myvalleysports.com_CollegeInsider.com Tourney Lineup

[IAA Fan]

CollegeInsider.com Tourney Lineup

 2013 CollegeInsider.com Post-Season Tournament

 First Round
 Tuesday, March 19
 Oakland (16-16) at Youngstown State (17-15)
 Fairfield (19-15) at Kent State (20-13)
 Boston (17-12) at Loyola, MD (21-11)
 Rider (18-14) at Hartford (17-13)
 Eastern Kentucky (24-9) at Gardner-Webb (21-12)
 Savannah State (19-14) at East Carolina (18-12)
 North Dakota (16-16) at Northern Iowa (18-14)
Tennessee State (18-14) at Evansville (18-14)
 
Wednesday, March 20
 Chicago State (11-21) at UIC (17-15)
 Green Bay (18-15) at Bradley (16-16)
 Tulane (19-14) at South Alabama (17-12)
High Point (17-13) at UC Irvine (20-15)
Air Force (17-13) at Hawaii (17-14)
 Elon (21-11) at Canisius (18-13)
 Oral Roberts (18-14) at Texas-Arlington (19-13)
Cal Poly (18-13) at Weber State (26-6)
 
Second Round
 March 26-27
  
 Quarterfinals
 March 26-27
  
 Semifinals
 March 29-30
  
 Championship
 April 2
 
Past Championship Games
 2012 – Mercer 70 Utah State 67
 2011 – Santa Clara 76 Iona 69
 2010 – Missouri State 78 Pacific 65
 2009 – Old Dominion 66 Bradley 62
 

Source: CollegeInsider.com Tourney Lineup

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[IAA Fan]

There are some really good basketball teams in this tourney. No respect for the Big Sky, as Weber deserves an NCAA bid ...certainly NIT.

[ysuindy]

Weber State was not even in the conversation for an NCAA bid and probably not for an NIT either. 

Sagarin rated their strength of schedule at 331 out of 347.  They played two top 100 teams (none in top 65) and played 22 games against teams over 200 as well as two sub Division I games. 

The Big Sky is the 29th ranked conference out of 32.  The Big Sky has never received an at large bid and probably never will.  They are 3-28 since the field expanded to 65 teams and have never had a seed better than 12.  Textbook definition of a one bid lead.

For comparison sake, YSU's strength of schedule was 142, the worst schedule in the Horizon was 189 and the Horizon was the 13th ranked conference.

[Lets_Talk]

I agree there are some solid teams in this tournament, with Weber State being one of those teams. Weber was NEVER in consideration for an NCAA at large bid, but I do think they could at least make an argument for being worthy of the NIT.

In my opinion, the best team in this tournament is Air Force. Then again, they are also the team I know the most about. Air Force plays in the MWC, which has the #1 Conference RPI. Air Force(17-13) RPI of 79 has wins over, UNLV, Boise State, San Diego State (ranked 22nd at the time) and New Mexico(ranked 12th at the time). All 4 teams are in the NCAA Tournament. New Mexico(now 10th in AP) won both the regular season and MWC Tournaments and is a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Air Force also beat Wyoming( (18-13), RPI 73) twice, and Wyoming is in the CBI. Air Force had an SOS ranked 56th in RPI. Went 4-10 against teams in Top 50, and 2-1 against teams 51-100.
These

Below are 4 more teams(along with Air Force) I think are the best of the field, and will likely have very good opportunity to win the tournament:

EKU(24-9) has an RPI of 69, which is the best of the 32 teams.
Northern Iowa(18-14), RPI 83
Weber State(26-6, RPI 85)
KENT(20-13), RPI 132

If YSU and KENT each win their first round games, would not be surprise to see a YSU-KSU 2nd round game. This tournament has no pre-set brackets, and they try to limit the travel distance of the road team. Kent hosts Fairfield in the 1st round.