There’s Nothing To See Here
by Ken Pomeroy on Thursday, March 3, 2005
Luke Winn has a piece at si.com about three teams that changed personalities this season without a coaching change. It's kind of an extension of the Basketball ShrinkTM I introduced a while back, with the respective coaches trying to explain the changes. This is especially nice because 1) We all get to read something by somebody who took more than just 'Technical Writing' in college, and 2) I can take a day off. It's a win-win, or a win-Winn. Yeah, whatever.
Over at ESPN, Andy Katz takes a nice stab at some championship week hype. But the discriminating mid-major connoisseur will be over at the midmajority over the next couple of weeks as Kyle documents all the mid-major tournaments in digest form and attends 32 games on his own. Methinks Kyle shouldn't be surprised if at some point during that time the Official WifeTM
Minutia
by Ken Pomeroy on Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Slowest paced games this season by possesions per 40 minutes (score in parentheses)...
1 46, 2/4 Princeton(42) at Dartmouth(50) 2 47, 11/20 Princeton(46) at Temple(48) 3 47, 11/15 Air Force(60) vs. Mississippi(36) 4 48, 12/8 Rutgers(40) at Princeton(53) 5 49, 1/31 UNLV(48) at Air Force(64)
Fastest paced games this season by possesions per 40 minutes...
1 93, 1/22 North Carolina A&T(86) at Florida A&M(93) 2 92, 11/23 Mercer(67) at Maryland (93) 3 92, 1/8 Maryland(75) at North Carolina(109) 4 91, 12/24 Houston(63) at Washington(110) 5 89, 12/30 Quinnipiac(71) at Connecticut(123)
Best shooting games by a single team this season...
1 80.0%, 1/24 Air Force(51) at Utah(63) 2 77.8%, 11/27 UC Davis(55) at Utah State(81) 3 69.2%, 2/5 Utah State(80) at UC Santa Barbara(50) 3 69.2%, 1/15 New Mexico(62) at Air Force(64) 5 68.6%, 12/30 Indiana State(69) at Drake(74)
Best rebounding games by…
The Best of Bowlsby
by Ken Pomeroy on Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Bob Bowlsby 1/3/05 - "[W]e want the RPI to be the best tool possible. We believe this adjustment accomplishes that."
Bob Bowlsby 2/23/05 - "The committee has talked till we're blue in the face that [the RPI] is just one of many tools. ... But the fact of the matter is it serves a role, it serves an enhanced role now that it's been refined a little bit. I think it's a better tool."
If the basketball committee chairman believes this RPI is better than before, why would anyone think it will be used less? If a top 30 ranking was sacred before, then it should be even more so now. If teams like Vermont and Miami of Ohio are denied at-large bids should they need them, then we know that Mr. Bowlsby did not truly believe what he said. I can only take him at…