Bracketology (2/25/2019)

With only 2 weeks left of the regular season, I would think all teams seeded on the 1 through 8 lines are essentially locks at this point, with the exception of Wofford. The Terriers do have a great shot at obtaining the 1st ever at-large bid from the SoCon as long as they win out the regular season. Even if they were to lose on the road this week and then lose in the SoCon Championship Game to one of the other Top 4 teams, they may still be able to sneak in.

Let's take a look at the last 8 in and first 7 out and figure out what they most likely need to do to sneak in as an at-large bid:

Florida: Go at least 2-2 to close out the regular season. If one of those 2 wins is against LSU or at Kentucky they will increase their chances further.

NC State: They could really use a marquee road victory (their best two wins are at home vs Syracuse and Auburn). They have a road game at Florida State this week which is a huge opportunity. Lose that and they still probably have a decent chance though as long as they avoid losing to Georgia Tech/Boston College and not suffering a bad loss in ACC Tourney.

Minnesota: Losers of 6 out of 7 and trending the wrong direction. However, they still have 2 shots at marquee wins with Purdue coming to the Barn and then at Maryland in the season finale. One would think they need to win 2 of their last 3 games or they will have work left to do in the Big Ten Tourney to get in. Their other game is at Northwestern this week. Remember also that Minnesota is only 1-8 in true road games.

Seton Hall: The Pirates most likely need to get to 9-9 in league play (which means finishing 2-1) or they will have work to do in the Big East Tournament to have a chance for an at-large bid. It won't be easy with their remaining 3 games at Georgetown and home vs Marquette and Villanova. 

Alabama: The Tide need to at least make it to 9-9 in conference, which means going 2-2 down the stretch. The toughest teams left on their schedule are home games against LSU and Auburn. But road games at South Carolina and Arkansas won't be easy for them.

Temple: Ideally going 4-0 down the stretch would be best for them, but 3-1 might be enough. They have a chance at a Q1 road win at Memphis on Tuesday. Also Q2 opportunities at Uconn and home vs UCF.

UCF: With one of the more difficult remaining schedules in the country, the opportunities are there for the Knights. One would think they might need to go 3-1 down the stretch, but 2-2 may suffice. 3 of their 4 games are on the road at South Florida, Houston, and Temple with the lone home game coming vs Cincinnati. If they can win 2 of the 3 games against Houston, Temple, and Cincy they would put themselves in a very good position.

Arizona State: With so many bad losses already, the Sun Devils may find it best to sweep the 3 game road stretch to end the season. However, if they can go 2-1 against the Oregon schools and Arizona on the road, that may be enough as long as they avoid losing 1st round of Pac-12 Tournament. However, if they only go 1-2 down the stretch, they probably need to win the Pac-12 Tournament to end up making it.

Utah State: The Aggies need to win their last 3 games to have a realistic shot at getting in as an at-large. That means taking down Nevada this coming Saturday.

Butler: Finishing the season 3-1 to make it to 9-9 in Big East play seems the only way Butler has a chance to get in without winning the Big East Tournament. It won't be easy with two games remaining against Providence, home vs Xavier, and at Villanova.

Georgetown: Similar scenario as the Bulldogs, they likely need to finish 3-1 in order to get to .500 in conference to have a realistic shot. Remaining games include two vs Depaul, home vs Seton Hall, and at Marquette. 

Furman: Avoid a bad loss on the road at Samford or Chattanooga this week. Ideally they would want to beat Wofford in SoCon Semifinals, and then they may have a shot at an at-large even if they lose in the SoCon Championship. The SoCon may even have an outside shot at 3 bids if Furman defeats Wofford in the SoCon Semifinals and then either ETSU or UNC-Greensboro defeats Furman in the Championship Game. Highly unlikely but not completely far-fetched! These teams need to avoid bad losses this week first though before any of that would even be possible.

UNC-Greensboro: Similar setup, avoid a bad loss this week at The Citadel and at Mercer. They are positioned to be the 2 seed in SoCon Tourney, so likely wouldn't have a shot at Wofford until the final then. Defeating ETSU or Furman in the semifinals still probably isn't enough to get in as an at-large. Wofford is the marquee win that SoCon teams need to boost their resume.

Indiana: Pretty simple for the Hoosiers, go 4-0 to finish the regular season to get to 8-12 in conference play or else win the Big Ten Tournament. Going 4-0 down the stretch would give them victories against Louisville, Marquette, Wisconsin, Michigan State twice, and Butler. It'd be difficult to leave out a team with those caliber of wins given how weak the Bubble is this year.

Clemson: The Tigers most likely need to go 3-1 to close out the season and may still need to do work in the ACC Tournament. However, they have 2 golden chances at home for marquee wins over North Carolina and Syracuse. Their road games are against bottom feeders Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. 


Here is my current seed list:

1's: Duke, Virginia, Gonzaga, Kentucky
2's: Tennessee, North Carolina, Michigan State, Michigan
3's: Houston, Purdue, Marquette, Kansas
4's: LSU, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Nevada
5's: Kansas State, Maryland, Florida State, Iowa State
6's: Louisville, Buffalo, Villanova, Iowa
7's: Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Washington
8's: St John's, Baylor, Mississippi, Wofford
9's: Texas, Syracuse, TCU, Auburn
10's: Ohio State, Oklahoma, VCU, Florida
11's: NC State, Minnesota, Seton Hall, Alabama*, Temple*
12's: UCF*, Arizona State*, Lipscomb, Davidson, Vermont
13's: Hofstra, Murray State, New Mexico State, Yale
14's: UC Irvine, Old Dominion, Texas State, South Dakota State
15's: Radford, Montana, