Can Bama make it?

It's looking tougher by the day...

                Just a couple of days ago I was feeling pretty good about the winner of the Tennessee/Alabama game in the SEC Tournament making it to the NCAA. Now it appears that it is safe to say the loser will not go, but the winner's fate is still unknown. I know very few things in life beyond a reasonable doubt. One, my wife is always correct. Two, I'll never be rich. 3. I love the Alabama basketball program and 4. The RPI and the Selection Committee are the most insane methods known to choose who goes to play in the Tournament.  A lot of fans rely  on their work. Talk about turnovers - that bunch has taken stupidity to a new level.

              Al Davis, that grand old man of the Oakland Raiders, had a saying which made all bad things good – “Win Baby Win”. Damned if that doesn't seem to be reasonable. You finish second in your league you shouldn't be a question mark about whether you go play in the NCAA. End of story as far as I am concerned. How the NCAA picks at-large teams is a travesty. I know it is not an easy job. The reason is that the Committee has boxed itself in is their reliance of a combination of subjective and objective criteria which even they cannot fully explain. Alabama lost some games to bad teams. Kentucky lost some games to good teams. Tennessee did both. Surely, the great hoops father in the mezzanine beat someone head to head counts for something? It apparently it does not.
 

        Here's what I now understand about Alabama's situation. They must beat Tennessee to move forward. Then if they beat Florida it might be safe to say the Tide is in, but... anything preceded by the word 'but' has to be bad. In this case it is indeed bad. But if Florida gets beat in their first game it's bad for Bama. Why? Well, it means the winner of that game will have an RPI that sounds like a decent batting average in the major leagues. In the meantime Florida is likely to drop from a projected 3 seed to a 4 or even 5 seed. Wait, I do have one more truth in life – I can do a better job in devising a system for the NCAA. Just let everyone play. Or at least expand the field to 128 teams. That would mean 1 extra game. If the eventual national champion can win 6 in a row, surely they can win 7. I'm not suggesting we eliminate some little school that dreams of being Cinderella. I just think this constant insanity of the RPI has run its course.