tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169281096117913024.post3932942463820358021..comments2024-03-27T04:14:38.477-05:00Comments on crAAKKer: The Southwestern Lake Wobegon State Tech Flying Pigs Are On the BubbleGrange95http://www.blogger.com/profile/01857460215043659894noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169281096117913024.post-7352510541424634662010-04-02T08:56:06.187-05:002010-04-02T08:56:06.187-05:00The hilarity continued to ensue yesterday at the N...The hilarity continued to ensue yesterday at the NCAA's press confernece when Mr. Shaheen on behalf of the NCAA flatly refused to answer John Feinstein's question about players missing a full week of class under the proposed expanded format (which just so happens to be the NCAA's primary argument against a football playoff). Funny how hard it is to hide outright hypocrisy.Jugweednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169281096117913024.post-51432046588682846272010-04-01T16:20:01.891-05:002010-04-01T16:20:01.891-05:00@ Jugweed:
It will be interesting to see if the n...@ Jugweed:<br /><br />It will be interesting to see if the new "bubble watch" starts being a simultaneous "coaching death watch". Based on college football, though, making an expanded tourney may not be enough to save a coache's job, just as making the Poulan Weedeater Bowl might not be considered a "successful" year for some programs.<br /><br />As for office pools, I agree completely that some casual office pool participants may be turned off by the expanded brackets, both because of the paper issue, and because it's a lot more games to pick based on colors or mascots.<br /><br />As for logistics, I suspect the NCAA will simply add two teams to each four-team pod. Games the first week will then be Tues/Thurs/Sat or Wed/Fri/Sun depending on your pod. This might require the selection committee to release the bracket earlier to allow travel planning time, or they may move the first three rounds to Wed-Mon. (the women already play Mondays, so it's a viable option).Grange95https://www.blogger.com/profile/01857460215043659894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169281096117913024.post-74380982835802764932010-04-01T15:20:09.783-05:002010-04-01T15:20:09.783-05:00Great entry. This is way more cogent and well res...Great entry. This is way more cogent and well researched than anything written for free has any need to be.<br /><br />Couple points:<br /><br />1)Some of the coaches calling for expansion should stop and consider (as Doug Gottleib has pointed out on the air) that expansion will likely lead to more of them getting fired, "you mean to tell me you couldn't even make a 96 team field, you're fired."<br />2) Any team in the country that had a mediocre regular season can still receive an automatic bid to the big dance by winning their conference tournament. Case in point this year is Ohio: 7-9 in conference play, only to win their tournament and go on to pound Georgetown. This is the reason conference tournaments still have meaning. <br />3) A 96 team field won't fit neatly on a paper bracket the way the 64 team field does. This may seem like a silly concern in the age of the I-pad, but for lots of casual fans filling in the paper bracket by hand is the best part of the tournament. <br />4) I schedule vacation days every year for the opening Thursday/Friday, as do most of my friends. We will no longer be doing that, the excitement is simply gone from the opening games when the best 32 teams have byes and instead you're stuck with watching a #9 seeded Texas team play a #24 seeded Wichita State or something of the like.<br /><br />Way to whore out a good product NCAA!Jugweednoreply@blogger.com