make them feel good” tournament.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

If the idea is to have a national championship tournament, then at large bids should, imho, go to teams with a high ceiling. It’s really not a “make them feel good” tournament.

How does one determine a "high ceiling" team?

Auburn hasn't put together 2 Ws in a row since January and are 3-8 in their last 11. Indiana is 1-6 in their last 7 games. Neither of those 2 teams are capable of a Sweet 16 run.

Can they pull off an upset in one game? Yes, but that then throws the entire tournament off kilter. Which is bad for crowning a Champ. Upsets are fun in week 1 but not for putting together good week 4 matchups. Also upsets don't feel the same when it is a P4 team verses a Cinderella.

Miami has been really struggling down the stretch. Does this loss release that pressure and make them a team that can make an NCAAT run? Or will it be like 2014 for SU where we had nothing left after losing? Or to put it another way, were all of those games close because of pressure or because they aren't that good?

 

[upperdeck]

all the metrics say 4-6 teams will win. the other 60+ maybe 3-4 could win. 40 teams have zero chance most year so why worry about it. its not like they are a 100+ level team in a bad conf either.

 

[jncuse]

For those saying:
a) Miami needs to schedule better teams.
b) Miami is ducking teams.
You may want to reconsider who is ducking who.

Here is a statistic for you. As of around December 10th when I stopped tracking all OOC games:
- P4+BE had played 52% of their OOC games against Q4** teams.
- P4 + BE had played 7% of their OOC games against Q3 teams (that were not P4 or BE)
- And if you exclude MWC, UNLV, Memphis, Oregon St and Washington St that number is 5%

Those numbers make it quite clear who is ducking who! Miami falls in to that group if teams that is traditionally a Q3 team, so they are avoided. A game that conferences tell their teams to avoid for NET purposes. P4+BE teams either play against each other or P4 teams. That is how they all schedule now for the most part, because it makes the most sense for NET.

** Note that back at the time I was using current KP on schedule data as a proxy for Q3/Q4. These numbers may have switched a few %, but not much.

 

[jncuse]

Under the RPI, a typical "Miami Ohio" team (Q3) was a team that you wanted to schedule, as that level of team was good for the RPI.

Under the NET, a typical "Miami Ohio" team (Q3) is one that you try really hard to avoid if you are a P4.