Since two teams with no business in the tournament are currently in progress, I decided to check in with some further hoops thoughts.
Iowa State, an 11 seed which was outscored 200-145 its last three games, leads coach-less LSU 24-19 at the half. Pat Forde's March 12 Sports Illustrated piece on former coach Will "the Bagman" Wade and the mess that is LSU deserves a read, so give it a look. It took the NCAA three years to actually have anything to say about the ubiquitous LSU paying of recruits and family members. LSU, in the meantime, paid Wade millions of dollars to keep the slimeball gravy train going until the hammer fell.
Houston
I mentioned in previous entries that the 28-5 Houston Cougars, with three losses by a total of five points, were hosed in the seedings. The committee assigned them a five seed while two of the more respected power ratings, the BPI and Pomeroy, had Houston as the second and fifth best team respectively.
Not only did Houston get a bad seeding, they were also placed in a bracket featuring a "Tarkanian gauntlet," so named for how the NCAA routinely tried to mine UNLV's path in the tournament. Houston's bracket features the second, third, fifth, and 15th best teams, according to the BPI. Houston was therefore screwed multiple ways.
Oddsmakers versus Committee
And finally, two games in the first round featured a disagreement between the committee and Las Vegas sports books. Las Vegas made two lower seeds, Michigan and Memphis, favored. The oddsmakers were correct in both cases, and the committee was wrong. That's usually the way these disparities play out.
Bob Dietz
March 18, 2022
