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After having the issue placed carefully onto a tee, Bob Bowlsby smacked the answer out of the park -- laying the groundwork for a possible record number of NCAA Tournament bids for the ACC.
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| Despite their losing ACC record, the Terrapins might get an NCAA dancing invite. (AP) |
Before taking questions, however, Bowlsby fielded a set-up question from his media liaison, Bill Hancock, who asked Bowlsby about the "urban myth" that only teams with .500 conference records -- if not better -- would be considered.
"One of the commonly held misconceptions is that there's something magic about a .500 record (in league play)," Bowlsby said. "There isn't anything magical about getting to .500."
It's significant that Bowlsby went out of his way to address that issue. It's also significant that the ACC, which is the country's No. 1-rated league according to the RPI, has more teams with 7-9 league records than anyone: North Carolina State (17-12 overall), Maryland (16-11) and Miami (16-11).
Later in the call, a reporter asked Bowlsby about the ACC's lofty RPI ranking. The reporter clearly disagreed with that ranking, noting that only three ACC teams (North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke) had winning marks in league play, and tried to elicit a sympathetic response from Bowlsby that the ACC was overrated by the RPI.
Bowlsby wouldn't bite.
"The reason (the ACC is) rated so high is they've got a number of teams that have impressive resumes, and that's who those other people in the league have to play against every day," Bowlsby said. "Those people who are around .500 (in ACC play) have had to play all 16 of their league games against high-quality opponents."
No league has ever received eight NCAA bids, but there are eight ACC teams at 7-9 or better; Georgia Tech (17-10) and Virginia Tech (15-12) went 8-8. Bowlsby never came close to suggesting the ACC would receive eight bids -- but if it happens, don't say he didn't drop hints.
Then again, maybe he was just stumping for Iowa (19-10), which went 7-9 in the Big Ten. Bowlsby is Iowa's athletics director -- and, no, we don't believe that's what he was doing.
Pac-10 plummets
Bowlsby wasn't on hand to deliver hard news, but that's what happened midway through the call when he described a shakeup atop the conference RPI scale.
Until Wednesday, the Pac-10 had been the country's No. 2-rated RPI league for months. Bowlsby himself thought the Pac-10 remained the No. 2 league, referring to that league as second behind the ACC, until Hancock informed him of the change.
