|
Goo speaks out Vince Goo needed time to analyze the decisions made Sunday by the NCAA Women's Basketball selection committee.
about NCAA rebuff
The Wahine coach says
the selection process is flawedBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Rainbow Wahine had been excluded from the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season despite finishing as runner-up in the Western Athletic Conference tournament. They also tied for second place during the regular season and own a 23-7 record, with five of those losses coming against Top 10 teams, and a 45 Rating Percentage Index.
He didn't find any solace in his analysis. The disappointment and hurt he feels for his staff and players didn't disappear even when he learned the reason the Wahine weren't chosen.
"I looked for what the comment was from the chair of the selection committee. It was we didn't beat anyone in the Top 25 RPI and only had two wins against teams in the Top 100 RPI," Goo said.
"That is true. Then again, if you look at our record, we don't have any losses to anyone with an RPI of more than 100. That means we were very consistent, no big wins, no bad losses."
Goo then took that criteria and applied it to some other schools that did receive at-large berths. He made it clear he had nothing against those schools, was happy that they got it, but really had to wonder about the selection process when looking at teams that possibly took UH's place.
"You look at Clemson with a 17-11 record and a 58 RPI and they had three losses to teams outside 100 RPI," he said.
"You look at Mississippi State with an 18-11 record and a 67 RPI and they have three losses to teams outside 100. The committee puts emphasis on the last 10 games and they were 5-5 (UH was 8-2). And, the SEC (Southeastern Conference) has someone on the selection committee."
The SEC had eight of its 12 teams selected for the tournament.
"Wisconsin has someone on the selection committee and they were 3-10 in their last 13 games. Pittsburgh from the Big East has a member on the committee and Syracuse, with an 18-11 record, a 42 RPI and four losses to teams outside 100 RPI, goes," said Goo.
"They said we were on the bubble. They said Georgia, with an RPI of 79, and Miami (Fla.), with an RPI of 84, were on the bubble. It's an insult that we were on the bubble with 79 and 84 teams. Go look and see how many bad losses they had.
"Does it stink or does it smell? I think so.
"Fifty percent of the Mountain West goes, and 10 percent of the WAC goes. One of the best teams in the country (Louisiana Tech) is a No. 5 seed and doesn't even get to play at home."
UH president Evan Dobelle also took exception with the perceived snub.
"The women should have gone and I question that process," Dobelle said. "They were 23-7. They lost by three points to Louisiana Tech, which was one of the top-ranked teams in the country. Five of our losses were to Top 10 teams.
"It's not excusable to me that the Wahine are not in the NCAA (Tournament). That's what concerns me about the WAC ... it concerns me that we are being defined by people making decisions based on perceptions and not on reality."
When asked about a possible conference change, he said, "The WAC didn't help itself with me today."
Goo added that when senior women's administrator Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano called the head of the selection committee to question UH's exclusion from the tournament, Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano was told that the committee didn't look to take more than one team from any conferences with an RPI above seven. The WAC has a 12 RPI.
Goo pointed out that Conference USA (RPI of eight) had three teams selected, and that the Pac-10 (RPI of nine) and Missouri Valley (RPI 10) both had two teams.
"So either they're confused or they're outright lying. We need for the selection process to be proper," Goo said. "When they say things like your conference wasn't strong enough, I guess at the end of this tournament ... are they going to crown a champion from a conference? Or are they going to crown a champion from an individual institution?"
The WAC has never been represented on the NCAA Women's Selection Committee since the Hawaii women's programs joined the conference. The conference hired a consultant, Bill Foster, a couple of years ago to promote WAC basketball.
Goo was openly displeased with Foster's efforts a year ago, but had no comment this year.
"I will tell you a story," Goo said. "Before we played Rice in the tournament, I mentioned to a WAC official about the upsets that were happening in the Mountain West and whether that would affect our league's chances of getting two women's teams into the NCAA Tournament.
"That person (Goo declined to identify the person) asked me if I was talking about men's basketball. My reaction was to turn around and walk away and ask myself, 'Do I really look like Riley Wallace?' "
Hawaii's strength of schedule was in the top 20 when its preseason games concluded in December.
"We go into the WAC and end up with a 109 strength of schedule," Goo said. "If I had my choice, I'd play Louisiana Tech nine times and Rice nine times for our 18 conference games.
"You want another story, give Leon Barmore (Louisiana Tech coach) a call and ask him what he thinks about being matched up against a male coach (UC Santa Barbara) in the first round again. He's spoken out on this before."
Barmore declined comment this year. He even turned down a request to be on an ESPN show Sunday morning that dealt entirely with the subject.
"I really thought we would be as high as a No. 3 seed, seeing Penn State get in as a No. 4 knowing they lost in their conference tournament semifinals and had 11 losses," Barmore said. "But it didn't turn out that way."
Star-Bulletin reporters Rod Antone
and Grace Wen contributed to this report.
UH Athletics