(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
I like to consider myself a rational person. So before I completely rip the NCAA selection committee for shipping the ‘Cuse out west over Duke, I will use the TOOL method (first revealed by¬†The Fizz in January) to see what’s cooking.
Head to head we go:
DUKE UNIVERSITY
(29-5) RPI:3
Why they got a number one seed: The Blue Devils overcame early issues with depth and consistency at big man and won the ACC tournament. Their only questionable loss was against NC State.
Why they may not deserve to be seeded where they are: Duke split the regular season conference title with Maryland, and all five of it’s losses came on the road. The ACC sucked this year and coach K’s team couldn’t establish itself against the only conference team that was legit (the Terps).
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
(28-4) RPI:5
Why they got a number one seed: Body of work. The Orange went undefeated in the nonconference, won the Big East, and only dropped one true road game. The ‘Cuse took out multiple top-10 teams and oftentimes made the opposing squads a mockery in doing so.
Why they may not deserve to be seeded where they are: The ‘Cuse dropped it’s last two games, and lost it’s starting center to an injury. The Orange’s defense had some issues sealing the backdoor lobs and passes towards the end of the season.
After all that, I find this to be the most incriminating evidence of the ‘Cuse being screwed.
Selection chairman Dan Guerrero:¬†“Once again, we’re talking about the entire season. We place value on that. Obviously, the big center for Syracuse got banged up. That’s an issue to some degree.”
Oh, the entire season? The entire season of losing one game on the road? The entire season of being an outright winner of it’s conference? The entire season of playing in a far superior Big East?
The Orange deserved the third number one seed. Insert chip on shoulder. Go.
