Vegas Says Virginia Tech Should Have Made Tournament

Darn Straight! I'm hard on my Hokies, but they should be in this field. They had just beat Ga Tech a week earlier AT Ga Tech in dominating fashion. Lost only one game at home TY in overtime to number 4 seed Maryland. The bad thing is they are SO disappointed with not being at the dance that their surely over looking a quality opponent in Quinnipiac Wednesday night.

Doc

Absolutely disagree with all my heart.  Their preseason strength of schedule was one of the worst in the nation.  They were absolutely terrible against teams in the top 50.  Every single one of those teams listed had a harder schedule, and better record vs. better opponents.  VT isn't even the best team left out in my opinion.  And I'm utterly shocked that VT would apparently be favored over ANY of those teams listed.  On a neutral floor, I literally would not have them favored over a single one of those listed teams.  If Virginia Tech wanted to make the tournament, they shouldn't have lost in the first round of the conference tournament to the last place team in the conference (Miami).  They have no one to be upset at but themselves.  All they needed was a DECENT showing in the conference tournament, and they lost in the first round.  Terrible road team, terribly inconsistent team, and a team that truly deserves to be in the NIT.

I always thought that Vegas makes the line based on where they think the money will come in, not who they think is the better team.  So, making VT the favorite is indicative of how Vegas thinks the public perceives it (i.e. most people think 4th place in the ACC is better than 3rd place in the Mountain West, A10, etc...).  It seems to me, the people hurt most by VT's exclusion are the sharps, who would no doubt take the points against the Hokies (for reasons Sac has outlined).

Slosser...You are absolutely correct...The price they put out is intended to split the action...But they begin by determining what the "TRUE LINE" should be...And what RJ is referring to is what VTECH's Rating is compared to those other teams...That don't mean they would definitely put them out as the favorite if they played, because so many other factors then go into offering a price to for the bettors to wager...Public Perception being one of those factors...Sometimes it's weighed heavier than other times...Tournament Season being one of them...Best of Luck, VR

Sac - is 3-4 vs. the top 50 absolutely terrible?  What a baseless, wreckless statement.

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Gamers41... Yes, I do.  When comparing to the bubble teams they were competing against, it is terrible.  There are 34 at large bids.  If you can't go 0.500 against top 50 teams, you're clearly not in the upper half of the top 50. Based on those numbers alone.  That being said, I can fully understand how one may disagree with that particular statement, but it was one sentence in the body of the argument.  I can read any news article on the planet and disagree with a single sentence.  You, my friend, need to kick back a bit.  And if you want to debate it, do it with substance, not some worthless attack.  You obviously have some stake in the Hokies, and I'm sorry you feel dejected... but I'll ask you this... Could Virginia Tech win the tournament?  If your answer is "No" which it should be,  Than it really doesn't matter whether they got in or not.  

NO selection committee is needed to seed the teams.We all know the damn TV networks(who have paid multi-billion dollars)control everything!This is the 21st century for crying out loud.Can't the conference commissioners get ther collective heads out of their asses & not allow mediocre teams that win the conference tourney to get an automatic bid?How about putting all 64 teams in a hat & drawing names to see who they would play in each round?Would absolutely love to see Kansas play Kentucky in the FIRST round!Of course the network honchos would NEVER allow such a travesty

I forgot to also mention in my post above that NO teams in the NCAA tourney should be allowed to play the non-Final Four games in an arena close to where they are from

100% agree with your statement about conference tournaments.  They play 16 or so games of conference play for a reason!  A team can go 16-0 in a smaller conference, and yet lose in the tournament final,and not make the NCAA.  Absolutely no justice in that.  What's the point of a regular season title?  It shows your entire body of work, where as one game at the end of the year is a coin flip.  Terrible system.

My statement wasn't an attack, at all.  "Baseless, wreckless statement" is not an attack, in my mind.  The rest of your statement is completely opinion, and you are entitled to yours.  So while I disagree with most everything you said, the one quantative, factual part is the one I disputed because it can be.  Some teams in the field:

Texas A&M - 5-9 vs top 50.  Absolutely terrible.

Tennessee - 2-5 vs top 50.  Absolutely terrible.

SDSU - 4-5 vs. top 50.  Absolutely terrible.

Cal - 1-6 vs top 50.  Absolutely terrible.

BYU - 4-5 vs top 50.  Absolutely terrible.

Texas - 5-7 vs. top 50.  Absolutely terrible.

MSU - 3-4 vs. top 50.

"There are 34 at large bids.  If you can't go 0.500 against top 50 teams, you're clearly not in the upper half of the top 50. Based on those numbers alone."

Are none of the above clearly in the top 50?  No, they all clearly are.  Top 30 in fact.

I'm not arguing that VT should be in the tourney.  Never said that (though we could definitely win in the tourney).  But if one wants to make a case AGAINST VT getting in, their record against the top 50 is clearly NOT in that cases favor.

Just to be clear, if my comment was interpretted as an attack, I apologize.  That was not my intent, but interpretation outweighs intent most of the time.  Perhaps, wreckless was a bit strong, but I did not think the statement held a lot of weight.

Great Point man.. I had Miami in my personal power rankings as a top 50 team when they played them the first time.. but obviously no one goes by my power rankings (even though i think ESPN did too)... or by what teams were ranked when they played em.  I fully take back my statement about VT being terrible against top 50.. clearly that's not an oddity among those that made the tourny... I can honestly say I didn't go through and check records, I was speaking 100% off the top of my head about VT games that stuck out in my mind from this season.

That being said, I still 100% stand by my point that VT had a chance to get in, but folded against Miami in the first round of the conference tournament.  For teams that are on the bubble, the conference tournaments are basically play in games to the NCAA tournament.. you lose, you're done.  Simple as that.  I also, 100% standby my statement that VT would not be favored against any of the teams on that list if they played them on the road, and the spreads would be darn close on a neutral floor (i wouldn't have them favored in any of them personally).  I'm not sure you can argue with those statements.

Point is, you're right.. Bad statement on my part; that should not be used against them.. Schedule strength in the preseason should, and an inability to win a game when it matters should as well.  As for your statement being interpreted as an attack.. I just would rather that you supply the facts out of the gate, prove your point.. don't just say I'm off base, prove it to me.  (Which you ended up doing, and I commend you for that).

I know you're a VT fan, and I know that I'm in the vast minority on this argument.  But we definitely are going to have to agree to disagree here, because in my mind, VT has no business even being upset about this.

Sac - I agree with you.  We blew it and I've told that to all of my fellow Hokies.  We had our chances and we put our fate in someone elses hands.  When you do that, you lose the right to bitch when you don't get in.

Good luck in the tourney (and the other tourneys) with your picks.