This is not necessarily a new feature, but it works with our alliterative minds: Monday Musings. In looking at pure sabermetric rankings—and not the silly “Quad 1” this and that—it’s clear the NCAA Tournament selections hurt the B1G unjustly while helping the SEC unfairly. We point to the KenPom ratings, which also show us how Gonzaga got hosed, too, by the committee that decides all. It’s just like football, really—tragic.

Briefly, the Bulldogs are ranked ninth by KenPom, the accepted leader in sabermetric evaluation for the sport. Yet the NCAA gave Gonzaga an 8 seed, which suggests the team is “only” in the Top 32. That’s absolutely asinine, and we’re tired of the bullshit. This is all about money, and a small school from Eastern Washington that plays in a mid-major conference is perceived to not bring in enough of it … really?! Still?!

This kind of corruption and greed in what used to be amateur sports is just nauseating. And it’s been going on for too long in both college moneymaker sports. Will it end? Sadly, no, because the reality is too many fans will continue to spend money hand over fist to see their teams get special treatment; hence, the laughable choices to include middling SEC teams like Arkansas, Texas, and Vanderbilt in March Madness:

  • Arkansas is ranked 40th in KenPom, while Ohio State is ranked 39th (no March Madness invite).
  • Texas (44th) and Vanderbilt (49th) get invites, while Northwestern (45th) and Indiana (48th) did not.

While West Virginia (53rd) cries about missing out, it’s these B1G teams that should be protesting. The Buckeyes were the highest-ranked team in the KenPom system to not get an invitation. Ohio State not only beat Texas this year, it also defeated NCAA-bound teams from Kentucky, Purdue, and Maryland. Sure, the Buckeyes also had some bad losses, but that head-to-head win over Texas alone should have meant a lot.

The next-highest team on KenPom left out of the tournament? Northwestern. The Wildcats also beat Maryland, as well as Illinois. The win-loss records, however, seem to have doomed both Ohio State (18th in SOS) and Northwestern (39), s the Buckeyes were not rewarded for playing a tougher schedule than Arkansas (23), for example. We all know how the SEC skewed the football SOS ratings for years, too.

Seems like they’ve now gotten away with it in basketball also, as the committee clearly lacks some serious critical-thinking skills—or just knows it can make more money off the sucker fans in the South. Every SEC team with a winning record was invited to the NCAA Tournament—including Texas and Oklahoma, schools that each posted a 6-12 record in conference play. What the fuck is that all about? Just like football, though.

Meanwhile, six B1G teams that had winning records were not invited to March Madness—although we would argue that rarely should a team which cannot finish near .500 in its own conference get a bid to the “championship” tournament. Of these six omitted B1G teams, we honestly only believe Indiana and Ohio State should have been invited. That would still leave the SEC with more teams than the B1G, which is fine.

At least the ones in the Big Dance would have earned their way in rather than having just greased the wheels.