There are 3 Teams in the Field that absolutely shock me ... Syracuse, Tulsa, and Vanderbilt. They Took these exceptionally mediocre teams over 2 Regular Season Champions (Monmouth, San Diego State, and St. Mary's) who all won their regular season conference titles and advanced to their Tournament final losing in extremely close games. Nothing bothers me more in life and sports than rewarding mediocrity.
Syracuse lost 5 of its last 6 games, and were 9-12 against the RPI Top 150. They were only 9-9 in Conference play and lost in their first Conference Tournament game.
Similarly, Vanderbilt went 19-13, were 9-9 in Conference play, and were even worse against the RPI Top 150 than Syracuse at 9-13.
Tulsa did win 20 games, going 20-11 ... but had only one win inside the RPI Top 25, and were also below .500 against the top 150. They also entered the tournament having lost 2 of its last 3 games to a Memphis team which was ranked 136 in the RPI, including in the very first game of the American Conference Tournament.
By comparison, Monmouth did everything that a Mid-Major can do to get in, except win its Conference Tourney. They won 22 games on the year, including Nuetral Court Victories over Notre Dame, USC and at UCLA, Georgetown. They were 10-4 against the RPI top 150. They played 67% of their games away from home. They also won 17 conference games, a Regular Season Title and lost their Conference Title game by 3 points.
San Diego State has an RPI of 42, won 23 games, including a 16-2 Conference Record and season title. They make the Conference Title game and lose by 5 to a good Fresno State team. They go 11-8 against the top 150.
As I feared, this selection committee put the interests of Big Conference Schools ahead of Smaller schools who were not only more deserving, but I would contend, are just flat better teams.
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