Read the opposing arguments from Sports Geek and Loyal Homer.
ESPN Radio’s SportsCenter anchor, Bob Picozzi, hit the nail on the head when he referred to the day after Selection Sunday as “National Whining Day.”
Now that the March Madness field of 65 teams has been announced, pundits and analysts from around the country now get the opportunity to scrutinize every choice made by the Selection Committee.
Obviously, the players and fans of teams that made it in feel they were justifiable selections, while those that did not are left to dwell on the bitter sting of rejection. As for me, I think the Selection Committee did a pretty good job this time around of getting it right (at least, this was a better result than in years past).
In fact, of the three schools which are even ATTEMPTING to use the word “snub” this year to describe their non-selection, only Illinois has a legitimate beef.
More specifically, Illinois has a right to feel snubbed primarily because it was passed over by the Selection Committee in favor of conference rivals, the lesser-deserving Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Minnesota was selected over Illinois for one reason – timing. Simply put, Minnesota is playing in the National Championship Tournament because Illinois lost to Ohio State first.
Let’s compare the teams’ Big Ten Tournament runs, shall we?
First Round – Minnesota vs. Penn State; Illinois earned a bye
Before entering the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois held a slight edge over Minnesota in the standings. Both teams had 18 total wins, and Illinois had a better in-conference record, so the mere fact that Minnesota even played in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament was a nod to Illinois being the better team. Additionally, Minnesota drew the weakest team in the conference, the hapless Penn State Nittany Lions, for the first-round matchup.
It was a cupcake game for Minnesota, giving them a token “W” that Illinois did not have the chance to match because they FINISHED WITH BETTER RESULTS in the regular season and earned a subsequent bye.
Although the first round tipped the scales towards Minnesota in terms of records, I still give the edge to Illinois… since the team earned it all season long.
Second Round – Minnesota vs. #11 Michigan State; Illinois vs. #18 Wisconsin
This round brought the only QUALITY tournament wins for both teams. Both had to pull off upset victories over ranked teams (that had surely already earned March Madness invites), and both did so in impressive fashion.
Although Wisconsin is a very talented team with a lot of postseason potential, I have to admit that a win over Michigan State is SLIGHTLY more impressive an accomplishment, and so I give the slight edge for this round to Minnesota.
Third Round – Minnesota vs. #5 Purdue; Illinois vs. #7 Ohio State
Based on name and ranking alone, these are equally difficult assignments to face. Both Purdue and Ohio State rolled through the regular season, and both had positioned themselves for very high seeding in the national tournament.
There is, however, one key difference between those two teams. Ohio State was at full strength, led by the “should-be” 2010 Player of the Year (Evan Turner), while Purdue was not at full strength, having been hobbled since the loss of their star forward Robbie Hummel (who suffered a torn ACL during their regular season matchup against Minnesota).
As was expected, considering the circumstances surrounding those two semifinal matchups, Minnesota breezed past the reeling Boilermakers while Illinois lost at the hands of the Buckeyes.
It is very important to note that Illinois took Ohio State all the way into double-overtime before finally succumbing to Turner and his cohorts. Minnesota was the fortunate beneficiary of a weaker matchup against a team whose current state placed it at a lesser caliber than their on-paper pedigree would have you believe.
Championship Round – Minnesota vs. #7 Ohio State
The reason it is so important to note Illinois’ performance against the Buckeyes is because Minnesota played them the very next day, in the Big Ten Championship.
After having been taken to the brink of elimination by Illinois one day prior, Ohio State came out and absolutely DOMINATED Minnesota, eventually winning the game by a score of 91-60. It was not even close! Ohio State manhandled Minnesota from tipoff all the way to 00:00.
What does that tell us?
Illinois had the better regular season, faced a MUCH tougher road in the Big Ten Tournament, and played MUCH better against the top team in the conference. The only thing they did wrong was that they had to play Ohio State on Saturday, instead of Sunday.
Because Minnesota had the sheer dumb luck to not have to face Ohio State until Sunday afternoon, they were rewarded an at-large Bid OVER Illinois, and will get to play for the National Championship, rather than the NIT.
