Originally Posted by
brewcity77
This is one of the huge failings of the RPI system. In general, most top-50 RPI teams have a good shot at the tournament. Because the bottom of the A-10 is so weak (5 sub-100 teams) it allows the better teams to junk up on wins to improve their RPI. The A-10 has 6 teams in the RPI top-45 because of those wins. Those teams are all but locks because of their RPI. The Big East only has 3 such teams.
When you go to Pomeroy's rankings, I think you get a better picture. The A-10 has 4 top-50 teams in Pomeroy, whereas the Big East has 5. Our league is better. I don't think there's any real debate. But with only 10 teams, you are going to beat up on yourself a lot. If you don't knock it out in the non-con, teams are going to fall off the bubble simply because they are too close to separate.
Right now, Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Marquette are all on the outside looking in. Any of those teams would be fighting for the A-10 championship. This is the danger of having 10 teams with very little chaff. If getting the maximum number of bids is what's important, we should be targeting schools like Cleveland State, Richmond, Ohio...not necessarily those schools, but that caliber of competition. Get some easier wins to junk up on. Adding more high-level teams will only make it more difficult for this league to maximize their bid potential come March.
Also...I'm not saying I want those teams over St. Louis or Dayton or VCU, just that that type of team would be a better choice for more bids.