Quote Originally Posted by engie View Post
How does being double elimination make anything "easier"? You've simply got to win 2 basketball games in 3 days to get there. That's it. There's alot more "15/16 seeds" in baseball that have an ace that can beat you on any given day too...

It's not an opinion thing -- it's math. There is a 16/302 chance of getting it done in baseball -- and a 16/349 chance in basketball. A difference of 0.7% in difficulty.
Double elimination dictates that the WORSE teams should have less of a chance at advancing. In baseball JSU would've advanced and ULL would've been out this year, but since it was double elimination and ULL (the better team) got another shot, the better team went further. In a one-game, "knock-out" type tourney, the probability is a lot higher that the best teams won't advance. Therefore worse teams, and more teams have a better chance at making a run in basketball, not so sure why that's so hard to understand.

And to your other point, basketball has 50 or so more DI teams, another reason why it's harder in basketball.

Add to that the fact that most cold weather baseball teams don't have the same advantages that warm weather teams do, and you basically cut the field of teams you're competing with for the 64 spots in half.

In basketball the Southern teams don't have that advantage, kids aren't going to avoid going to certain schools in the North because they know they'll never be able to compete because of competitive disadvantages.

Are you trying to tell me the SAME NUMBER of teams have made the NCAA tourney in both sports? That the same number has made the round of 32? I did the research as well, and in basketball, more teams have made the field of 64, and more teams have made the round of 32 (by a significant margin). The fact that so many more teams have advanced that far means that there are many more teams that have the ability to compete in basketball