Doug Gotlieb, RPI/SOS, and the Eastern Bias

Oh Doug Gotlieb, you make me chuckle. This was taped on the morning of Monday, February 28th. If you haven't watched it yet, you should... Don't continue reading until you've finished watching it. I'm serious. Done watching? I'll keep waiting. Ok, good. I don't really need to explain how bad he looks, but he looks awful. Joe Lunardi on the other hand is a stat master and got 64 of the 65 teams right last year. I think I could maybe get 40. All the conference winners, plus anyone else in the top 25, and probably any teams that get votes to be in the top 25 but didn't make it. That might make 40 if I'm lucky. So Doug puts his faith in Texas, a team that plays in the Big 12. Any idea what conference Gotlieb played in? Hint, it's Big and once had 12 members in it. So anyways, he decides to ignore the numbers and go with his gut. I respect your decision, but only Stephen Colbert is allowed to do that. And this was all before Texas' home loss tonight at the hands of K-State. That only furthered the cause that I think Gotlieb is biased

Speaking of these numbers, why do they exist? I really don't know, but I can give you my best guess. The RPI takes your strength of schedule into account, as well as how well you play at home, away, and on a neutral court. I personally believe this systems and numbers were implemented for one thing: destruction of the little man. For years, smaller teams have done well, wanted to be rewarded, and complained about not getting respect. I believe that the NCAA made up this RPI/SOS systems to "justify" putting the big national teams in the right places. Granted, Duke is always good, Grambling St, GMU and even lowlier teams to make the Big Dance (SUU and Weber St. included) are always worse and a system helps; however, now that the smaller schools and conferences are starting to use it to their advantage, the numbers and systems that have been used for about 3 decades suddenly don't mean anything. Texas is "better" than BYU simply because Gotlieb says so. I realize this is how sports work: bigger teams doing better = more money. Just ask David Stern the year he hoped that the Lakers and Celtics would meet in the finals...the NBA conspiracy will have to wait for another day...back to college. I will say that the Big 12, Big 10 and Big East are all better than the MWC, but after that, it's bad.

The ACC, who is always irrelevant in football is almost just as bad in basketball this year after the flagship programs of Duke and NC. No disrespect to either, especially Duke, but the ACC is just as bad if not worse than the MWC this year. The ACC's RPI/SOS is worse than the MWC this year. Obviously it's not by much, but it's enough. Despite all of this, BYU, SDSU and even USU (even though they aren't in the MWC) are still being considered lesser, because they play in a conference that isn't as good. The Big East is good, don't get me wrong, but they've had success and then flopped during the tournament. Last year they put 8 teams in the tournament, and they had a combined record of 8 and 8, which would be an average of 1 win and 1 loss per team. However, if you take out the success of West Virginia (4-1) and Syracuse (2-1), you get a combined conference record of 2-6. 25% of their teams got them 75% of their success. I would call that a major flop. I don't know if it will happen again this year, but it could. They don't play so well on the road. Part of it is because they are all good, but I still think part is because the Big East gets a lot of love from voters. (the link I previously used for my information on the Big East last year wont load for me, but I'll put it on here anyways in case you are luckier than I am.)

I'm hoping that someday BYU and smaller schools will get the love necessary and that the East will get less love. But until then, I'm glad Gotlieb is out there to make me laugh.

*Note: I have nothing personal against Doug Gotlieb. I think he is qualified given his college career and I generally like what he says. Also, I don't want to be a typical BYU complainer. I am stoked out of my mind we are ranked #3 right now. I was thinking for sure #5, maybe a #4, and a #3 in my wildest dreams. I have definitely enjoyed today, but I just wish we got more love. I know Jimmer is getting it, I just want this team to. But then again, what would sports fans have to talk about if there wasn't any controversy?

Basketball again

I love BYU basketball. Oh yes, I truly do. And watching the game today was epic. Glenwood put on a party for it, and it was a good time...good atmosphere. Thank you Glenwood for the party and 3 t-shirts I have from you on the year.

