BracketBuster Pool Announced

[xjohnx]

Here are all the visiting teams (CAA Teams omitted):

http://mac-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml? ... =204800121

America East
Boston University
New Hampshire

Big South
Presbyterian
Winthrop

Big West
Cal Poly
Long Beach State
UC-Davis
UC-Santa Barbara

Horizon
Loyola
Illinois-Chicago
Valparaiso
Wright State
Youngstown State

Metro Atlantic
Fairfield
Marist
Niagara
Rider
Siena

Mid-American
Akron
Buffalo
Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois
Toledo
Western Michigan

Missouri Valley
Drake
Indiana State
Wichita State

MEAC
Morgan State
South Carolina State

Ohio Valley
Morehead State
SIU-Edwardsville
Southeast Missouri
Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech
Tennessee-Martin

Southern
College of Charleston
Elon
Western Carolina
Summit League
Oral Roberts

WAC
Louisiana Tech
Nevada
New Mexico State
San Jose State

 

[BOOMShakalaka]

SIU-Edwardsville? WTF? haha... I assume they won't make us play Nevada either. (or Western Mich.)

 

[xjohnx]

Give me Siena.

 

[BOOMShakalaka]

Give me Siena.

it will be interesting to see how Northeastern does against them.

 

[artRAMinMN]

selfishly, I hope it's Drake... only about a 4 hr drive next season for the return game... the several Chicago-area teams would be next at around 6 to 7 hrs

 

[Rambler]

Don't mean to be a downer but I'm not looking forward to playing any of these teams. Is the BB a good thing for VCU? Seems like we could schedule any of these schools on our own? I’d rather not participate in this event and focus on scheduling a H/H with a quality opponent.

 

[Mercury]

Don't mean to be a downer but I'm not looking forward to playing any of these teams. Is the BB a good thing for VCU? Seems like we could schedule any of these schools on our own? I’d rather not participate in this event and focus on scheduling a H/H with a quality opponent.

If it wasn't for the Bracketbuster we would probably be using that slot to play longwood or somebody....We aren't a good scheduling team and sadly we need all the help we can get

 

[VCUFTW]

gimme Siena, Wichita State, Buffalo or Morgan State. Morgan State had a really good year last season, is located in Baltimore, and got the experience of playing Oklahoma on the big stage as well. I also saw they are playing Louisville, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Baylor this year. Could be a half decent game at the Stu.

 

[Rambler]

Don't mean to be a downer but I'm not looking forward to playing any of these teams. Is the BB a good thing for VCU? Seems like we could schedule any of these schools on our own? I’d rather not participate in this event and focus on scheduling a H/H with a quality opponent.

If it wasn't for the Bracketbuster we would probably be using that slot to play longwood or somebody....We aren't a good scheduling team and sadly we need all the help we can get

I hear ya regarding our scheduling difficulties. However, do you think we'd have a problem scheduling a H/H with any of the schools on the BB list? It seems like this could be accomplished at a time and place that is more convenient for us. Didn't the BB send us out to Nevada last year on short notice to play against a team with a lower RPI? I'm glad we have the return trip this year. However, it seems that we could schedule these type of games on our own. I don't know...maybe the BB was flipping the bill for travel and we do get more exposure from ESPN. It just seems like the fans have not gotten the match ups we've wanted over the past few years and the pairings didn't really make a whole lot of sense from an RPI perspective.

 

[rollins77]

Just for pure speculation, using RPIRatings.com here's the top RPI's from last year, out of this year's potential pool (minus Nevada). Kind of a meh list. Also, noticeably absent this year are schools like Davidson and Saint Mary's (Calif.). Either way, Siena would be great. Not a great return trip for the fans, but a virtual TV lock and a potentially legit RPI builder. Niagara would be intriguing as well. Who wants to see the Falls in February? That's right, you do. Otherwise, I doubt we'd draw Akron again. College of Charleston is also interesting, although we also played them in BracketBusters a few years back. Not sure how they'll feel about it. I have little interest in Morgan State, Morehead State, Oral Roberts, Fairfield and Buffalo (once is fine).

19. Siena 27 8 .5655 48 .6095
58. Niagara 26 9 .5037 144 .5694
96. Fairfield 17 15 .5427 81 .5355
98. Col. Charleston 26 9 .4502 262 .5342
101. Buffalo 21 12 .4920 167 .5327
103. Akron 22 13 .4914 169 .5319
120. New Mexico St. 17 15 .5269 107 .5205
129. Morgan St. 22 12 .4460 277 .5158
135. Morehead St. 18 16 .5048 141 .5121
143. Oral Roberts 15 15 .5005 150 .5065

Out of the teams not listed, if Boston University, Winthrop, Any of these California schools (presuming they're near the beach), Wright State, Drake, Wichita State, Valpo, Youngstown State (zero chance they'll help me see family and actually crank out a good year. Literally, zero.) or San Jose State bust out with good years, I'm down for a return trip to those places, but all for different reasons, some which are good for VCU, some which are good for me.

No thanks, New Hampshire, Loyola, Ill-Chicago, Marist, Rider, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, S.C. State, Indiana State (unless Larry Bird is going to suit up), SIU-Edwardsville, Southeast Missouri, Tennesse State/Tech/Martin/Rocky Top/Etc., Elon, Western Carolina, La. Tech (In the WAC. Still.), PresbyWHOian?

 

[BaNgMyPrOgRaM]

Where are the Sunbelt teams? FBS?

 

[Mercury]

I hear ya regarding our scheduling difficulties. However, do you think we'd have a problem scheduling a H/H with any of the schools on the BB list? It seems like this could be accomplished at a time and place that is more convenient for us. Didn't the BB send us out to Nevada last year on short notice to play against a team with a lower RPI? I'm glad we have the return trip this year. However, it seems that we could schedule these type of games on our own. I don't know...maybe the BB was flipping the bill for travel and we do get more exposure from ESPN. It just seems like the fans have not gotten the match ups we've wanted over the past few years and the pairings didn't really make a whole lot of sense from an RPI perspective.

I feel you but nothing is stopping us from scheduling these teams outside of the BB which we haven't.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

I would like to see VCU play College of Charleston again. Bobby Cremins is the coach there and they have been competitive the last couple of years with Davidson.

 

[xjohnx]

Looks like a number of higher profile mid-majors are dropping out. I figured this would happen eventually. Maybe we should consider dropping out as well. Off hand I noticed the following teams missing from this years participant list:

Butler
Davidson
St. Mary's
Bucknell
Albany
North Dakota State
Montana

All of these teams were NCAA tournament teams at one point over the past 3-4 years.

 

[AG_fan]

IMO, the BracketBusters concept outlived its usefulness the second ESPN and the conferences expanded the field beyond the nation's top mid-majors. It helped Mason when they beat Wichita State, and I'm sure there are other examples of teams that have boosted their NCAA resumes with BB wins (I'm too lazy to look them up ), but now there are just too many teams and too many games nobody gives a crap about.

If ESPN would be willing to scale it back to include the top 16 mid-majors, then pair them up as closely as possible according to geography and RPI, you'd have 8 really good games including teams that usually don't play each other during the season. If you aren't in the RPI top 16 among mid-majors, too bad, you're not an elite team and you don't deserve to play.

This would eliminate some of the matchups that either: A. Don't help the team with the higher RPI, or B. Don't generate any national buzz to get the selection committee paying attention (like Mason's win over WSU did). I thought these were two of the original motivations behind the BB concept? Maybe getting back to an "elites-only" field would entice schools like Butler, St. Mary's and Davidson to participate.