I typically like the Mercury News writer Wilner, but …

This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 8 months ago by TheJuggernaut.

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- 03/06/2017 at 10:24 AM #29839
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  sweetgrass
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  He’s usually the best columnist on the Pac-12 and he’s been pretty fair to Utah, but ….
  
  http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/0…-4-22-edition/
  
  *** Reaction III: Utah as the No. 4? Good grief
  
  I noted last week on the Hotline that if the Utes finished fourth, they would have a strong case as the worst No. 4 seed in the (albeit brief) history of the conference’s 12-team tournament.
  
  And I’ll stick with that conclusion, thankyouverymuch.
- 03/06/2017 at 10:28 AM #29843
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  Utah
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  He’s an idiot. How did Cal and USC do vs us?
  
  He always has an axe to grind towards Utah.
- 03/06/2017 at 10:36 AM #29845
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  Tacoma Ute
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  I’m not sure why what he said is a problem. He’s 100% correct and it’s not even close.
  - 03/06/2017 at 10:42 AM #29846
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    User Suspended
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    ^ this
  - 03/06/2017 at 11:15 AM #29858
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    sweetgrass
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    the reason I have a problem with it is that he’s focusing on the wrong thing.
    
    The PAC-12 hasn’t had 3 top ten teams since forever. Focus on that.
    - 03/06/2017 at 11:34 AM #29867
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      Rick
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      He is focused on Utah and not how crappy the bottom half of the conference was this year.
- 03/06/2017 at 11:34 AM #29868
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  UteThunder
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  Can you name a weaker 4th place team since the Pac-12 expanded?
  
  Fact of the matter is, we probably are the weakest 4th seed in the history of the 12 team tournament. We played a Charmin soft non-conference schedule and, on top of that, the league is kind of down this year other than the top 3.
  
  The way I read his comment, it is more of a criticism of the teams behind Utah than it is of Utah.
- 03/06/2017 at 11:54 AM #29872
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  Tacoma Ute
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  None of this matters because in a matter of days he’ll be talking about how the worst 4 seed ever won the tourney despite 3 top 10 teams being in there.
- 03/06/2017 at 12:45 PM #29876
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  TheJuggernaut
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  He’s wrong, at least according to the metrics, Arizona 2012 had a worse RPI than 2017 Utah. Here are all #4 seeds and their RPIs:
  
  2017 Utah (RPI 73)
  2016 Arizona (28)
  2015 UCLA (38)
  2014 Cal (57)
  2013 Arizona (16)
  2012 Arizona (79)
  
  That being said he makes a good argument that 2017 Utah is a worse #4 seed than 2012 Arizona, namely that 2012 Arizona didn’t lose to the worst team in the conference. It’s starting to look like that Oregon St debacle is going to cost us more than pretty points in news articles. It’s looking like that loss is going to end up costing us an NCAA Tournament bid.
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