Story Poster
Photo by Andrew Kilzer, TexAgs
Texas A&M Baseball

Eric Hyman on Texas A&M's NCAA Baseball Tournament seeding

May 28, 2015
26,965

Quotes from Eric Hyman interview

“Mike Slive is probably one of, if not the best leaders I have ever been around. He is so talented and it’s like herding cats, he knows how to do it and get them from point A to point B. He is such a sagacious administrator that he knows where we need to go phenomenally situation after situation. It’s phenomenal because with every group of people, he is revered and everyone honored him. It is such a credit to Mike and what he has accomplished in his professional career. He built on what Roy Kramer established, but the SEC would not be where it is today without him. I think everybody across the board feels the same way.”

“I was disappointed (that A&M didn't get a top eight seed) and I understand the passion that Aggies have, and rightfully so. That is what makes Texas A&M as successful as it is and what allows us to reach our potential. Other institutions do not have the percentage (of graduates who are passionate) like we do, so I respect the passion Aggies have.”

“99.9% of people do not understand what takes place behind the scenes and I understand that. There are 10 committee members from across the country. I’m one-tenth and have ten percent say so. You have ADs from UCLA, South Alabama, Indiana State, Florida Atlantic, University of San Francisco and Central Michigan. So you have ADs but there are also associate Athletic Directors from Bingingtnon and Wake Forest as well an an associate commissioner from the Colonial. You can see it is a cross section from all around the country and not just the power five.”

“The criteria to get in is something that I think people have been mislead on. The RPI is only a starting point, but you end up splitting hairs. I’m biased towards the SEC and Dan Guerrero from UCLA is biased towards the PAC-12 ... I wouldn’t say he got (Oregon into the tournament and UCLA the top overall seed) in, I would say they earned it. It was clear for UCLA that they were the number one seed in the country. They take the RPI as a starting point; you take conference strength of schedule, non-conference strength of schedule, how you did the last 15 games ... Take Missouri State and what they did winning their conference, conference tournament and 16 games in a row. What is really important is the RAC. The ‘Regional Advisory Committee’ and that is made up of head baseball coaches. With the RAC, you sit down and have three conference calls and listen to what the coaches have to say. Then, if teams are compared head-to-head, you look at how they did against common opponents. For me, what’s important is how you did against the top 50 and top 100, as well as conference record. Look at Alabama, they had a hellacious RPI, but their conference record was 12-18. How did they finish, how did they do against teams that got in. You end up compiling all the criteria, stack it up against each other and all the members take a look at it.”

“The tough part for me is that I have to go out of the room when they are discussing and voting on your team. I was probably more beneficial to A&M in the past and I told Rob (Childress) that. I had to leave three separate times and once it was for two hours. I get to present our case, but then I have to leave during the discussion. One year, I said, ‘Please do not put Clemson and South Carolina together in the regional.' This was when I was at South Carolina and they put them together, and then split them next year. I can say what I want, but I’m only ten percent of the vote.”

“The teams that are at the top are not as totally into the conference tournament. By that I mean that they would rather err on the side of being ready for the NCAA Tournament. That doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to win, but they would rather ensure success in the NCAA Tournament. If you look at TCU, they were very highly thought of and lost their last two games of the tournament. Up until that time, their strength was even stronger than it is now, so they slid backwards. When I went out of the room, I didn’t know where TCU, A&M or Vandy would end up. I didn’t know where anyone would end up. So the seven people in there (two other members of the committee were also out of the room) with all the criteria put TCU where they ended up, Missouri State where they ended up. The rest of the schools that were in discussion were Vanderbilt, A&M, Florida State and Dallas Baptist. So when I left the room, that debate went on for a long period of time. I can speak my piece and it got pretty intense, but I was outvoted in the overall scheme of things. There have been situations where I have been upset at what has taken place, but I believe in the system. I presented my case when I could and then had to leave the room. All the schools were debated and discussed. I wasn't even there when they ranked the top eight because I had to be out of the room. Of course, I'’m an advocate (for A&M), but I'm only 10%.”

“The teams after the eighth seed ... that doesn't mean Oklahoma State was the ninth seed. Oklahoma State was not in the discussion for the top eight seeds. Why the committee paired them where they did? I think they look at things from a regional standpoint and want fans/parents to have some proximity where they can go to the games, this is from a philosophical standpoint. We talked about a west coast team having to go to the east coast and they ended up keeping them on the west because they deserved it. When I got back into the room, I asked about how things stacked up with TCU, Missouri State and Texas A&M and how we stacked up. Now to be frank, if we had gone head-to-head with Vanderbilt for that eighth spot, we would not have gotten it. The RAC had Vanderbilt rated ahead of us.”

