Mike Huguenin of Rivals.com came out yesterday with his [URL=”http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1190246″]NCAA tournament seed predictions[/URL], and he has Kentucky listed as a 6 seed. I have no problem with that currently, but the narrative says, “Kentucky has dropped three of its past five and has been awful on the road in the SEC. Still, they have a chance to close strong, as the Wildcats’ final three regular-season games are against Florida, Vandy and Tennessee.” Is he saying that Kentucky will be a 6 seed if they beat Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee? Because I think Kentucky is a 6 seed NOW, if they beat Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, I think they earn a 4 seed.
Before I get all the Kentucky haters infiltrating our boards, Kentucky currently has an RPI of 16. RPI is different from the popularity contests that are AP and Coaches polls, RPI is based on strength of schedule and win/loss record. An RPI of 16 should net a 4 seed right now. I don’t consider myself a Louisville hater (I know some of you are), but Huguenin currently has Louisville as a 4 seed. Louisville’s record? 19-7. Kentucky’s record? 18-7. Louisville’s S.O.S. rank? 25th. Kentucky’s S.O.S. rank? 17th. Louisville is currently 26th in RPI. You’ll forgive me if I disagree with Huguenin on this one.
Also, he has Kansas as a 2 seed with Pitt as a 1. Now, I dislike Kansas as much as the next guy, but Kansas is currently #1 in Coaches, AP, and RPI. That’s pretty rare, and I think even the most die-hard Kentucky fans have to give KU a 1 seed at this point. Pitt’s no slouch, but they have the same record and a weaker S.O.S. than Kansas. And where’s the love for the mid-majors? BYU has only 2 losses as well, and even they have a tougher S.O.S. than Pitt.
I guess we’ll have to see come tournament time, but seeding is really important. Ideally, if you are better than everybody else it shouldn’t matter, but I would rather wait until there are only 16 teams left to face a top 16 team. You don’t want to get one of those first or second round.
