Much is being made of West Virginia supposedly getting screwed out of an NCAA Tournament bid to the benefit of North Carolina; a review of the metrics used by the selection committee does not bear this out at all.
UNC’s average ranking in the eight metrics was a full 10 spots ahead of the schools listed by the selection committee as the First Four Out.
There was a lot that the committee got wrong, in terms of the seeding of several teams (Auburn, Louisville, VCU) that made it into the field.
Carolina getting a bid, and West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio State and Boise State not jumping the line on the Heels was not a mistake.
| UNC | WVU | Indiana | Ohio State | Boise State | |
| KenPom | 33 | 53 | 48 | 39 | 50 |
| NET | 36 | 51 | 54 | 41 | 44 |
| RPI | 33 | 57 | 52 | 76 | 45 |
| Torvik | 36 | 34 | 55 | 41 | 50 |
| KPI | 54 | 48 | 36 | 53 | 50 |
| BPI | 25 | 51 | 52 | 37 | 48 |
| SOR | 38 | 42 | 50 | 56 | 55 |
| WAB | 42 | 43 | 48 | 55 | 53 |
| Average | 37.1 | 47.4 | 50.6 | 49.8 | 49.4 |
For the sake of argument, I reviewed the metrics on the four lowest-seeded SEC teams –Oklahoma (nine), Vanderbilt and Arkansas (10s), and Texas (11).
| Oklahoma | Arkansas | Vanderbilt | Texas | |
| KenPom | 38 | 40 | 49 | 44 |
| NET | 43 | 40 | 48 | 39 |
| RPI | 61 | 65 | 58 | 88 |
| Torvik | 46 | 43 | 42 | 49 |
| KPI | 42 | 43 | 46 | 57 |
| BPI | 43 | 42 | 56 | 33 |
| SOR | 37 | 45 | 41 | 52 |
| WAB | 32 | 39 | 37 | 46 |
| Average | 42.8 | 44.6 | 47.1 | 51.0 |
Maybe the First Four Out need to redirect their fire.
Share
Chris Graham