“TCU had an RPI of eight, while ours was six so that's really splitting hairs. SOS, theirs was 96, ours was 58. The non-conference SOS, theirs was 129 and ours was 195. If there was an Achilles heal for us, in the eyes of the other members, that was it. Against the top-100 teams, they were 17-9 (sic) and we were 23-10 so that's probably pretty close. Positives that were said to me about TCU, they won six of eight series including five conference sweeps. Swept each of the last five regular season series, including one non-conference. In non-con, they won 2-of-3 from Arizona on the road, beat UCLA and Vanderbilt, split with Dallas Baptist and went 11-5 vs teams in the field. Against common opponents with A&M, they went 13-3. They also won the conference by 3.5 games over Oklahoma State. Negatives were the last two losses in the conference tournament and that their conference had a down year.”

“A&M finished second behind LSU in the top conference. Started the year 24-0, were 25-0 in non-conference with wins over DBU, Houston and Rice. Went 11-6 against tournament teams. Negatives were that we finished 10-8, went 1-3-1 in our last five conference series. The non-conference SOS was the worst among the last six teams mentioned and they begin to split hairs and are looking to eliminate you. When you stack them up, there is very little differential. There were seven people voting on it and it was close, but we did not get the final eighth seed. There have been things that have taken place that I have not been very pleased with, like a team that got in that I did not agree with. I respect the system and I respect how they do it. They try to do the right thing. We have to take care of business here and then when we win in Ft. Worth."

"We'll all see if the committee was right or wrong as time goes on. The process is correct, but it doesn't always work out. As you know, it's not a game of perfect.”
Discussion from...

Eric Hyman details Texas A&M's NCAA Tournament seeding

15,924 Views | 36 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by coupland boy
Gabe Bock
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Eric Hyman details Texas A&M's NCAA Tournament seeding
Icecream_Ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
S
wow -1 replys?!??!?

Dude just needs to pack up and leave. dont wait for the pink slip, dont wait for the "meetings", just grab his **** and go.
Leap Day William
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Bust the hyman.
Tripacer
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Judging how you finish the season is a stupid thing to do. For one, you are leaving teams at the mercy of conference schedules. How is that supposed to be fair when you have teams with front or back loaded schedules? And obviously two, you are saying good wins early in the season don't mean anything.
Icecream_Ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
S
dont forget that OOC games count more than conference games against the same opponent
non-consensual santa
How long do you want to ignore this user?
His logic is pretty piss poor (but typical for mr. managing expectations).
W
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
once again TCU got way too much credit for "finishing the season strong" and "sweeping conference opponents" --- this just in...the Frogs played nothing but garbage in the second half of the season.

that's why good teams in mediocre conferences have a tremendous advantage -- they always finish strong, because they play one weak team after another down the stretch.

and then these clowns on the RAC that thought Vandy was better than A&M...the Commodores have so much talent that they lost 19 games --- lost 19 games. The talent didn't perform day in and day out. That has to be taken into consideration
Gulf Coast Aggie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
"Against the top-100 teams, they were 17-19 and we were 23-10 so that's probably pretty close."

WHAT? !
non-consensual santa
How long do you want to ignore this user?
quote:
once again TCU got way too much credit for "finishing the season strong" and "sweeping conference opponents" --- this just in...the Frogs played
nothing but garbage in the second half of the season.


Agreed. tcu doesn't have **** in terms of good wins over the last 18 games of the season while A&M had several.
Timberwolf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Move on and move forward. The guy comes on here and answers every question and pulls the curtain back for you. Be pissed off at all the other committee members. To say he is the reason is insanity.

If this team is that good, it wont matter where they put us. We'll see.
valvemonkey91
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
This is NOT the guy who needs to be our AD. How does he not do everything possible (this side of getting arrested) to shame and berate the other committee members at their blatant disrespect toward us? He should have thrown shi+ out the windows, flipped over tables, etc at the thought and mere mention of us getting left out. We got screwed because we do not have a LEADER that has our back. "Sorry guys, hand were tied". "Nothing I could do". "I'm 1/10th". BLAH BLAH BLAH. A LEADER leads! Period! I did not sense there was much of a fight from him at all from that interview. I've been told he shows up when he has to, has the personality of a stump, and didn't like even like being on that committee. Now that is all 2nd hand info, but still... I was also told he wore a gold shirt to our game against LSU last year. WTH? We need AN AGGIE! Someone who wants to be here. God forgive me for saying it, but somebody like Deloss Dodds without the arrogance, condescention, and entitlement mentality. Say what you will about Dodds. At least everybody knew where he stood. Sorry, but this is a bit much to swallow considering how successful our baseball team was this year.
Frisco - Ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Complete garbage. He put forth zero effort based on the above and his ability to influence is obviously on a first grade level.

He had all the data in our favor and was rolled.
Frisco - Ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
"Against the top-100 teams, they were 17-19 and we were 23-10 so that's probably pretty close."

I have no words for this.
KC Aggie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My BS detector is off the charts!
"Morons. I've got morons on my team."
runawaytrain
How long do you want to ignore this user?
BS guys a freaking weak sauce loser. What a terrible hire. Team deserved to be considered way above TCU and he effing dropped the ball
Tobias Funke
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I seriously read all of that as "the process ultimately depended on me being really good at my job and I'm just not that good at it"
Kyle Kelley
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Weak.
Frisco - Ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
If this is all it takes to be AD of A&M please tell me where to submit my resume.
Lance Uppercut
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Last time I'll mention it... but I wish I had the audio from the game where he sat in for a few innings with Dave. Dave brought up his role on the committee this year, and the first words out of Hyman's mouth were about how he was glad his tenure was almost up and he wouldn't have to do it anymore. He made it clear how much he disliked being part of the tournament selection.

