Crimson streak;1409343 wrote:New Mexico actually had the number 2 ranked SOS

Thanks, but I still have them exiting after round 2.

The Atlantic 10 was a much better conference this year than the Mountain West, but I do think New Mexico and Vegas (who I think has top ten talent nationally) could advance to the Final Four. Will UNLV? Nope. Because they do not have a coach.

And while I think NM is a better coached team, what has Steve Alford really proven in the NCAA Tournament? He's only reached the Sweet 16 once in over 15 years of coaching (maybe he's coached more years than that, but I'm too lazy to look it up) and that run came in 1999 when he was at SW Missouri State. Never at Iowa or New Mexico has Alford made it past the first weekend, even in 2010 when the Lobos were given a No. 3 seed. So, basically, his only tournament success came as a Cinderella. I'm not sure that makes me very confident picking his team.

I'm not sold on the MWC going far. To say no teams in the Sweet 16, well, I'd take that bet right now and run with it on whatever stakes you want.

We all know the RPI is flawed. The MWC was probably the 4th or 5th best league this year. Can I say it's better than the B1G, Big East or ACC? No, it's not. Is it comparable or better than the Pac 12, SEC and Big XII, I think so. Same with the Atlantic 10.

We all know the NCAA Tournament is match-up based and conference affiliation can largely be thrown out the window. Only over a long-term, correlative study of data can we really measure conference strength. One or 2 years isn't nearly enough.

reclegend22;1409391 wrote:The Atlantic 10 was a much better conference this year than the Mountain West, but I do think New Mexico and Vegas (who I think has top ten talent nationally) could advance to the Final Four. Will UNLV? Nope. Because they do not have a coach.

And while I think NM is a better coached team, what has Steve Alford really proven in the NCAA Tournament? He's only reached the Sweet 16 once in over 15 years of coaching (maybe he's coached more years than that, but I'm too lazy to look it up) and that run came in 1999 when he was at SW Missouri State. Never at Iowa or New Mexico has Alford made it past the first weekend, even in 2010 when the Lobos were given a No. 3 seed. So, basically, his only tournament success came as a Cinderella. I'm not sure that makes me very confident picking his team.

We really see this year about Alford coached teams. He did a tremendous job at Manchester, a DII team. His first year they won 4 games and his last they won 30+. Similiar situation at SW MO St. where he did a great job. Iowa..he did OK. Think he found it difficult to be in Indiana shadows and has done a good job for nM

After day 1:
MWC = 1-3
B1G = 2-0

MWC > B1G? LOL

I guess the Steve Alford debate is closed.

I have to admit, I am surprised by this early of an exit, but I think New Mexico would have fallen to Arizona regardless. I asked last week how good was New Mexico when Tony Snell wasn't scoring 30 points, and, well, not that good.

vball10set;1409346 wrote:Thanks, but I still have them exiting after round 2.

Okay, I'll admit it- I was wrong