12/21/24
March 06, 2002
Will changes in selection impact the tournament?: Has anybody else heard about this? I suspect it'll shake things up more than they think.
posted by pastepotpete to basketball at 07:15 PM - 3 comments
All I know is that my sort of alma mater, FAU made it in. Go Burrowing Owls!
posted by owillis at 11:17 PM on March 06, 2002
Being a Pitt alum, it's definitely going to prove interesting. I can't agree with everyone in saying that Pittsburgh is a "soft" team (though I have to admit I am looking from a skewed point of view here). I can however see where the point is coming from. The team has actually been very hot shooting-wise lately, and their ability to rally from healthy leads late in games has been unreal, as in my time there (mid-90's) I'd never believe that school was capable of it. It's their foul shooting that could kill them. Brandin Knight, the Big East co-player of the year, is just horrible from the charity stripe. That being said, the issue that's always come up is the stamina come March to be able to endure what is basically a six-game road trip to the championship. This could prove to be a huge edge for Pittsburgh, as it could potentially shorten that to four. That's big. The chance for those players to be able to be able to spend that 1st weekend sleeping in their own beds is huge. From a fan standpoint, I don't know how much a difference it will make considering the first two rounds sold out weeks ago.
posted by rosey8810 at 08:18 AM on March 07, 2002
For instance, everything I've read about it always connects to Pittsburgh, which is interesting because Pittsburgh is going to be mentioned over and over again as a "soft" team with a high seed in the coming days, because of their poor showing in recent years. Will the new selectin method give them a boost? It should increase attendance at some of the sub-regionals,which I believe some have had attendance problems in the past. On the whole, I think it means the competition will get even better, if that's possible.