SOS is exactly why USU got a 12 seed (which I predicted weeks ago) rather than the 8 or 9 most were predicting.

I think they can beat K-St, but won't get past Wisconsin.

>I also have no idea how Pitt got a #1 seed with their late season slump. Maybe it's tribute to a conference that is sending 11 teams.
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>Regarding Pitt, yes, they went 15-3 in what's considered the best conference. They lost to St John's by 1 point, to Louisville by 3 pts in OT, and then by 2 pts to UConn in the Big East tourney. I don't have a problem with Pittsburgh getting a 1 seed.
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>But the UAB and VCU selections are really surprising. UAB had 1 win against the RPI top 50 - and that was against VCU. Colorado-VTech got seriously screwed. Virginia Tech beat a #1 seed (Duke) and went to the ACC semis....Colorado beat K-State twice and also beat Texas. Jay Bilas had a perfect line tonight on ESPN..."You know who's the most surprised about UAB and VCU getting in??? UAB and VCU!!!"
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>Regarding Harvard....that's an easy one - you have to look at both RPI and Strength of Schedule. Bottom line, Harvard's strength of schedule was 141. Rarely will a team get an at-large bid with that kind of disparity between RPI and SOS. The only teams in the tourney this year with an SOS over 100 are automatic qualifiers.
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>VCU's RPI was worse than Harvard's, but VCU's SOS was better....though largely because they played George Mason. Harvard's problem is that they play in what's generally viewed a weak conference. I can't even recall the last time the Ivy League had an at-large pick.
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>As much as I wanted St Mary's in (they beat St John's and Gonzaga this year, and they played both BYU and San Diego State), their loss at the end of the year to 6-24 San Diego and then to Utah State probably killed them. That's another case where playing in a conference with a bunch of crappy teams will kill your SOS, and will leave you zero margin for error. So in a way, St Mary's and Harvard are in a similar boat.
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>Seems like the popular pick for the title game is Ohio State and KU.