What do Miami, Milwaukee, Wright State, Detroit, Iona, Western Kentucky, Illnois State, Missouri State, Oral Roberts, and Portland all have in common?
They are 10 NCAA Division I basketball teams sitting at home with 20 or more wins this spring and no place to go.
In fact, there are 56 NCAA Division schools watching the NCAA (65), NIT (16), CBI (16) and CIT (16) tourneys.
With the exception of token North Carolina at 16-16, only one school out of a field of 129 has a losing record.
And that is Oregon State.
The next question on your mind should be, why? With over 50-plus schools finishing their regular season and league tournaments at .500 or better, one has to wonder why Oregon State received an invite to the CBI regardless of the fact that they are the defending champs.
The champions of the CBI (College Basketball Insider Tourney) who were invited last year with a 12-15 record - and again this year returned with a 14-17 record.
I know politics makes strange bedfellows, but please. Consecutive losing seasons - and still in the postseason? There's nothing like rewarding a team for losing.
In 2008-09, Oregon State entering the CBI three games below .500. That was a slap to all the teams above .500. They went 5-1 in the CBI, playing five of the six games - all wins - at home. The only loss came at UTEP in a best-of-three mini series for the CBI title.
But it gets even better. Oregon State came back to defend its title with another losing record and they got to host another game - this one to Boston University (20-13). BU traveled 3,000-plus miles as its reward as conference runnerup Vermont - and got to play Oregon State in OSU's own backyard.
However, justice reared up and won out and BU advanced advance to the quarterfinals, ending the incredible the OSU runs in the CBI.
Now what does "politics" have to do with all this?
It just so happens that the head coach of OSU is Craig Robinson, brother-in-law to President Barack Obama.
Maybe that's just a coincidence - and maybe not - but again after two straight losing seasons and an overall record of 31-34 the last two years, Robinson was just given another two-year extension on his contract, taking him through 2015.
I wonder what coach "R" would have got if he'd have won more than he lost.
The vice-presidency?
Stan Risser
Martinsburg
Can't understand 'Eddiespeak'
The first two graphs from a PSU release read:
Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis today announced roster changes for the 2010-11 Nittany Lion basketball season as sophomore Chris Babb (Arlington, Texas) and freshman Bill Edwards (Middletown, Ohio) have asked for and been granted their release to transfer following the completion of the spring semester.
"I had some very good individual meetings with all of our players over the past week and outlined some goals for next season and our plans to reach them," DeChellis said. "The response was overwhelmingly positive and I'm very encouraged by the commitment and desire our team will take into the off-season."
Now help me out with Eddiespeak: They've just lost two key players - two of their top seven, for sure - and things are "overwhelmingly positive?"
Rick Weber
Houston