That might have been the most complete game BYU has played. I'm still not a fan of Davies game outside of 5 feet or 5 seconds, but his defense was quite good. I might be crazy for saying this, but out of all the players, Jimmer played the worst... Now before I get attacked for heresy, let me explain. Everyone stepped up and had one of their best games all season. Jimmer only scored 25 points...for anyone else that's awesome, but it's an only for Jimmer....and he had some turnovers; but at the same time, Jimmer also had 9 dimes, which is about double his average, so it all balanced out. I just wish the refs weren't so anti Jimmer. When the big dance comes around, most of those no calls will be calls.

Now for intramurals... I had another great week of 0 points. Yes, I am that awesome. I know I'm so good that I take myself out when I want, like when there are 3 minutes left and it's a close game. The game was pretty good for a while, unfortunately, there wasn't help from the refs for the while. The other team had a dodgeball game to play at the same time, so at one point it was 5 on 4. So many fouls were called on us during that time from the refs feeling bad or something. I'm pretty sure we outscored them when they had all 5 more than we outscored them with only 4... Now back to my talent...at the end of the game I took myself out so I could coach - yes, that's it, to coach. I did keep track of the fouls... (it was at its worst, about 8 or 9 fouls on us to 3 on them) there time outs, our time outs, possession, etc.

We were only up by 2-5 during most of the game, and in the last couple of minutes it was close, and therefore scrappy. The other team was playing well and trying to catch up. After a basket to pull them within 1 or 2 they called a timeout. We tried to as well, but they got it first. They ran out of time outs so I told the team to watch for fouls to stop the clock. Well eventually push came to shove, and there was a loose ball. They jumped on it...and called time out. So I let the ref know they were out and it was a technical...it was confirmed and the other team flipped...brady iced the two free throws, the other team kept on complaining and we won. It was rather humorous to see them act like that. I then over heard them in the hall saying how we probably weren't that good...very sneakily I started talking to them and let them know we had only lost 1 game by 1 point. They were shocked. I should have told them we were ranked in the top 70 when they were maybe between 120-160, but whatever.

Point of all this? I love basketball right now, even if I can't score to save my life. Look for BYU to be top 5 this week. 2 teams in front of them (SDSU and Texas) have already lost this week, and Duke plays tonight as does Pitt. Both are away games and Pitt plays a ranked team. If everything goes right, BYU could be top 4, but look for them to be in the top 5 on Monday.

This weekend in sports.

One of my life long dreams is to be a sports analyst/writer. If you've ever watched PTI, or Around the Horn, that is my dream job...I would even like the job that Ray Romano's character has in Everybody Loves Raymond. So I am going to try my hand in sports writing in this post.

NBA

Did you see any highlights from NBA all-star weekend? Blake was the man. I think his name may have won him the Dunk Contest, but that's ok, I'm fine with it. His best dunk came during the rookie/sophomore game. It was a great throwdown, but an even better pass from Wall. I don't know how many people could make that 20+ feet bounce pass.

Also, I didn't really watch so much of the celebrity all-star game...but I liked it for two things. First and foremost, Zachary Levi (aka Chuck) played, which is always exciting because of my love for Chuck. It made me happy. But the biggest news was the play of the Bieber...apparently he's never even played city league before, so extra kudos to the Bieb.

This just in: 'Melo goes to NY. I'm not sure I approve of this trade. NY gave up at least 3 (maybe 4) starters to make this trade, but they did get 2 of Denver's starters. I do like Billups as the #3 option instead of the #2 option, so that will help him out. I am interested to see how those two plus Amare will work together in that offense. They are currently at the 6 seed in the east, two games above .500 and if the playoffs started today, they'd have to play against Chicago. I'm not sure they match up well enough to beat Chicago. They can probably catch Atlanta and Orlando, but I don't think they're better than Orlando. Oh well, only time will tell for this season. I think 'Melo should have just gone as a free agent, but maybe this will work out. You never know who else they could recruit or develop next season.

Just for fun, I wonder what teams will get the big free agents next year? After the '11-'12 season, D Will, Dwight Howard, and Chris Paul will be the big free agents. The Nets have shown that they are willing to try and get people, but I think the Clippers need to get involved. While I hope D Will stays in Utah, I wonder what he (or Paul) would be like paired with Blake or Dwight. I suppose he could go to NY with Billups being 34, but you never know. Basketball could get really interesting the next few years... Speaking of next year, I now hope Jimmer goes to Miami; that would be sick!

