Close losses: When a team is touted for close losses that easily could have been wins, don't you also have to accept that close wins could have easily been losses? I will say this again … the only objective standard in sports is winning. If we are going to parse losses, we should expect to parse the wins, too.
Not their fault: Teams in weaker conferences are often heard saying that it is "not their fault" that they are in a weaker league. Well, for teams in a really strong league, it is not their fault that they are in a really tough league and have really tough games. All of that is bluster. If you have a bunch of tough games in your league, you don't need to play as tough a nonconference schedule. If you don't have enough tough games in your league, you need to get enough in the nonconference to prove you can beat good teams. But, if a team didn't beat anybody good during the season, how can they complain? You have to beat somebody good to be considered a contender for an at-large berth. Otherwise, you had better win the automatic bid of the league that it's not your fault that you're in.
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Jay Bilas
