Remember that scene in Animal House when Bluto tries to rally the troops with his speech, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” and then one of the fratboys on the couch says, “Germans?” and the guy sitting next to him says, “Forget it. He’s rolling”?
That’s kind of what Mark Fox’s postgame venting reminded me of Saturday.
Georgia had just been knocked out of the SEC basketball tournament with a 70-58 loss to Kentucky. The Bulldogs never led. But they stayed close most of the game and trailed only 46-43 with 13 minutes left until engine parts started dropping out on the highway, and Kentucky went on a 22-9 run, and soon the thought at Georgia became: Hello, NIT.
Well, that might have been what most thought. But Fox, who otherwise did a terrific job with a thin team this season, wasn’t going to let the NCAA bid argument go down without swinging.
“You have to have people who have knowledge of basketball to determine who should be in the tournament,” he said afterward. “If it’s just a computer picking it, then hey, let’s save some money and just plug in the numbers. And then, hey, let’s do it for the football championship, too. And then what kind of argument would you have? You really have to have people with knowledge to evaluate: How good is this team?”
There’s more.
But first, this is crying for context.
You have to admire Fox for standing up for his team. It’s what college basketball coaches are supposed to do this time of year. Pump up their team. Pump up their conference, which effectively pumps up their team.
I’m just not sure anybody within earshot is buying it. I’m not even sure Fox was buying it.
He rallied Georgia after an awful start to this season that included RPI-crushing losses to Temple, Davidson and Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs went 12-6 in the SEC, tying Kentucky for second place. The only problem with that is that second place in the SEC doesn’t account for much in math this season, and math is what the NCAA tournament field is all about.
Unlike in college football, where late-season success sometimes overshadows an early-season slip up in the eyes of poll voters, basketball tournament officials look at the body of work. Actually, they look at numbers, specifically college basketball’s ultimate power ranking: RPI.
Math is not swayed by late-season wins. Math says: “You lost to Temple, Davidson and Vanderbilt. You went 12-6 against a weak schedule. Away with you.”
Fox is correct about one thing: The selection committee, while made up of humans, might as well be robots because they mostly point at a grid of numbers and say: “In. Out. In. Out.”
Georgia almost certainly will be out. It didn’t do enough. It’s the Dogs’ misfortune that their three toughest conference games — Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee — all came on the road. That’s why they needed a win over the Wildcats in the SEC semis. Had that happened and they reached the title game against Florida, they would’ve had a case (their No. 68 RPI ranking Saturday notwithstanding).
For what it’s worth, Kentucky coach John Calipari publicly had Fox’s back: “Georgia should be in. Tennessee should be in. Arkansas should be on the edge.”
Conference brotherhood. There’s nothing like it.
Actually, even Fox didn’t go that far. When asked directly if Georgia should be in, he said: “I think we should be in the conversation. I won’t say we should be in until I look at” other teams and results Saturday.
But he did try to make a case. He did it so well, so effortlessly, the thought occurred that maybe he had the speech ready to go if Georgia had won, then just decided to make it, anyway.
“Tennessee is a good basketball team that just about beat the No. 1 team in the country. Nobody wants to play Kentucky. Nobody wants to play Florida. Last I checked, we tied for second in this league,” he said.
“I think (Calipari) is right. In other leagues, people say they beat up on each other. In this league you lose a game and people say you’re terrible. That’s a perception issue.”
When asked if he believed the committee relies too heavily on RPI and not enough on other factors, Fox swung away. Again.
“Oh, no question. If this is just about mathematics, if that’s how we’re going to pick the NCAA tournament, anybody can outsmart a formula and skew the statistics. You’ve got to look to see who the best teams are. Who’s playing the best now? Games in November shouldn’t be more important than games in January and February. League play should still matter. If not, why do we still have leagues?”
If Georgia were to go on and win the NIT, Fox’s words might carry a little more weight. But until then, we’ll just have to trust the math.
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