Quadruple stupidity
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 11:56 am
The NET and quad system is idiotic. The RPI was idiotic. It was, in fact, so stupid that the NCAA kept it a secret for years. It was only when someone on the committee blurted out the name to justify some totally ridiculous selections (IIRC Georgia and Oklahoma one year when they were barely above .500 for the season or the year that 7 of 9 ACC teams got in and one had a 5-9 conference record) that we even learned the monster had been created.
When number-crunching math heads (e.g. Jerry Palm et al) eventually reverse engineered the formula, the true heinousness of the beast became apparent to all the unwashed. Big Brother's curtain had been pulled and the beast was exposed in all its ugly deformity. They had no choice but to modify RPI to give it a bit of makeup, but that helped the mid-majors. Can't have that so they had to add some other hocus pocus to the process to protect the vested interests. Eventually we got to the latest deformed Frankenstein and all its assault on logic, not to mention truth, justice and the American Way.
The quad system makes no sense. Seriously. It's intellectual garbage. After reading the reports of some of the journalists who were allowed to play the selection committee game, it really does seem that the whole process is designed to exhaust and confuse the members until the NCAA staff just nudges them into the 'approved' final choices.
Use a ranking system that makes sense. Like KenPom. Or a collection of the very best ranking systems. But come up with a ranking system that incorporates all the relevant factors. All of them. Then use it. Leave it alone. No extra spice. Just use it. No BS. Use it like they started out using RPI back in the early, secret days. If it is valid ranking system which incorporates all the relevant factors, #29 is better than #51. Period. #36 is better than # 42. Not after peering through the smoke with mirrors while chanting Shakespeare. Not after stirring entrails or debating the holding capacity of the head of a pin. Just use the damn numbers. Or get a different rating system that applies the appropriate weights to each relevant factor.
Don't tell us that a rating system has any validity, but then not really use it. It either does or it doesn't. This partial pregnancy process is an abortion. And, as entrail stirring and smoke peering processes go, the quad stuff is worse than witches playing the Gong Show. It's a basketball version of Animal Farm. All rating factors apply equally to all schools, but some factors are more equal than others when we say so.
When number-crunching math heads (e.g. Jerry Palm et al) eventually reverse engineered the formula, the true heinousness of the beast became apparent to all the unwashed. Big Brother's curtain had been pulled and the beast was exposed in all its ugly deformity. They had no choice but to modify RPI to give it a bit of makeup, but that helped the mid-majors. Can't have that so they had to add some other hocus pocus to the process to protect the vested interests. Eventually we got to the latest deformed Frankenstein and all its assault on logic, not to mention truth, justice and the American Way.
The quad system makes no sense. Seriously. It's intellectual garbage. After reading the reports of some of the journalists who were allowed to play the selection committee game, it really does seem that the whole process is designed to exhaust and confuse the members until the NCAA staff just nudges them into the 'approved' final choices.
Use a ranking system that makes sense. Like KenPom. Or a collection of the very best ranking systems. But come up with a ranking system that incorporates all the relevant factors. All of them. Then use it. Leave it alone. No extra spice. Just use it. No BS. Use it like they started out using RPI back in the early, secret days. If it is valid ranking system which incorporates all the relevant factors, #29 is better than #51. Period. #36 is better than # 42. Not after peering through the smoke with mirrors while chanting Shakespeare. Not after stirring entrails or debating the holding capacity of the head of a pin. Just use the damn numbers. Or get a different rating system that applies the appropriate weights to each relevant factor.
Don't tell us that a rating system has any validity, but then not really use it. It either does or it doesn't. This partial pregnancy process is an abortion. And, as entrail stirring and smoke peering processes go, the quad stuff is worse than witches playing the Gong Show. It's a basketball version of Animal Farm. All rating factors apply equally to all schools, but some factors are more equal than others when we say so.