Tough Decision of the week

by Joe Perry
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During our weekly Thursday morning meeting this week, half of our group was determining seeds 5-8 while the other half was looking at the bubble teams, as in who was in and who was out. As the bubble group looked at the individual teams’ stats and resumés and decided yay or nay on whether they should be in or not, they eventually came down to two teams with one spot left. The teams were Kansas State and Washington.

Kansas State- 15-5 overall, 2-4 in tier 1, 3-0 in tier 2, 1 bad loss and best win vs. Oklahoma
Washington- 14-6 overall, 3-3 in tier 1, 1-2 in tier 2, 1 bad loss and best win vs. Kansas
    
When you look at their recent games, Kansas State would be an easy shoo in. In the past 10 days, they beat Oklahoma and TCU at home, who are both top 20 in RPI. They also got a tier 2 win on the road against Baylor. However, when you look at the season statistics, Oklahoma and TCU are Kansas State’s only tier 1 wins. Washington has 3 tier 1 wins: Colorado, USC and Kansas, the latter of which beat Kansas State. Furthermore, Washington’s SOS (Strength Of Schedule) is 56 in Div. 1 and 58 in Div. 1 non-conference, whereas Kansas State’s SOS is 101 in Div. 1 and 334 in Div. non-conference. So, the bubble group chose to put Washington in that final spot.
If you are a Kansas State fan, don’t get down on your team. They’re on a hot streak, and they have an opportunity to prove themselves this coming week as they play both Kansas and West Virginia. So long and good luck!