So you really think the NCAA is kinder to mid-majors these days?

Just for the hell of it, I looked through some old tourneys on Wikipedia. Here's the 1985 bracket. When you see some of the seeds, you'll be really damn surprised. Makes you wonder when the money of March Madness, and what it meant to power conferences, began to outweigh judging the actual teams...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_NCAA_Men%27s_Division_I_Basketball_Tournament

 

That just happened to be a great year for the mid majors. They deserve nothing. Get more ACC teams in. [/Billypacker]

 

Ah, the Sun Belt. What happened to ya?

 

VCU a No. 2 seed? Loyola a No. 4? Kentucky a No. 12? Wow.

 

That was VCU's greatest season (and the chokers still managed to blow it to Bama). But in fairness, VCU and Old Dominion were in the Sun Belt back then, when the Sun Belt didn't royally suck. Louisiana Tech had Karl Malone, which made them a major school while he was in uniform (see also: Navy with David Robinson). Loyola had two draft picks, one in the first round, and finished the season ranked 14th.

Southern Illinois got a 4 this year, Butler got a 5 and Nevada a 7, which is the rough equivalent of the VCU-Loyola-La. Tech troika (and nobody can say Butler at 5 or even Southern Illinois at 4 is underseeded).

 

But, unfortunately, some things never change. Just as now, the champs of the MEAC (N.C. A&T) and SWAC (Southern) were slapped with 16 seeds.

 

FDU-Teaneck? Are they even DI today?

 

Hampton and Coppin State got 15s. That's where they won from. And Southern had, what, a 14 when it beat Georgia Tech?

The MEAC and SWAC champs didn't get "slapped" with 16s any more than the Northeast, MAAC, Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley or Southland champs. 16 seeds get 16 seeds because they're the weakest teams in the lot. The RPI doesn't give a hoot in hell whether it's judging a HBC school or not.

 

FDU-Teaneck is just FDU for our purposes. FDU-Florham is D-III. Maybe at some point both were D-I, requiring the designation.

 

Two current MVC teams in that year too. Fuck the selection committees.

 

Alfredrick Hughes lives!

I thought that was the year Kentucky got an at-large with a .500 record, but they were actually 16-12. I remember their bid caused quite a stir.

I could have swore a .500 team from a power conference received an at-large bid sometime in the first five years of the 64-team field.

 

Georgia got in the 2001 tournament as an at-large with a 16-14 record. As an 8, at that.