NCAA

Speaking of Jimmer, this basketball season is getting interesting. The top 4 teams lost, yet BYU didn't move once. I can't say I expected them to move up, but still. I can hope right? This week will be huge for BYU. CSU will be a good game, and then SDSU this weekend. If BYU can win both, and convincingly, I think they'll go top 5 and either Texas or Pitt slide out. Pitt has the best chance of the top 5 of dropping out, so we'll see. I hope Jimmer can go off before March Madness. If guards win games in the Big Dance, BYU is sitting pretty. There aren't many dominant big men this year, so hopefully BYU can survive that. Rogers has played well, Hartsock is pretty consistent, and Davies...I'm not sure how I feel about his game. If he is within 10 feet from the rim and doesn't hold the ball for longer than 7 seconds, I'm quite the fan. Outside of that...not so much.

NFL

Please come back. I need my fix of hard hits and Fantasy Football. Owners: Don't lock them out.

MLB

Please go away, I don't want to have to deal with you until October...and that's only if Boston is in the playoffs. Yankees...please die.

Well, that's all I've got...it's more opinion than analysis, but I liked it. If anyone wants to argue a point, feel free. I'm always up for a good sports argument...unless it's about baseball, I just don't care right now. Sorry.

Late Night/Early Morning Denny's

So when I got home tonight, I said to Tyler "Denny's". He was in and we decided to go. The one close to our house was way too full (plenty of Provo people eat out after 12 am Monday morning) so we went to the one on state street. It was good, but the epic part was driving back. There was no one on the road and so I drove with my knees...dumb, yes. awesome? more yes. here's the map. Just over 3.5 miles.

So I'm now retiring from my epic 2 AM driving, but it was awesome, as was today...man I love Denny's

13 hours

I have only been up a total of 13 hours...Life is great. I love sleeping. Speaking of which, I should try to sleep now, but I had a nap earlier today during a movie (did I mention I love sleeping?) but I'm also feeling sick...Darn upset stomach. So now I've got to figure out what to do, sleep or wait for my stomach to settle...? I got it...play angry birds. Well now I've got to go. Happy weekend everybody...all 4 of you that read this anyways.

Wake up calls

I hate being woken up in the morning. It is the worst thing. Ever. What's worse is when I get woken up on the weekends. Now a shout out to my cousin's fiance Jessica...the guilty culprit. I usually give her angry words every weekend because she calls and I am woken up in the process (side note:her and Brady are in St. George for the weekend) because his phone is on loud or he talks loud. Now, I'm not blogging to rag on her, but rather to thank her.

This morning Brady got a phone call and I thought it was early, and I asked him why she was calling at 7...He said ya, 7, whatever you say. Turns out it was 9:45 and I had class at 10...the class where I had stayed up till 2 the night before writing a paper. So thanks to the wake up call, I was able to get up and turn in my American Heritage paper. Brady, thanks for the ride...Jessica, thank you for waking me up...at least for now. I'm sure I'll be mad next weekend again, but we can work that out later.

3 (almost 4) day weekend

It's almost here...I only have on class at 10, and very little homework, and then I'm free. Hopefully I can be done with everything by about noon...that would be epic. I don't know what I'm going to do with all the free time... any suggestions out there? I'm thinking a nap is in place for sure. Maybe a movie. Maybe not, I just don't know.

I really don't have much to say, but I like saying it, so here come some statements... some important, some not so much.

1. Have you ever noticed how light it is when there is a cloud cover at midnight? All the lights on reflect off the clouds. It's actually pretty cool.
2. The fantasy football page just updated the history section, so now you can go in and see how the season went if you so desire. Most of you wont, but just in case you do... you can click your way on over to see it. Kudos to Geoff. That season was legen... wait for it...dary. as a side note, I love Barney Stinson... and posting hyperlinks...except when I can't post pictures of Barney Stinson... Go do a google image search if you want to know.
3. Coach Miller - Made some not so good choices, but I'm still cheering for you coach.
4. I've had to relive MJ pushing of Bryon Russel twice in the past 2 days. FML
5. That is all
6. Goodnight