Should Tech accept pay-for-play tourney bid?

[theprofessor]

For the people who say there are no benefits for paying to play, I think you're oversimplifying the issue. There are both pros and cons to this issue. In my eyes, it's not an easy decision. Could that money be used to do other things with the program? Sure. And there are ways to make up some of the money paid to host the game through ticket sales and sponsorships, so it's not a total washout of $25K, $35K or $50K. I lean on the side of rewarding players who have been great for our program. Erik McCree has been a tremendous three-year player for us. I'm not saying he should make the ultimate decision, but if he wants to play at the TAC another time or two, I'm all for it. It also gives Cobi and Bracey additional chances to put their names in the Tech record books. These are good things. It's not completely useless to play in these tourneys. I am depressed that again I'll be filling out an NCAA tourney bracket without Louisiana Tech's name on it, and certainly I'd love to be in the NIT rather than a pay-for-play tourney, but it's not like this team went 17-16 and is just hanging out. This was a pretty good team that overachieved and finished second in conference play. Why not play another game or two and see what happens?

[Dawg Fan]

I don't claim to be an expert regarding how the selection and seeding is done for the NCAA and NIT tournaments, but I think it is plausible the NIT will select at least one C-USA team. If MTSU goes to the NCAA for winning the conference tournament, shouldn't Tech be considered for the NIT based on finishing 2nd in C-USA for the regular season? If Marshall goes to the NCAA and MTSU goes to the NIT, then I think the likelihood of Tech getting a NIT bid is much less. Perhaps Tech receiving an invitation to the NIT is just wishful thinking on my part.

[Russdawg]

This team overachieved by coming in second in the conference, but, playing two more games won't help. Spend the money on recruiting guys that can shoot like the guys at Marshall.

Credit to Marshall for beating us. They did however end the regular season 18-14 and 6th in C-USA including a lopsided loss at USM.

Guys who shoot 70% 3pt shots. Are there any? That was a luck fest yesterday that we got caught up in.

Spend it on baseball.

I didn't get to see the game. How was our defensive intensity?

[Cal&Ken]

Credit to Marshall for beating us. They did however end the regular season 18-14 and 6th in C-USA including a lopsided loss at USM.


I didn't get to see the game. How was our defensive intensity?

Many times they were wide open. Do people normally make them all like that, no, but yesterday was by no means our best effort. The players need to get ready for next year and move on.

[Dawg06]

I don't claim to be an expert regarding how the selection and seeding is done for the NCAA and NIT tournaments, but I think it is plausible the NIT will select at least one C-USA team. If MTSU goes to the NCAA for winning the conference tournament, shouldn't Tech be considered for the NIT based on finishing 2nd in C-USA for the regular season? If Marshall goes to the NCAA and MTSU goes to the NIT, then I think the likelihood of Tech getting a NIT bid is much less. Perhaps Tech receiving an invitation to the NIT is just wishful thinking on my part.

Our RPI is #116, and we had zero RPI Top 100 wins. Only 3 wins vs. RPI 101-200 and 20 wins vs. RPI 201+ Our resume is empty. => We have 0% chance at the NIT.

[tigtoo30]

IMO, the team is young enough to warrant more experience. We lose McCree and that's it from a contribution standpoint. Let the younger one get some experience. We are all butt hurt over the drought, but maybe Konkel is building something special. For what it's worth or FWIW for the younger posters.

[nadB]

Our RPI is #116, and we had zero RPI Top 100 wins. Only 3 wins vs. RPI 101-200 and 20 wins vs. RPI 201+ Our resume is empty. => We have 0% chance at the NIT.

RPI ?? WTH ?? Surely you be kenpomming it ??

[glm47]

It's pretty simple really. Those advocating that we play in a meaningless rinky dink pay to play tournament just need to
put their money up to cover the costs.

[nadB]

... maybe Konkel is building something special....

Or, maybe he isn't ??

[Dawg06]

RPI ?? WTH ?? Surely you be kenpomming it ??

Gotta go by the committee's official selection sheets. Good news is that this should be the final year RPI is the official metric of NCAA hoops.

[nadB]

Gotta go by the committee's official selection sheets. Good news is that this should be the final year RPI is the official metric of NCAA hoops.

Q ?? To what extent do RPI and the other rankings converge as the season progresses ??

[Tech52]

Or, maybe he isn't ??

Let him work. He's recruited good players so far. Let them get older and better.

[Dawg06]

Q ?? To what extent do RPI and the other rankings converge as the season progresses ??

They somewhat converge as the sample size gets bigger, but to what extent? I don't know. Each metric measures something different. RPI is based 25% on your W/L, 50% on your opponents' W/L, and 25% on your opponents' opponents' W/L so it's predominantly an SOS ranking. KenPom is based on tempo-free possession-by-possession efficiency, not simply W/L. RPI starts with a blank slate so early season RPIs are volatile, and KenPom starts with preseason rankings that are gradually weaned off until January 20ish to reduce volatility. Sagarin Predictor is points based while the Sagarin Elo Chess is simply W/L based. Then there are the blended Sagarin ratings that average the two. Sagarin also weans off preseason rankings until the rankings are unbiased to reduce volatility. Then there's Massey whose algorithm sucks almost as bad as RPI. Massey should be a banned word on this site.

[Dawg06]

I vote for "no". I'd rather put the money into TAC upgrades. It's getting rough in some areas. I have to hear it from my wife every home game. Young team. Brand new lineup next year.

We need LED lighting at the TAC so we can turn off the lights for intros like every other school. That would give the atmosphere at the TAC a big boost.

[DogsWin]

We need LED lighting at the TAC so we can turn off the lights for intros like every other school. That would give the atmosphere at the TAC a big boost.

And lower energy usage cost, decrease lighting maintenance costs, decrease capital expense budgets,...