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Eric Musselman rips computerized hoops rankings: ‘The computer doesn’t understand basketball’
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Eric Musselman was feeling good after USC upset No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday, and the former Arkansas head coach used that energy to let his feelings be known on a few things related to college basketball.
In his postgame press conference, Musselman took aim at the KenPom rankings and referenced the numbers as “a joke.” He specifically referenced the idea of a 30-point nonconference win carrying a greater weight than a 10-point nonconference win.
“I can tell you the numbers of KenPom and all that. It’s — I don’t even want to get into that,” said Musselman. “Like, c’mon, you beat somebody in nonconference by 30 and that holds more weight than beating them by 10. It’s a joke how those numbers go. I don’t want to say anything else…”
While Musselman says he didn’t want to say anything else, he simply couldn’t help himself. The head coach knows he has been on the side of getting a benefit from certain computer-based systems, but Musselman does not believe that’s good for the sport.
“I’ve been on the flip side of it, too. Don’t think for a minute that we haven’t gotten a good seed or got a good pairing in the tournament because of stuff that’s really not real. The computer doesn’t understand basketball, so how does a computer decide who should be in the tournament? It’s unfathomable,” Musselman criticized. “It doesn’t happen in any other walk of life to my knowledge.”
Musselman may be frustrated because his Trojans have struggled in his first season with a 5-5 record in the Big Ten. They are also ranked 60th in the most recent update to the KenPom system.
Then again, computer rankings were not the only topic of Musselman’s rant. He even took aim at the decision-makers in college basketball and the fact that the sport has not adjusted to a 4 quarters system that is commonplace throughout the major levels of basketball.
Here’s his full rant from Saturday:
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
