Thats just garbage!
You think Rhode Island would be sitting on the bubble if they had that record in the Big East?!
Teams like UConn and such should not be rewarded for playing in the Big East and then playing almost all their non-con at home while teams like Rhode Island get exponentially penalized because they play in a conference with St. Bonaventure...
I say seperate the RPI numbers and reward teams that go out and play a tough non-con....
You're in what conference you are in and unfortunately really can not help that factor....
You are absolutely correct SLB22! Rhode Island would be in if they were in a BCS conference. The A-10 this year consists of as many good teams as the Big Ten does, but the A-10 will get three teams in at the most while the Big Ten clinched their fifth team today. And my above post further explains why I feel the BCS bubble teams get the benefit of the doubt most of the time.
Before others chime in disagreeing with this point, let me just clarify a key point here. I have not, nor have I ever said that many mid-level BCS teams don't deserve bids to the NCAA Tournament. A team like Illinois has demonstrated that even with a mediocre 19-13 record why they should be in. The reason is that they have five wins over the RPI top 50, so I have no problem with them being included. My gripe is with teams like Washington out of the Pac-10 or the two Mississippi teams out of the SEC as examples. They have resumes no better, and more likely worse than Rhode Island, but URI will be left out before those three teams I mentioned.
My gripe is also with teams like Wichita St. that while not having a great resume, still get no consideration for finishing strong in one of the top 10 conferences in the country, while teams like Mississippi who finished
fifth in the SEC with an equal resume will get selected over similar mid-majors 90% of the time.
In reality we can all debate the merits of including WSU in the field. Some feel they might not deserve to be in. But neither does Mississippi. And when I see them in the field this Sunday with a #9 seed (or if not them, someone else with a similar resume), I have no choice but to throw my hands up in disgust!
So while I do agree that in general "teams do get bids, but not conferences", there are several exceptions to that rule every single year. And it is the Creightons, the WSU's and the Rhode Island's of the world that get hurt by these exceptions every time!