What got the Cajuns into the Field of 64 ...

[GoneGolfin]

_ Spoke with the NCAA selection committee chair about an hour ago. Said that there were 12 teams fighting for the final two spots. Goes to show how tight things were this year. _

This validates the grief I went through selecting the final few teams in my projections at 3am in the morning. This was as tight at the end as any year I can recall.

Brian

[CajunDreDog]

Spoke with the NCAA selection committee chair about an hour ago. Said that there were 12 teams fighting for the final two spots. Goes to show how tight things were this year.

Did he mention what 12 teams they were, and which two were the lucky ones? I'm sure he didn't mention all of them, but he might have mentioned some of them.

[Cajunsmike]

_ ... is exactly what we have been talking about. Principally the following ...

- The conference championship was paramount
- The committee also liked the record over the Last 15 games (finished in an upward trend)
- They had the various RPI criteria in the right place

Brian _

If winning the co championship was such a crucial part of the bid, it demonstrates how huge the extra inning win over ULM was on the last weekend. From what I recall, we also had a close one over UNO and I remember an extra inning win at USA early in the year. I know 56 games is a lot but it does go to show that every game is important, particularly in conference play.

[LifeTimeCajun]

An extra inning debacle at south al, and 2 one run losses to fau could have come back to bite us....fortunately it didn't

igeaux.mobi

[BirdofParadise]

_ Did he mention what 12 teams they were, and which two were the lucky ones? I'm sure he didn't mention all of them, but he might have mentioned some of them. _

If I had to guess, and this is just a guess, I would say you could choose among New Mexico, Arizona and Elon.

I'm betting that they would be fighting at the end.

I talked to a source today that quoted a committee member that if you went into your conference tournament as locked in, you couldn't play your way out of it.

I believe that winning a share of the championship locked us in.

If we had won one fewer game, we'd have been sweating.

Now, I think that we still might have gotten in over Elon. But I'm sure glad that it didn't come down to that.

[GoneGolfin]

_ If I had to guess, and this is just a guess, I would say you could choose among New Mexico, Arizona and Elon.

Yes, these three among the ones that made it (the last three) ... and Kentucky (first) followed by Wichita State, Texas State, and Florida Gulf Coast among the ones that did not make it.

Weiser distinctly made it sound as if Kentucky was in the field of 64 (last team in) late Saturday night when they went back to their hotels. Then Kentucky was pulled from the field (reading between the lines ... replaced by Arizona) Sunday morning.

If I had to guess, the Cajuns were about the 5th to last team (anywhere from the 4th to 6th to last team) in the field ... ahead of Arizona, New Mexico, Elon, and perhaps NC State and possibly North Carolina.

Brian

[J-Town Cajun]

Brian you said most years there are 3-4 at-large bid that are stolen by teams that win their conference tournament that would have otherwise not made the field of 64. How many teams this year stole bids away from other teams such as Kentucky, Tex St., Florida Gulf Coast, and/or others?

[GoneGolfin]

_ Brian you said most years there are 3-4 at-large bid that are stolen by teams that win their conference tournament that would have otherwise not made the field of 64. How many teams this year stole bids away from other teams such as Kentucky, Tex St., Florida Gulf Coast, and/or others? _

The average over the past five years (2005->2009) was 3.2. This year, we had three. I consider Florida International to be one, St. John's to be the second, and Southern Mississippi to be the third.

Illinois State did not steal a bid because the MVC (Wichita State) was a one bid league.
Lamar did not steal a bid because the Southland (Texas State) was a one bid league.
Mercer did not steal a bid because the Atlantic Sun (Florida Gulf Coast) was a one bid league.

Brian

[LifeTimeCajun]

Hey guys, remember when some of you guys wanted to be like southeastern? Some wanted there coach to be the next coach at UL.... Blah blah blah.....they didn't make a regional

igeaux.mobi