Mountaineers in the Mix
November 02, 2010 04:29 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s Big East tournament first-round match against USF on Wednesday night could very well have NCAA tournament implications for both teams.
Win and get in; lose and get out your good luck charms.
Robert Ziegler of the soccer web site TopDrawerSoccer.com does a weekly tournament ranking and he believes West Virginia is right in the mix of obtaining a spot in the field of 48 teams vying for a national championship.
WVU currently sits at No. 42 in Ziegler’s rankings and No. 28 in the most recent RPI ratings released today. The Mountaineers earned the fourth seed in the conference tournament and will take on the fifth-seeded USF Wednesday night.
Ziegler believes that West Virginia is a tournament team, but has worries that a loss to USF, No. 35 in the RPI, could place the Mountaineers on the outside looking in come selection day.
“I think South Florida is one of the better teams in the country and that is a tough first-round conference game,” Ziegler said. “I don’t think the game should disqualify the teams from being in the tournament, but with the way to committee works, it very well could.”
Ziegler also believes the BIG EAST conference is not getting the respect it usually deserves. This week, Ziegler has Louisville (No. 1), Connecticut (No. 8), Notre Dame (No. 18), Georgetown (No. 23), St. John’s (No. 31), USF (No. 35), Providence (No. 37), Cincinnati (No. 38) and West Virginia (No. 42) in his top 48 poll.
“I don’t think the RPI reflects the difference of one conference to the next and if you take some losses in conference play, I don’t think it accurately reflects how strong the BIG EAST is,” Ziegler said. “I think there could be other things such as injuries where you could really look at a team and say ‘who are the best teams that we want to put in this tournament’?”
The men’s soccer tournament has been criticized because of the fact that it is hard for the committee to get out and see all the teams play. The men’s soccer committee almost relies fully on the RPI, whereas a sport such as college basketball the committee members are able to see the teams play on a regular basis.
“You can use the RPI as a tool and it can be helpful, but I think they rely way too much on it,” Ziegler said. “In basketball, they look at all sorts of other things and the people who are making the selections really know the teams and the field.
“Why you can still argue at the end of the day about this team or that team, the fact is there are a lot of nuances involved at high level soccer and I don’t think it’s right that none of those things get considered.”
Of course a lot of this is moot if West Virginia plays well on Wednesday against USF and advances in BIG EAST tournament play.
“I sometimes say that if there was a world cup of soccer excuse making, America would win every time,” Ziegler said. “We have seemed to get that to an art form of just the should’ve, could’ve and would’ve. At the end of the game, it comes down to scoring goals and winning games.”
Win and get in; lose and get out your good luck charms.
Robert Ziegler of the soccer web site TopDrawerSoccer.com does a weekly tournament ranking and he believes West Virginia is right in the mix of obtaining a spot in the field of 48 teams vying for a national championship.
WVU currently sits at No. 42 in Ziegler’s rankings and No. 28 in the most recent RPI ratings released today. The Mountaineers earned the fourth seed in the conference tournament and will take on the fifth-seeded USF Wednesday night.
Ziegler believes that West Virginia is a tournament team, but has worries that a loss to USF, No. 35 in the RPI, could place the Mountaineers on the outside looking in come selection day.
“I think South Florida is one of the better teams in the country and that is a tough first-round conference game,” Ziegler said. “I don’t think the game should disqualify the teams from being in the tournament, but with the way to committee works, it very well could.”
Ziegler also believes the BIG EAST conference is not getting the respect it usually deserves. This week, Ziegler has Louisville (No. 1), Connecticut (No. 8), Notre Dame (No. 18), Georgetown (No. 23), St. John’s (No. 31), USF (No. 35), Providence (No. 37), Cincinnati (No. 38) and West Virginia (No. 42) in his top 48 poll.
“I don’t think the RPI reflects the difference of one conference to the next and if you take some losses in conference play, I don’t think it accurately reflects how strong the BIG EAST is,” Ziegler said. “I think there could be other things such as injuries where you could really look at a team and say ‘who are the best teams that we want to put in this tournament’?”
The men’s soccer tournament has been criticized because of the fact that it is hard for the committee to get out and see all the teams play. The men’s soccer committee almost relies fully on the RPI, whereas a sport such as college basketball the committee members are able to see the teams play on a regular basis.
“You can use the RPI as a tool and it can be helpful, but I think they rely way too much on it,” Ziegler said. “In basketball, they look at all sorts of other things and the people who are making the selections really know the teams and the field.
“Why you can still argue at the end of the day about this team or that team, the fact is there are a lot of nuances involved at high level soccer and I don’t think it’s right that none of those things get considered.”
Of course a lot of this is moot if West Virginia plays well on Wednesday against USF and advances in BIG EAST tournament play.
“I sometimes say that if there was a world cup of soccer excuse making, America would win every time,” Ziegler said. “We have seemed to get that to an art form of just the should’ve, could’ve and would’ve. At the end of the game, it comes down to scoring goals and winning games.”
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