Empire 8

[bamm]

I heard Syracuse scheduled Hartwick and Alfred for next year.  That should help their strength of schedule.  But it is at the Dome though.

No matter how terrible I feel because 'Cuse got jobbed, that is still funny.  Well done.

[Caz Bombers]

After sleeping on it, I think I'd put Drexel and Syracuse in and replace Stanford and either Illinois, Arkansas or Texas Tech.  TT is absolutely the Big 12 version of Cuse (beat nobody OOC, pointed to 2 big league wins to offset the general unimpressiveness of the rest of their body of work.)  TT beat the Hogs on a neutral court, so let's just toss Arky instead.  Stanford finished 6th in a 10-team league and lost 4 of its last 5...seems to go against the committee's stated criteria that how you finish matters.

A Deadspin commenter made a great point.  Last year the committee sent a bigtime message that the OOC schedule matters to everybody, including the big boys.  That should have put everybody on notice.  Jim Boeheim chose to not listen and keep doing what he always does, sit in his Dome until January.  This is what happens, Jimmy.  There's a great big world outside upstate New York with Division I basketball teams in it...take a tour this November-December and you'll be back in the Dance.

[AUPepBand]

I heard Syracuse scheduled Hartwick and Alfred for next year.  That should help their strength of schedule.  But it is at the Dome though.

Glad to hear the 'cuse is renewing its rivalry with Alfred. Pep has actually seen footage of their last meeting....in 16mm format. Go Saxons!

[whatman]

just pointing out the facts  8)! haha

What facts were you pointing out?  I'm pretty sure there's no way a 2007-2008 prediction, under any circumstances, is a fact.

Bamm im not trying to be a jerk here, but stop being silly.  If fisher is not the E8 favorite next year then something is wrong with whoever is making the votes. 

I said "Ithaca could be the favorites".  Yeah, I'm completely shocked this offended you.  What does "being silly" mean? 

I'd take Burton, Leahy, and Bostic over Newman, Beigal, and Baltz all day.  And under what set of "facts" am I supposed to be impressed by Isiah Smalt?  Is he going to guard Bostic?  That should be fun.

I'm not saying Fisher won't contend.  I just like Ithaca's players a bit more.  We have a long time to wait and see.

[ScotsFan]

A Deadspin commenter made a great point.  Last year the committee sent a bigtime message that the OOC schedule matters to everybody, including the big boys.  That should have put everybody on notice.  Jim Boeheim chose to not listen and keep doing what he always does, sit in his Dome until January.  This is what happens, Jimmy.  There's a great big world outside upstate New York with Division I basketball teams in it...take a tour this November-December and you'll be back in the Dance.

Great point!  Instead of continuing to whine about not getting in, maybe Jimmy B should start working on beefing up that OOC schedule for next season and he won't be in this position again next March!

[bamm]

A Deadspin commenter made a great point.  Last year the committee sent a bigtime message that the OOC schedule matters to everybody, including the big boys.  That should have put everybody on notice.  Jim Boeheim chose to not listen and keep doing what he always does, sit in his Dome until January.  This is what happens, Jimmy.  There's a great big world outside upstate New York with Division I basketball teams in it...take a tour this November-December and you'll be back in the Dance.

Great point!  Instead of continuing to whine about not getting in, maybe Jimmy B should start working on beefing up that OOC schedule for next season and he won't be in this position again next March!

I consider this irrelevant to this particular tournament.  Regardless of OOC schedule, Syracuse still had a better overall record, road record, and just as impressive quality home/road wins than the most questionable teams that got in (Stanford, Arkansas).

Gary Walters called Daryl Gross (SU AD) and apparently said the following regarding their decision:

"At the end of the day, the consensus of the group was that Syracuse wasn't one of the 34 best at-large teams... it's only because the quantitative data that we had in front of us, one can use to either support or detract from an argument."

In other words, they thought the data regarding the bubble teams (SOS, RPI, etc) couldn't give them a clear picture.  So they subjectively chose the last few teams based on who they considered the better teams. 

If that's true, I can't believe they chose Stanford over Cuse.  Stanford lost 4 of their last 5 games!  They are 18-12.  They are playing their worst basketball of the season.

'Cuse is playing their best basketball of the season.

It's a terrible decision.

