Joe Lunardi just on ESPN

[yraciv]

Northeast bias mixed with a lack of understanding of some Committee key factors.  Parity in the SEC does not inherently make it inferior to parity in the east-based conferences.

Northeast bias (no offense to you practitioners at the Jones Center) was never more clear than the NHL strike.  Remember how much better Sports Center was on a Saturday night when there was no interruption for the latest staged hockey fight and to again not see the puck fly in the goal.

Sportscenter is better with hockey! You have a problem with hard hitting, and a good sport?  Of course I'm from the south and like football, baseball, and basketball more, but hockey is next and a real treat to watch live.

[RedSatinHog]

...said that Arkansas needs to win tomorrow to get in.  He doesn't have the hogs as a lock.

This is the same Joe Lunardi that has West Virginia, Kansas St., Stanford, Air Force, Drexel, Old Dominion, Florida St., and Missouri St. ahead of Arkansas right now.....

I sometimes wonder if the man looks at RPI and SOS at all or if he just draws teams out of a hat and says..."their locks."

Check Lunardi's last post against the real deal tomorrow at 6 PM EST/5 PM CST.

Remember the Committee is inconvenienced by those Sunday PM games.  Arkansas is in.

jb...your last line is the most sensical post of the day on whether or not we get in.

Usually the SEC champion and runner up are both locks for the tournament as the selection committee does everything it can to iron things out between now and noon tomorrow.  If they say Arkansas must win to get in it usually means somebody else would have to go and result in a rearrangement of their brackets, something the committee doesn't usually like to do at the last minute.

I firmly believe our win today gets us in.  They likely have us in our spot and it won't change whether we win or lose tomorrow.  This is historically the case.

Bacon out...

You mean like last year's South Carolina team?  They lost to Florida in the tourney final, then were shipped off to the NIT.

[hawgfan80]

Mandel has 3 Colonial Conference teams in.  Automatic to VCU and his "Bubble Ins" Drexel and Old Dominion.  Drexel defeated Georgetown early in the season and Old Dominion defeated Syracuse.  Can this conference get three?

If they get 3, its a joke. Especially if SEC only got 4. No way the SEC is only one spot better than the CAA. Jay Bilas made a good point this morning by saying if a team from a high major conference lost to Rider, Hofstra, William & Mary, or James Madison...then we'd dismiss them automatically. How come we can't do that with Drexel or Old Dominion?

There is no way the bottom of the SEC is as bad as the bottom of the Big East, or Big Ten....so that gives the top teams in those conferences easy wins to pad their win total. LSU or S. Carolina would beat Northwestern or Cincinnati or whoever.

I don't care if Vandy had a better conference record. The same thing happened in football. Arkansas had a better conference record than LSU, yet the Tigers won head to head and they got into the BCS. The only difference here is that the Hogs beat Vandy TWICE in the last week.

[HawgG]

  Cuz Vandy hasn't lost to doormats and been blown out by lesser SEC schools.  They've beaten Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky twice.... the list goes on and on. 

Vandy also lost home games to Furman and Appalachian St.

Their best non-conference win is over GT which is good.Our best non-conference win is over Southern Illinois which is better.

We lost to TT that may or maynot be in the NCAAT.We lost to an average Missouri team.

Vandy lost to a horrible Wake Forest team.Chris Paul isn't apart of that Team.

Anyway you stack it we are better qualified then Vandy and we are just better then them period.

I'm not saying that Vandy shouldn't get in, however Arkansas sure deserves to be a part of the field of 65 as well.

[jbcarol]

Northeast bias mixed with a lack of understanding of some Committee key factors.  Parity in the SEC does not inherently make it inferior to parity in the east-based conferences.

Northeast bias (no offense to you practitioners at the Jones Center) was never more clear than the NHL strike.  Remember how much better Sports Center was on a Saturday night when there was no interruption for the latest staged hockey fight and to again not see the puck fly in the goal.

Sportscenter is better with hockey! You have a problem with hard hitting, and a good sport?  Of course I'm from the south and like football, baseball, and basketball more, but hockey is next and a real treat to watch live.

Like the hard hitting.  Really liked the focus on the only game in town and not hopping back and forth. Have trouble seeing the puck in a highlight sequence.  If you know the game it makes a difference.  Folks more patient with lack of scoring also enjoy it more.  We didn't have hockey growing up as we didn't have soccer.  I understand the code of ethics but am not as excited by the cheap shots.  Seems cowardly.  Usually one of the fighters is superior so that seems like a set up as well.  Did enjoy the opposing mascot ramming into the glass from the stands and continuing to knock down the head coach until he got frustrated, scaled the glass and attacked the mascot.  That's entertainment.

Otherwise some of my best friends are from Canada so I understand tolerance as well.  And I really mean that.