Bayless got a break. (photo. Aaron Taylor)Let’s look at the facts:
1. Arizona State finished the regular season with a 19-12 overall record, 9-9 in the Pac-10. Arizona finished the regular season 19-14 overall, 8-10 in conference.
2. Arizona State went 5-5 in its last 10 games. Arizona went 4-6.
3. Arizona State currently stands fifth in the Pac-10 standings. Arizona is seventh.
4. Arizona State advanced to the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals, where they lost to NCAA Tournament-bound USC. Arizona also advanced to the Pac-10 quarters, where they lost to Tournament-bound Stanford.
5. In two regular-season meetings, Arizona State beat Arizona both times.
By any typical standard of measure, the Sun Devils have a stronger NCAA Tournament resume than the Wildcats. You can’t even argue that.
So tell me why Arizona is the team preparing for a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with West Virginia, while Arizona State is getting ready for Alabama State in the NIT?
It’s simple: Reputation and favoritism.
Since I follow the Pac-10 closer than any other conference, Arizona State’s Big Dance snub stood out most to me after yesterday’s selection show. I wasn’t in the room with the committee and can’t say if it definitely came down to “Arizona versus Arizona State” for that particular at-large berth, but seeing as the programs are in the same conference and have such similar records, it seems highly likely. And the rationale for picking the ‘Cats over the Sun Devils isn’t even paper-thin, because on paper, ASU would be the clear choice.
Everyone knows Arizona is a college basketball heavyweight. Under Lute Olson they had made 23 straight NCAA Tournament appearances leading up to this season. They’ve been to 5 Final Fours and took home the national ‘chip in 1997. Was the committee worried about keeping the streak intact? Since Lute isn’t coaching this year and Kevin O’Neill has taken over on the bench until Lute returns next season, I don’t think a missed tournament would go against the Hall of Famer’s record.
Either way, that shouldn’t matter. The committee shouldn’t be in the business of maintaining streaks and bolstering legacies, especially when it comes at the expense of a team that’s clearly more deserving. What they’re doing now is creating a “glass ceiling” effect, where teams like Arizona State — despite being in a major conference — are treated like mid-majors, having to do significantly more than preferred teams like Arizona to get the same respect.
What else is there other than name recognition? You could argue that Arizona’s loss to Stanford (#3 seed in the Dance) was a “better” loss than ASU’s loss to USC (#6 seed). You could argue that the Wildcats have more star power on their roster; freshman guard Jerryd Bayless (20 ppg, 4.1 apg) and sophomore forward Chase Budinger (17 ppg, 5.4 rpg) have garnered more hype over the course of the season than the Sun Devils’ two best players. But then again, freshman guard James Harden (17.6 ppg, 5 rpg) and junior forward Jeff Pendergraph (12.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) have been just as effective as the Wildcats’ duo.
At the end of the day, simply making the NCAA Tournament shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Teams in that “last group in” category rarely make much noise anyway. Still, it’s a disturbing trend when you have teams getting preferential treatment over others (in the same conference, no less) on some big-market, small-market reasoning.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
i Fux aka Etheraldinho aka Farouq Obama aka Cecil Cocksure says:
*drops 168 on Dime’s Head* Yo why the ‘Zona hate, them dudes are going to get it in, hopefully lol. Hey Is it me or T-Mac kind of an herb? Rafer Alston is the only NY bred PG who gets it(finally), everybody else can stick needles on their balls. Click the Name I remade Sean Kingstons ‘Take You there’ and I went in with the lyrics and the homie Performed it.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
them bums at state shouldn’t be crying. if ya wanna make the tourney, ya should do better than 19-12 and better than 5th in ur own conference.
31 games. u got 31 games to prove ur case and if the best you can do is 19wins out of 31, then you damn sure deserve the nit.
next time….win ur conference tourney then ya dont have to cry over spilled milk when you knocked over the glass
March 17th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Austin Burton says:
So why does Arizona get in when they had 19 wins in 33 games, and finished 7th in the conference?