[FisherDynasty]

As much as it sucks that cuse is not in which takes half of the interest of the tourny away from me.  They should not have lost to some of the teams they lost to plain in simple.  Do i think they deserve gettin in over some of the other teams definatly, i thought they were a lock after the Gtown win and Uconn win.  But they were very hard to watch this year, some games would look very good, some games awful.  The team awareness on cuse is like -5.  Devendorf although has been playing good i cant stand him sometimes, watkins and roberts are airheads, and paul harris can even make a 15 footer all though i do like him a lot.  Idk, yeah they should be in, but they shouldnt have left it up to the schedulers, should have took care of business earlier in the season.

[JQV]

I was reading this post and waiting for:

As much as it sucks that cuse is not in which takes half of the interest of the tourny away from me.  They should not have lost to some of the teams they lost to plain in simple.  Do i think they deserve gettin in over some of the other teams definatly, i thought they were a lock after the Gtown win and Uconn win.  But they were very hard to watch this year, some games would look very good, some games awful.  The team awareness on cuse is like -5.  Devendorf although has been playing good i cant stand him sometimes, watkins and roberts are airheads, and paul harris can even make a 15 footer all though i do like him a lot.  Idk, yeah they should be in, but they shouldnt have left it up to the schedulers, should have took care of business earlier in the season.

...I mean, Fisher could beat Syracuse, but only if the game was at Fisher.

I guess FD is learning some restraint.

[FisherDynasty]

Fisher takes care of business in the regular season so they dont have to worry about not gettin in the tourny 8)

jose always has it in for me


Fishers 28-0 reg season squad at home vs 2006 Orangemen = Fisher +5 

[FisherDynasty]

I bet i can guess the response on this one.....

[keystonelight]

i'm just sick of jose queervo never having anything but sarcastic remarks

I agree fisher fans are rather high on their horses sometimes but you just constantly add to the fire

[fisheralum91]

Hey Fisherdyn- any word on recruiting a local New Hartford product Ron Evans to Fisher?
He is one hell of a player- and had it narrowed down to a few schools including Fisher.

[dewcrew88]

My biggest problem is with Stanford.  They finished 18-12.  They did not have a single significant conference road win.  They finished the regular season by going 4-7 (Cuse went 7-3).  Syracuse was the only team to beat Georgetown (and blow them out) in their final 16 games.

Furthermore, if there is one "black and white" rule that should apply to an at-large selection for the NCAA tournament it is this:  If you can't finish .500 in your league, you don't deserve a bid.  Freaking Arkansas even played in a crappy league -- the SEC West.

Any observer could see Syracuse was playing their best ball towards the end of the season.  They are simply better than Stanford, Arkansas, and Purdue.  If the objective is to get the best 34 teams into those slots, the NCAA committee did not do it. 

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I firmly believe they had other objectives this season.  It makes no sense otherwise.

Here's a conspiracy for ya... think about it if you are on the selection committee. Where are you going to make the most money? By putting Syracuse in the NCAA tournament and sending them somewhere far away from NY? Or lets see, lets make them a high seed in the NIT, make it almost certain for them to go to NYC, and they still sell out the Garden, making tons of money for the NCAA, since the NCAA bought out the NIT 2 or 3 years ago?

Think about that one for a minute. BTW, Go Albany! I think they have a chance against Virginia.

[JQV]

i'm just sick of jose queervo never having anything but sarcastic remarks

That is actually the funniest nickname yet.  You need to school fan of d3.  The Chair happily encourages free dissent in E8Nation.

I agree fisher fans are rather high on their horses sometimes but you just constantly add to the fire

The Chair will stipulate that the Fisher fans are certainly high on something.

As for adding to the fire, the Chair likes to encourage robust debate in E8Nation.  He also feels it neccessary to prevent any of the E8Nation denizens from becoming too impressed with themselves or taking their posts too seriously.

[FisherDynasty]

FisherAlum,  hmm im not sure.  I would hope so if he's one hell of a player.  I do know that Fisher has a good 6'5 guard coming in, possible 2 guard from Rush-Henrietta who is good, and some others.  I also, know that a few key recruits have dropped off and committed elsewhere, and the remaining recruits are still in process of making a decision.  If Fisher can get 2 good Frosh to contribute, it will be key to next years success.  Specifically in the shooting guard, small forward slots.