Mike Boynton’s Response to Joe Lunardi’s Logic was Fantastic

Joey Brackets obviously threw his name into the Oklahoma State sports fan vortex earlier this week when he said the following.

“Here’s what (OSU’s) real record is at 18-13. They’re really 11-13 because they have seven cupcakes, which is a staggeringly high number for a team in their spot.

“If the committee has been consistent about one thing over the years, if you are right there on the cut line — whether you agree with this or not — they look at nonconference schedule. People say, ‘hey, that doesn’t show what you can do when you play up.’ What it does show is you missed an opportunity to maybe lose more games.”

My response to this was not diplomatic or rational because all of this is silly and absurd, but Mike Boynton’s response on Wednesday was both of those things and more.

“Part of his deal now is people confirming what they said back in October,” he told Nathan Ruiz of The Oklahoman (see below). “We were supposed to not be any good, so, ‘We’re not gonna watch them for six months, and then when they kind of seem like they’re good, they weren’t supposed to be good. They can’t be good.'”

This is true and it’s called confirmation bias. It’s what we see in the College Football Playoffs all the time when teams like Ohio State and Alabama are picked because committee members perceive them being better at the beginning of the year.

“So now they’re like, ‘Man, they’ve got 19 wins and they won 8 games in the Big 12. Something must be up. Oh they didn’t lose as many games as they could have.'”

Looking at you, Joey!

“I’ve never heard that one before. Lunardi said that the other day, something about, ‘They didn’t put themselves in position to lose many more games,’ Like, who does that? What were we supposed to do? Try to play in the Big Ten Tournament last week? What is that? I’ve never heard that about anybody.

“Everybody plays four, five, six games that are 150 (RPI). I don’t know what the number is, but it’s so arbitrary.”

Now you’re talking my language, coach. Oklahoma State has played 25 games against top 170 teams. Arizona State, a team Lunardi used as an example of somebody who hadn’t played a lot of cupcakes, has played 24. But ASU has played 28 top 220 games, and OSU has played just 26. These are all arbitrary numbers, though! Somebody with a computer like myself just said well let’s cut it off at 175 or 200 or whatever and formulate quadrants. It’s all made up!

“I feel like at some point, people should try to appreciate that for all that this team’s been through, those kids found a way to be pretty competitive in the hardest league in the country and are in position to be considered for the Tournament.”

Well said by Boynton, and no matter what happens later this week, I think Oklahoma State fans will cling to the final piece of that as these Pokes head into 2019 and beyond.

Mike Boynton's full response to the Joe Lunardi comments, says people are just trying to confirm #okstate is the same team they thought it was in October: pic.twitter.com/fr7976rNla

— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) March 8, 2018