March 11, 2007
not. in.
absolutely inexcuseable.
Stanford: 18-12, 6th place in the Pac Ten
Michigan State: 22-11, 7th place in the Big Ten
Texas Tech: 21-12, 5th place in the Big 12
Georgia Tech: 20-11, 7th place in the ACC
...all teams in the final 65. All teams deemed by the NCAA Tournament committee as being better than those Syracuse Orangemen. By the way, they finished 22-10 and at 5th place in the Big East. The 9th place team in the Big East? The Villanova Wildcats? They're a 9 seed (yes - they finished in 9th, after tiebreakers with West Virginia and DePaul).
I haven't had much to say this season, but this mistake is truly ridiculous. This team got robbed - these seniors got robbed. They give it their all down the stretch, winning 6 of 8 in a major conference and they get the great big reward of being a #1 seed in the Not In the Tourney bracket. Meanwhile, a team like Stanford goes 4-6 over their last 10 games and scoots in with an 11 seed, despite being ranked #65 in the almighty RPI (SU sits at #50).
Apparently, Syracuse has to win the Big East Tournament to give themselves a bid - forget the fact that they beat the likes of Georgetown, Villanova, and Marquette throughout the season, right? Who cares that Old Dominion (12 seed) lost to James Madison, Marist, and Hofstra - they went 1-0 against the Top 25!
At least Gottlieb gets to gloat.
