If you think you’re baffled at how the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee does its work, imagine being Tony Bennett at Virginia (20-6, 11-4 ACC) or Steve Forbes at Wake Forest (16-9, 8-6 ACC).
Bennett’s squad has won nine of its last 10 games, is sitting a game out of first in the ACC, behind two Top 10 teams – North Carolina and Duke – and is still being listed in the “should be in” category by the people who claim to have authority on these matters.
Wake, meanwhile, has an average rating in the computers at 43.8, beset by a poor road record (2-7) and a lack of marquee wins.
The Deacs, as a result, still have “work to do.”
“They don’t know it’s a Quad 1 loss. For me, it’s a loss at Virginia,” Forbes told reporters after the Deacs’ 49-47 loss at UVA on Saturday, which was an opportunity for a second Quad 1 win.
Wake Forest is 1-5 in Quad 1 games, the win coming at home over Florida on Nov. 29.
Forbes referred to a question about the game with Virginia being a Quad 1 game both as “the whole farce of the whole thing” and “the stupidity of the whole thing” in his answer.
I wasn’t a fan until this postgame presser; now I’m all Team Forbes.
“Because every game is important, not just Quad 1s, OK, and so I don’t get into that,” Forbes said.
It was a tough week for Wake, which lost on Monday at Duke, which was, and don’t shoot the messenger here, coach, another chance at a Quad 1 win.
“You know, a lot of teams are gonna go on these two games, and it’s gonna be hard for them, go on the road, back-to-back to Duke and Virginia,” Forbes said, before acknowledging that his biggest concern right now is Pitt, which he feels breathing down his neck with its seven wins in its last eight games, including Ws at, yep, Duke and Virginia.
Forbes made it clear that he doesn’t “buy that narrative” that the ACC is having a down year, which could make it tougher for bubble teams like Wake and Pitt to get a fair shake with the selection committee.
The ACC posted a 134-48 record in non-conference games this season, with a .720 winning percentage that ranks fourth among the power conferences – and that was done against a non-conference schedule that outpaced its competitors.
And yet the Big 12, with a 145-34 non-conference record (.810) against a significantly weaker non-conference schedule – Big 12 average NCSOS: 211.4; ACC average NCSOS: 128.7 – has five “locks” and four “should be ins,” per ESPN, while the ACC has three “locks,” one “should be in” and two “work to dos.”
Note to the schedulers in Charlotte: in the future, do what the Big 12 does; schedule weaker, and make sure the coaches remember to run up the score.
“I know the narrative on the ACC, and I hope there’s enough common sense by the selection committee, when it all comes down, when they get behind closed doors, and they’re talking and saying, Alright, let’s look at this, let’s look at leagues, let’s look at the quality of the teams and how they’re playing, that it won’t matter. But right now, it’s just, like, the loudest voice, it’s kind of, you know, gets heard,” Bennett said.
Bennett is developing a louder voice; he got his first technical foul in 14 years in the first half yesterday.
And now, with Coach K, Ol’ Roy and Jim Boeheim all in rocking chairs these days, Bennett is taking on the mantle of elder statesmen in the ACC, and advocating for the league.
“I hope, common sense, that’s their job on the committee, look at the quality of the team. Yes, you can look at metrics, but don’t be fooled. There is an eye test, there’s a quality test. And you look at, you know, what’s going on in our league, and it’s good, and even against other opponents in other leagues,” Bennett said.
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Chris Graham
