"Soft" Bubble
This has been a commonplace term these days in college basketball. Is this the "softest" bubble ever? First, let's define what the Bubble is. The Bubble is a list of teams that have not played their way into the NCAA Tournament just yet. They are not good enough to be a single digit seed, and they are inconsistent enough that they might be an NIT team. So the Bubble is a collection of average teams with moments of brilliance, or brilliant teams with way too many moments of averageness. By its own definition, the Bubble is soft, it is entirely reduntant to call the Bubble soft.
The collection of teams on the Bubble this year have the same number of quality wins as last year. They have the same number of bad losses too. The Bubble this year is the same as the Bubble every year. The only difference between this year and last year is that there will be 3 less snubs because of 3 more at-large bids this season. Don't call the Bubble soft, just call it the Bubble.
The Week Off
A lot of people are doing a lot of crying about San Diego State having a bye before BYU both times when they play them. 1) That is the MWC schedule, deal with it. The schedule is set-up like that. Every year every team plays one team coming off a bye, twice. This year, BYU just happened to get the short end with SDSU getting the rest. 2) It is not a guaranteed advantage. Take, for instance, the last time BYU played SDSU after a bye and beat them by 13 points.
SDSU took Sunday and Monday off, when they would normally practice and prepare for games. So they will be rested. However, they are taking two days off of organized opportunities to improve. They will also go a week between games. There is definitely a chance to get a bit rusty and out-of-sync, particularly when the season is so regimented and structured. If it takes 10 minutes to get back into it, who knows what the score may be...on the other hand, if they come out gangbusters, then the rest was good for them and they used it properly. It is just like the argument about BYU and return missionaries: when they win, they have an unfair advantage, when they lose, the missions are killing them. BYU had a nice set-up as well: bye before a nice get the rust off game at TCU, followed with a game that will challenge them on Wednesday, all in preparation for the big one. No rust, there shouldn't be fatigue, and they should be mentally prepared having just been challenged at a high level.
I have been meaning to ask...is the only way BYU comes to Denver in the first round is if they get a 2 seed? I think there is almost no chance for that to happen so should I stop getting my hopes up? I think they lose to SDSU and then in the tournament in Vegas so they get a 3-5 seed like every other year where we drop after the tournamnet. So that is why I ask, is the only possibility of playing in Denver a 2 seed?
ReplyDeleteI saw that a 3 seed could play here too but I know we are slotted in bracketology as a 2 right now.
Thanks and sorry for the long post
BYU should be Denver-eligible if they finish as a top 4 seed. The "pods" can move around, they are not set (and the projections only put locations based on where the "protected" seeds, 1-4, go). If BYU was a 3 or 4-seed, they should still play in Denver, and the 2-seed would move to some location closer to whomever the 2-seed is.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I think if BYU wins 3 more games, they will probably still manage a 4-seed or better, and with 4 more wins, a 3-seed or better. And 7 more wins? Well, that would be an impressive run to end the season, indeed...
ReplyDeleteOk, thanks for the clarification, I do think a 4 seed is still possible so lets hope for that. I will be very happily surprised if it is better.
ReplyDeleteThe top four seeds in each region are given an advantage (close to home) when they are placed in a first round game. So whatever seed they get from one to four it is highly probable they go to Denver or maybe Phoenix. What is a little travel between friends. However if playing CSU at home is considered to be a challenge at a high level, then we are not worthy of a #2 seed.
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