The men's basketball team's invitation to the NCAA Tournament must have fallen between the seats and never delivered. Now they are spending their days fighting for an NIT (Not Invited Tournament) championship.
But when one looks at basketball scientifically, he can see the Cardinals are the clear-cut national champions. Let's explain this phenomenon in the same manner as "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon."
There are currently 16 teams remaining in the "big dance." Ball State beat two of them (UCLA and Kansas) in the Maui Invitational earlier this year, thus leaving 14.
UCLA downed Arizona, the third seed in the West bracket, and Arizona defeated Maryland on Nov. 8. Now, Arizona, Maryland, Kansas, and UCLA have all fallen to the wrath of Ball State - 12 to go.
Kansas, who went undefeated in the Big 12 this year, beat Sweet-16 teams Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas. As we all know, Ball State knocked off Kansas. That leaves nine.
Now, we have established that Ball State has a decisive advantage over Oklahoma. On Jan. 7, Oklahoma defeated Connecticut, the second seed in the east bracket, 69-67, proving the Cardinals could handle the Huskies. The UConn Huskies play their conference ball in the Big East, as does Pittsburgh. Pitt, who is also alive in the "big dance," lost to UConn.
We also know Ball State is superior (scientifically speaking, of course) to Maryland and Arizona. Both of those teams defeated Illinois - the fourth seed in the Midwest bracket - earlier this season.
Now the Sweet 16 is down to the Sour Six and things are starting to get complicated.
Southern Illinois became the darlings of this year's tournament by cutting down Texas Tech and Georgia in the first two rounds. The Salukis are now the lowest-seeded team (11th) remaining.
Well, the Salukis were defeated by Northern Iowa during the regular season. Northern Iowa fell on Jan. 23 to Indiana State - the same Indiana State team Ball State defeated on Dec. 22.
Kentucky is another remaining powerhouse in the tournament. Tubby Smith's Wildcats, however, fell to Mississippi State earlier this year. Mississippi State fell to the Longhorns of Texas, who were beaten by Kansas in conference play. And, of course, Ball State owns Kansas.
How about the Oregon Ducks? Oregon was upset by the University of Southern California in the Pac-10 tournament. USC lost to UCLA, who was toppled by your Cardinals in Maui.
Now we have to buckle down. The remaining three teams in the tournament (Indiana, Duke, and Kent State) all defeated Ball State in the regular season. Therefore, by standard playoff rules, we must find two ways to overcome these teams.
First, conference rival Kent State, who dismantled Ball State in the MAC opener, fell victim to Youngstown State early in the year. Youngstown State lost to pretty much everybody, including the Toledo Rockets, whom Ball State beat twice. Also, Kent State fell to Buffalo in its only conference loss of the season. Ball State, however, handled Buffalo on Feb. 13.
Next up are the Hoosiers of Indiana. IU narrowly beat Ball State in a battle for state supremacy in December. The Hoosiers lost to both Southern Illinois and Kentucky, giving Ball State two round-about victories over Mike Davis' squad.
And finally, the defending champs: Duke. The Blue Devils lost only three games this season. First, they lost to Virginia. Virginia then lost to Missouri, who lost to Kansas. The Devils also were slaughtered by Florida State. The Seminoles, in their lackluster season, lost to Western Carolina. Western Carolina in turn lost to Eastern Michigan, and Eastern lost to the Cardinals twice.
There it is. Ball State are clear-cut NCAA champions. Any questions?
Write to Jay at jdkenworthy@bsu.edu
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