>I don't think this is true for college basketball.  Go down the list of
>non-conference opponents of any top-25 team and you will see a bunch of what
>fans call "patsies" on their schedule.  At the risk of generalizing, major
>conference teams in the top-25 know that their conference play will most likely
>dictate if they get in, while their NC performance determines their seeding.
 
Maybe I should rephrase, in basketball they'll play the patsies, but rarely
the ones who have a chance of beating them (unless it's an established
rivalry), and maybe once a decade at the patsies barn. I know Miami(OH),
Bowling Green, and some MAC(not MAAC) and Missouri Valley schools have
trouble scheduling teams from the major conferences because they actually
have shots at winning. I mentioned Oklahoma St. saying they'll never play
Creighton again, and how do you think Missouri feels about losing to SW
Missouri State (the Missouri champions, they beat every Div I team in Missouri).
 
All of the teams I mentioned made the tournament and weren't bad losses for
any of the major teams come tournament selection time except Bowling Green.
But there's still the stigma of the major team losing to the mid-major team.
Plus as long as mid-major schools are mid-majors, there's the chance they'll
be inconsistant and the majors won't know whether a good game will look bad
by the end of the year or not.
 
As far as hockey, it's not as bad, as Bemidji, UNO, Mankato, etc all had
games against several ranked opponents. Of course Independants aren't
begging for a tourney slot, and MAAC teams are.
 
And at least this isn't football, where teams want to schedule patsies and
avoid the top competition (though that's changing, even Nebraska is
scheduling at least 1 or 2 top non-conference opponents again).
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      Ben Flickinger
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E-Mail:    [log in to unmask]
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(Stanley Cup Champion) Detroit Red Wings Fan for Life
Proud resident of Bugaha(Omaha)-Home of the 1st Jim Rome World Tour Stop.
U!N!0! U!N!O!
Everyone can have a bad century or two. Cubbies all the way in 1999.
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QOTW: "Creighton's goin dancing, so the Huskers can suck it!" (Ben Flickinger)
 
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