Make it two posts in two days out of the Syracuse Post-Standard around the assertion that the Orange belong in the NCAA Tournament and Villanova does not. Now don't get me wrong, I've met one of the Syracuse writers and consider him to be a really nice guy and a very good writer and reporter. I almost never look outside the Post-Standard for Syracuse news because they cover the Orange so well. But I think they have this one wrong, and here's why.
Using the ESPN-style Team A vs. Team B comparison, here goes. I'll even use RPI instead of Pomeroy numbers because that's what the Selection Committee and the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leaders do. Results are listed in chronological order, though it is very tempting to list them in ascending numerical order.
Team A
-- Road/neutral non-conference wins: 234
-- Road/neutral non-conference losses: 36
-- Home non-conference wins: 295, 91, 185, 198, 137, 65, 267, 164, 66, 290
-- Home non-conference losses: 81, 50
-- Road conference wins: 28, 192, 163
-- Road conference losses: 129, 52, 97
-- Home conference wins: 19, 165, 55, 129, 97
-- Home conference losses: 4, 49
-- RPI: 64
-- Strength of schedule: 55
-- Non-conference strength of schedule: 125
Team B
-- Road/neutral non-conference wins: 109, 82, 266, 91, 83, 274
-- Road/neutral non-conference losses: 44
-- Home non-conference wins: 204, 200, 151, 47, 85
-- Home non-conference losses: 50
-- Road conference wins: 17, 68, 135
-- Road conference losses: 48, 64, 49, 28
-- Home conference wins: 49, 52, 165
-- Home conference losses: 4, 17, 55
-- RPI: 19
-- Strength of schedule: 4
-- Non-conference strength of schedule: 33
In my opinion, Team A is better in three categories: road/neutral non-conference losses, home conference losses and home conference wins. The teams are even in home non-conference wins (Team A has twice as many, but has three that are worse than any of Team B's). But in the other eight categories, I think Team B is far superior.
That team is Villanova. It should be pretty clear, especially once you factor in that three of those Orange non-conference home games were in the BCA Classic at the beginning of the season. And the Wildcats actually play non-conference road/neutral games outside of their home state, something that Syracuse proudly does not do.
This is why, ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere, I feel confident that you will find the Wildcats fully deserving of a spot in the NCAA Tournament ahead of the Syracuse Orange. I'm not saying that the Orange shouldn't be there, I'm simply trying to prove that as of just after 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 20, 2007, Villanova fully merits a place in the Field of 65.
I yield back the balance of my time in this debate, which I'm sure you all appreciate more than anything else I've written on the blog thus far.
