When I look at ESPN’s last 4 in -  Drake, Boise St, Colorado St, Syracuse - it’s almost infathomable to me that St Louis wouldn’t get in ahead of them. 

I’ve watched a lot of Syracuse this year.  They are so soft inside on defense that Hunter Dean would have a double double if we played them (kidding). Under the eye test, St Louis is much better.

Lunardi moved them into the field because they beat NC St yesterday - big deal, St Louis beat them too.    They appear to be a classi BS BCS team that will get in only because their conference schedule gives them a ton of chances to get wins over decent teams.  They went 2-4 against teams likely to make the tourney (with both wins coming last week). SLU is 2-2 vs teams likely to get in.   

The two Mountain West teams in no way should get in before SLU.  The MWC is bad this year - 11th on KenPom.

Colorado St is a team I don’t get how they could be in. They also have nothing inside.  They have 1 win vs a tourney ream: San Diego St.   I guess their claim to fame is they split with SDSU and bubble teams Boise St and Utah St. They also lost to the only other top 100 teams they played (Nevada and St Mary’s).  Outside of those three splits vs the top teams in their league, they didn’t beat a top 150 team all year. 

Boise St did beat BYU early in the season. That’s their only win over a team likely in the field. They swept 2 games from Utah st, both at home because of covid scheduling, split with CSU, and that’s it.  They also 3 in a row to end the regular season (2 to SDSU to be fair, but also to a bad Fresno team ranked 188 on ken Pom).   I’ve also watched Boise a couple of times and there’s really nothing unique or interesting about them.  I suspect SLU would beat them handily on a neutral court (they would be favored slightly because SLU is 49 in ken Pom, while Boise and CSU are both around 60). 

Drake’s resume is a split with a top 25 Loyola team, with both games at home due to covid.  The only other thing on their resume is they beat a top 100 Missouri team 3 times, but otherwise they don’t have any top 150 wins.   Other problem with Drake is their two best players got hurt and are done for the season.  If GW could get knocked down 3 seed lines because Pops was hurt and the committee didn’t know if he’d be ok, then how can you ignore that their best player got hurt and they went 3-2 without him?   They did start the season 18-0 before the injuries, but it was also against a schedule that would even make Karl Hobbs blush. 

The other team ahead of SLU in Lunardi’s bracketology is Utah St.  Personally I would take Utah St over the other two MWC teams in a heartbeat, even though they got swept by Boise.  The case is that they finished 2nd in their conference and that Neemias Queta is the best player in that league and would be a massive problem for anyone in the ncaa tourney (if they play Syracuse in the first 4, he’d have like 22 and 15)..   The two road losses at Boise, and the fact that they beat no one out of conference, may keep them out, but if Brock Miller is healthy, I won’t be surprised if they win the MWC tourney anyway.

It will be a disappointment if SLU gets snubbed for any of those teams, and would almost certainly be a result of their long pause because I suspect more games for SLU would show they are simply a cut above those other teams.  Hopefully they get a game in the next couple of days to help.

I am rooting for St. Louis but there big problem is they have only one road win all year and that was against Fordham.

LA Colonial wrote:

I am rooting for St. Louis but there big problem is they have only one road win all year and that was against Fordham.

Yeah, I think they lost a chance at some road and neutral wins because of covid.   There are definitely problems with their resume, and they probably don’t get in, but to me this is one those teams that clearly meets the eye test as a tourney team, especially compared to the others.

By the way, Boise St currently down 6 to Nevada.  Losing to them again may knock them off the bubble. Rooting for Nevada.

Last edited by Free Quebec (3/11/2021 7:32 pm)