This year, the committee was supposed to make more use of a wide range of metrics, and not just the RPI. But, if today's ratings are any indication, that is simply not the case. Let's take a quick look at the resumes of some of the teams ranked ahead of MSU on the S curve. In this case, I will use the KenPom ranking as a reference (as this seems to be the current gold standard). Also, I pulled the KenPom numbers a few days ago, so they are not fully up to date, but are in the ballpark
5. Auburn (Kenpom #8)
Best wins: Tennessee (7), Missouri (35), Middle TN State (40), Arkansas (48)
Worst Losses: Temple (86), Alabama (49)
Only one win over the Kenpom Top 30 and 2 pretty shaky loses... Sounds like a borderline 1-seed, doesn't it?
6. Kansas (Kenpom #11)
Best wins: West Virginia (13), TCU 2x (25), Texas A&M (26), Kentucky (30)... and 3 more Top 50 wins
Worst loses: Washington (89), OK State (66), Baylor (46)
A lot of wins over mediocre teams, but 3 Top 25 wins. Still 2-3 shaky losses
7. Duke (4)
Best wins: MSU (6), Florida State (22), Miami (27), Texas (33), Florida (38), Norte Dame (42)
Worst losses: St. Johns (86), BC (83), NC State (57)
Pretty strong set of wins, but only 2 in the Top 25. But, 3 pretty bad losses...
8. Cincinnati (5)
Best wins: Houston (34), SMU (50), UCLA (59)
Worst Losses: Florida (38), Xavier (16)
Seriously. No wins in the Kenpom Top 30, but a 2-seed? Put the crack pipe down, committee...
9. Clemson (17)
Best wins: North Carolina (12), Ohio State (15), Miami (27), Louisville (37), Florida (38)
Worst losses: Temple (86), NC State (57)
Again, some pretty good wins there, but still only 2 in the Top 25 and 2 bad losses
10. Texas Tech (10)
Best wins: Kansas (11), West Virginia (13), Nevada (18), TCU (25), Texas (33), Baylor (46)
Worst losses: Iowa State (97), Texas (33)
3 wins against the Top 20 is pretty good and only 1 bad loss. This seems better than most of the teams ahead of them.
and... for comparison:
11. Michigan State (6)
Best Wins: Purdue (3), UNC (12), Maryland 2x (39), Notre Dame (42), Penn State (45)
Worst Losses: Michigan (24), Ohio State (15), Duke (4)
So, 2 Top 20 wins and ZERO losses outside the Top 25.
Finally, I also wanted to bring up a resume of tournaments past. In 2016, UNC entered the ACC tournament with only three RPI top 50 wins and one bad loss. The won the ACC tournament and racked up another 2 RPI top 50 wins to get to 5 Top 50 wins. They were given a 1-seed. MSU had 8 RPI Top 50 wins and also 1 bad loss. MSU won the Big Ten tournament and had one fewer overall loss than UNC. MSU got a 2-seed. Yeah. OK.
5. Auburn (Kenpom #8)
Best wins: Tennessee (7), Missouri (35), Middle TN State (40), Arkansas (48)
Worst Losses: Temple (86), Alabama (49)
Only one win over the Kenpom Top 30 and 2 pretty shaky loses... Sounds like a borderline 1-seed, doesn't it?
6. Kansas (Kenpom #11)
Best wins: West Virginia (13), TCU 2x (25), Texas A&M (26), Kentucky (30)... and 3 more Top 50 wins
Worst loses: Washington (89), OK State (66), Baylor (46)
A lot of wins over mediocre teams, but 3 Top 25 wins. Still 2-3 shaky losses
7. Duke (4)
Best wins: MSU (6), Florida State (22), Miami (27), Texas (33), Florida (38), Norte Dame (42)
Worst losses: St. Johns (86), BC (83), NC State (57)
Pretty strong set of wins, but only 2 in the Top 25. But, 3 pretty bad losses...
8. Cincinnati (5)
Best wins: Houston (34), SMU (50), UCLA (59)
Worst Losses: Florida (38), Xavier (16)
Seriously. No wins in the Kenpom Top 30, but a 2-seed? Put the crack pipe down, committee...
9. Clemson (17)
Best wins: North Carolina (12), Ohio State (15), Miami (27), Louisville (37), Florida (38)
Worst losses: Temple (86), NC State (57)
Again, some pretty good wins there, but still only 2 in the Top 25 and 2 bad losses
10. Texas Tech (10)
Best wins: Kansas (11), West Virginia (13), Nevada (18), TCU (25), Texas (33), Baylor (46)
Worst losses: Iowa State (97), Texas (33)
3 wins against the Top 20 is pretty good and only 1 bad loss. This seems better than most of the teams ahead of them.
and... for comparison:
11. Michigan State (6)
Best Wins: Purdue (3), UNC (12), Maryland 2x (39), Notre Dame (42), Penn State (45)
Worst Losses: Michigan (24), Ohio State (15), Duke (4)
So, 2 Top 20 wins and ZERO losses outside the Top 25.
Finally, I also wanted to bring up a resume of tournaments past. In 2016, UNC entered the ACC tournament with only three RPI top 50 wins and one bad loss. The won the ACC tournament and racked up another 2 RPI top 50 wins to get to 5 Top 50 wins. They were given a 1-seed. MSU had 8 RPI Top 50 wins and also 1 bad loss. MSU won the Big Ten tournament and had one fewer overall loss than UNC. MSU got a 2-seed. Yeah. OK.