I guess you can loathe part of your job and still do it well, but that attitude doesn't lead me to believe Hyman went in there and went all out in defense of a Texas A&M national seeding. I personally don't believe with an identical resume and their own AD on the committee that this would have happened to any other school in the SEC. Hyman's defense of the outcome in today's interview didn't help smooth things over with the fan base either.
Sea Gull
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
"Against the top-100 teams, they were 17-19 and we were 23-10 so that's probably pretty close."

WHAT? !


What the ****? What a complete and total dewsh. God, please just retire and GTFO. How does someone so useless get so much money for doing absolutely nothing?
Rocco S
How long do you want to ignore this user?
So a bunch of non SEC people decided to arrange the goal posts so that there wouldn't be 3 SEC national seeds.

There is no way to deduce TCU deserved a national seed more than us, looking at the entire body of work.

All they did was select limited criteria to keep us out and ignore a whole bunch of other stuff.

They awarded Okie State a national seed whether they admit it or not.

Hyman is addressing us from the committee rather than our AD.

Matsui
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
What a joke
PharmD4
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
So weak.
Baron de Bastrop
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
As I said in a new thread, he also referred to Aggies as "Them" 2 times instead of "us". Nuff said.
Basketball and Chain
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Learned something new today

23-10 (.6969) = 17-9 (.6538)

23 wins = 17 wins

So basically as long as you're just a little better (loose definition here, since we had 35% more top 100 wins than TCU - not "basically the same, Hyman") than your competition at every measurement, you're not really better than them at all in Hyman's eyes.
ausag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
words....
SchizoAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
Learned something new today

23-10 (.6969) = 17-9 (.6538)

23 wins = 17 wins

So basically as long as you're just a little better (loose definition here, since we had 35% more top 100 wins than TCU - not "basically the same, Hyman") than your competition at every measurement, you're not really better than them at all in Hyman's eyes.
You realize TCU was 17-19, not 17-9?
SchizoAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Since they weighed the advice of the RACs so heavily, I wonder if a big reason for their low rating of us was lingering resentment of us for leaving the BDF. Depending on where the regional boundaries were for these committees, our region may have had a lot more butthurt BDF representatives than teams from the SEC.
sharpdressedman
How long do you want to ignore this user?
tl;dnr summary: "I could not persuade anyone to view A&M fairly. I have no influence, and my employer is foolish to invest in me as an effective advocate for the school. I am a dumb****.
Basketball and Chain
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
quote:
Learned something new today

23-10 (.6969) = 17-9 (.6538)

23 wins = 17 wins

So basically as long as you're just a little better (loose definition here, since we had 35% more top 100 wins than TCU - not "basically the same, Hyman") than your competition at every measurement, you're not really better than them at all in Hyman's eyes.
You realize TCU was 17-19, not 17-9?

You realize they were 17-9 and he misspoke?

They were 7-5 against teams 1-50 and 10-4 against team 51-100
SchizoAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
D'oh.
Jarrin' Jay
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
"TCU had an RPI of eight, while ours was six so that's really splitting hairs.
No, it isn't, 6 is 2 better than 8.

quote:
SOS, theirs was 96, ours was 58.
What, no smart-a** disclaimer?

Better RPI, better record, against better competition. It doesn't matter if you sweep Kansas, getting 1 of 3 at LSU is tougher.

If he couldn't advocate and make it clear A&M deserved a national seed over frog, he doesn't deserve the job.

Guys gets paid $800K plus incentives and bonuses to be a useless dolt....
MROD92
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Hyman is a joke to represent us
Tamu_mgm
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Hyman - maybe here's something that can get through to you , just maybe: YOU'RE THE A.D. OF TEXAS A&M NOT TCU ANYMORE.

It doesn't matter if TCU or any school is clearly the better option (hypothetically of course, because it was CLEAR this year they were not), you freaking vote for the SCHOOL YOU REPRESENT. PERIOD.

Do something to help this school athletically or get out. And stop acting like you had anything to do with the football renovation; that was happening with or without you.

Trust me when I say, there are a LOT harsher things I could have said that would be absolutely accurate how Texas A&M's fan base and alumni feels about you, and it has nothing to do with you still being hired here.
JDay
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Apparently Hyman can do more for TCU as A&M AD than he could as the TCU AD. When he makes a case against the university he works for they are screwed. No doubt after reading his quotes that he definitely advocated for TCU over A&M. If not, he would have made clear that the Aggies had a much better resume in a much tougher conference than TCU and he strongly disagreed with the committee's decision. HIs quotes make it sound like they did exactly what he asked them to.
Page 1 of 2
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.