Cincinnati's Mick Cronin Takes Issue With ESPN's Bracketologist

University of Cincinnati's head basketball coach Mick Cronin doesn't like ESPN.com's newest NCAA Tournament projections. ESPN's resident bracketologist Joe Lunardi has just seven Big East teams in the dance -- none of which are Cincinnati.

Cronin didn't find it amusing. "I would tell Joe Lunardi he needs to buy the ESPN Full Court package. Are you telling me that Syracuse wouldn't win the A-10? Does somebody want to give me that answer? I'd like to have that argument with somebody.

"You're going to tell me that Syracuse, with their McDonalds's All-Americans and their talent, would not win the A-10? They're eighth in our conference. For us to not get at least eight is only a by-product of us beating up on each other and being penalized for having too good of a conference."

Those are the normal gripes from people who think the Big East deserves eight, nine or 10 spots in the tournament. It doesn't fly with me or, apparently, Lunardi.

Lunardi defended his position by telling him that he, not Cronin, knows the inner workings of how the selection committee crafts its bracket.

Now I don't know Cronin, and he appears to be doing a terrific job of keeping his Bearcats more than competitive in the hellacious Big East. But I would politely suggest that he keep his eye on the ball and leave broader judgments about the tournament selection process to the NCAA men's basketball committee, since apparently my views aren't to his liking.

Lunardi goes on to dismiss Cronin's complaints. The fact that anyone is eighth in the Big East is meaningless since the committee looks at individual teams and not conferences. He has had nine teams placed in his projections for most of the season, but Notre Dame and Georgetown have fallen off due to their amazing funks.

As for that comment about an eighth place Big East team would cruise through the Atlantic-10, Lunari points out that the lowest seeded Big East team has had a better seeding in the NCAA's than the A-10 champion just once in the past eight years. After all, likely Atlantic-10 champ Xavier did beat Cincinnati earlier this year. They also beat likely Conference USA champion Memphis and ACC bubble team Virginia Tech.

Lunardi also points out that Syracuse has continued to be in his projections, despite Cronin's complaint that they weren't.

As for Cronin's Bearcats, Lunardi points out that they are 0-6 against teams that are currently in his bracket. Those two wins over Georgetown don't look as good if the Hoyas are an N.I.T. team.

I side with Lunardi here. I don't think the Big East should get a ton of teams in the tournament just because that conference is so top heavy. Continuing to lose to good teams doesn't mean you are one, too. If they are one of the 34 best at-large teams, they will get in.