'Cuse Coach Rips Snub
March 13, 2007— -- Jim Boeheim was on his way to practice Monday to coach a team that he said was extremely disappointed.
That disappointment is an understatement compared to how Boeheim feels about his Orange being snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Boeheim said the Orange's failure to get a bid Sunday was "the biggest shock of all time." Boeheim said it wasn't even close as to whether or not the Orange should have been in the field since no one had them on the bubble.
"You've heard me say from time to time if you torture the numbers long enough, you can get them to confess to anything." -- Selection committee chair Gary Walters
Boeheim said in 31 years that this is the most shocked he has been.
"I can't believe it," Boeheim said. "If we were on the bubble I would see it, but we weren't on the bubble. If Gary Walters thinks we're not one of the 34 best at-large teams then he's crazy."
Well, later in the afternoon, Walters, the Princeton athletic director who is the chair of the selection committee, said exactly this: "At the end of the day, the consensus of the group was that Syracuse wasn't one of the 34 best at-large teams." Boeheim Speaks
Boeheim said he didn't buy Walters' response that the numbers weren't in Syracuse's favor.
Syracuse finished 10-6 in the Big East, 22-10 overall. Villanova, which finished 9-7 in the Big East, leapfrogged over Syracuse to get a bid.
Boeheim said Walters called Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross to explain why the Orange were out. But Walters defended that call by saying that the numbers can be tortured to work for anyone's argument. He said the committee was looking at a number of different issues with Syracuse.
Walters added, "I have enormous respect for Jim Boeheim. Jim has been quoting any number of statistics. The only reason when I talked to Daryl, talked about some of the quantitative issues, it's only because the quantitative data that we had in front of us, one can use to either support or detract from an argument. You've heard me say from time to time if you torture the numbers long enough, you can get them to confess to anything.
