My Case for the Terps

As I said yesterday, I am presenting why I think the Terps deserve a bid for the NCAA tournament, even if they do not win tonight in the ACC tourney. My argument is based on the difference of the strength of conferences between the ACC and another conference that is in the discussion of getting five bids in the dance, the Missouri Valley Conference.
Here are some facts about each of the TOP five teams in the MVC that may get a bid:

• Witchita St: They have the best regular season conference record but lost in the first round of their tourney to Bradley. They have lost to both ranked opponents they've faced.
• Missouri St: They have the second best regular season conference record but lost in the first round of their tourney as well. They have not played anyone in the current top 25 rankings.
• Southern Illinois: They won their tourney and have an autmatic bid. Before the tourney, they lost 5 of their last 7 games and also lost to Alaska-Anchorage earlier in the season (very bad).
• Creighton: Lost 4 of their last 6 games and have not played anyone in the current top 25.
• Northern Iowa: They are the only team to have been ranked at some point in this season. They beat Iowa very early in the season, however they lost the next game after they were placed into the top 25 and have lost 5 of their last 7 games played.

Now, let's take a look at the BOTTOM 5 teams in the ACC, who no one is considering giving a bid to any of them. Here's a list of each team and how they did against the TOP 5 teams in the ACC, who everyone is putting into the NCAA tourney:

• Wake Forest: Win against N.C. State
• Georgia Tech: Wins against N.C. State and Boston College
• Virginia Tech: Win against FSU, lost to Duke and BC by 1 and UNC by 3
• Miami: Wins against UNC and FSU
• Virginia: Wins against UNC and BC

So, for those of you who are saying "what does this all mean, Frank?", here's what it means. The Missouri Valley Conference does not play anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who is remotely decent. The only ranked teams that any of these teams have played is Illinois and Michigan St., who SIU played and lost to very early in the season, and Iowa who Northern Iowa beat in a rivalry game. The rest of the season, they just play against each other! The ACC plays, and beats, great teams every single week. One more thing you may be thinking to yourself is that Northern Iowa was ranked and so has to be pretty good. Well, not so fast. They were ranked 25th at a time in the season when they just became 19-3 and had beat Iowa. However, since then they have gone 4-6. They also had a good RPI. Well, a lot of the mid-major teams have been known to "figure out the RPI" system by scheduling one or two good opponents who they are confident they can beat (like Iowa) and then the rest of the schedule is cream-puff. I think that is the case here.

Maryland, on the other hand, has the 8th toughest schedule in the nation. They lost their best offensive, defensive, and shooting player mid-season and still finished 8-8 in the ACC. Yes, they've had bad losses, but none of them are against teams like Alaska-Anchorage, Indiana St., and Evansville, where the teams in the MVC consistently lose to teams of that caliber.

Lastly, ask yourself this question and answer honestly. If Maryland played in the MVC, what would their record be, and if any of the MVC teams played in the ACC, what is the best their record could be? Just think about it for a little bit and get back to me. Because if one of those teams beats out Maryland for a spot, I'll be forced to dunk my head in a vat of salted slugs.