Providence won’t be dancing at the 2024 NCAA tournament after the selection committee left Kim English’s Friars out of the field on Sunday.
English didn’t seem to agree with Providence not making the tournament, prompting the irate coach to blast the sport’s analytical approach in a fiery rant.
“I think the analytics are bulls–,” said English, via college basketball writer Kevin McNamara. “I think you can schedule bad teams in your non-leagues and beat the snot out of them and beat them by 50 or 60...”
“But right now [there] might be a change in college basketball. Scheduling to beat teams by 40 or 50 might be a thing to do,” he added.
Kim English: ‘I think the analytics are bullshit.’ pic.twitter.com/pDfGsW2CUA
— Kevin McNamara (@KevinMcNamara33) March 17, 2024
English said that analytics don’t favor teams like the Friars, who played against difficult opponents and top coaches in the Big East.
Only three teams from the Big East made the tournament–Marquette, Creighton and UConn–while the rest of the conference was not selected, including hopefuls such as St. John’s (20–13), Seton Hall (20–12) and of course, Providence (21–13).
English admitted that there were games the team didn’t “take care of,” which likely contributed to their omission from the 68-team field, but he maintained that there were “flaws” in the analytical system.