March 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Bryan Weimer says:
Does anyone else find it hard to read the above posts without thinking… Wow, some people are stupid… The article makes a great point, and I have no idea how you can take AZ over ASU with those numbers crunched. Maybe they just picked one out of a hat. The tournament can’t be flawless with it’s selections, but they can be absent of flaws like this. I’m from Washington, the rainy side of the state, and I still think ASU deserves to get a chance to pull a big upset.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Bryan Weimer says:
and I didn’t mean anything to Austin Burton, good poster…
March 17th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Captain America says:
that’s why I hate golf.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Jim says:
I usually don’t care about big schools whining, because it’s so much tougher for a small school to get an at-large. But Austin is right, you KNOW they were looking at UA v. ASU for that spot, and ASU got jobbed.
And it’s not like they got jobbed for Syracuse…they have to play catch up to Arizona in recruiting and local media attention already, and this just hurts them that much more.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
doc says:
They said Arizona is 16-6 with Beyless so they let them in.Im with that.The team cant win without its star and when he played they were good.Arizona State aint shit anyway.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
fatro says:
bottom line, theres always a team that was snubbed. you only get 65 teams in, not everyones gonna be happy about it. in addition the pac 10 gets no love from any commentators or selection committee.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Mark S. says:
Arizona RPI: 37
Arizona State RPI: 83
March 17th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
alberto says:
Maybe it had to do with the colors of their unis
March 17th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
plus university of arizon has better looking girls
real talk. its just as true as the favoritism vote
March 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Mike says:
I’d say Dayton was probably the biggest snub. Check out their record, their RPI, and their strength of schedule. Add some good wins against teams in the tourney and it is amazing they didn’t make it. (The only argument against them is that they finished the season weak. Going 6-6 over their last 12).
The second biggest snub is Illinois State. I’m pretty much saying that because it is my alma mater, but they had a good record and a strong RPI. The only thing that kept them out was a lack of a win against a top team (they lost to Drake 3 times, including the 30 point loss in the MVC finals).
March 17th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Leftcoasthooper says:
In reference to the above article only, ASU got snubbed. Basketball teams have injuries and like other teams they have to deal with it..that being said reguardless of if AU had bayless or not they had a worst record than ASU. If star power or any other method is the reasoning behind the team with a better conference record NOT getting in then ALL games should be contingent upon whether or not each teams starting 5 will be present.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
alimoe says:
lol U of A has better looking girls are you crazy? come to Tempe bro I dont think you would say that again
March 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
E$ says:
UCLA is the only PAC-10 team you need, the rest are all overrated
March 17th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
t. jack says:
oh well. this stuff always happens. someone gets snubbed and they want (as in asu and its friends) just suck it up and move forward. teach your kids to win during the season so they don’t have to worry about whether or not they are going to make the tourney.
secondly, look at georgia. they got the raw deal of having to play 2 games in one day. the players just sucked it up and played the games…and won. now, it might’ve been a different story had they loss, but hey, I guess that’s they way it goes. but everyone else was making such a big deal out of it..ie the media. geez. remember, when we were all youngsters playing in aau tourneys we would play 2 games in a day and be good with that. I know the competition might be slightly off, but hey, 2 games is 2 games.
asu..suck it up and use this as fire.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
alimoe
tempe or temple?
where is tempe?
March 17th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Austin Burton says:
Tempe, Arizona … where the ASU campus is. And I’ve heard the girls there smoke the girls at Arizona.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Clutch says:
It is simple Arizona played the #2 SOS in the country and had three losses in their OOC record. ASU played I think the 275 strength of schedule in the country loosing 1 game. Put ASU in Arizona’s SOS. They loose to Memphis, and Kansas, so that puts them down to 17-14, honestly arizona had a much stronger showing against harder competition. The tourney committee has made it a trend to reward teams who actually play competition harder than Cal Poly. For example Georgia in 2001.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Celts Fan says:
I like Zona and think they should’ve been in. They were hit by injuries or would’ve been better (which is the ONLY rational reason they’re in and ASU isn’t.) ASU should be in too though, and over AZ if it came down to just them, but to me, they should BOTH be in…
March 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am
fitoley says:
ASU did not get in becuase they play all the CUPCAKES in the non conference schedule, Always hating against the UofA, if ASU wants to get in the NCAA’s next year play BIG games so they can play with the BIG boys
March 18th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Austin Burton says:
To me, non-conference strength of schedule goes out the window when ASU beat Arizona twice head-to-head. Strength of schedule is something you use to settle arguments when you’re dealing with teams who haven’t played each other. I think the committee put too much weight on RPI and not enough on common sense. You ask me who’s better out of ASU and Arizona and it’s clearly ASU.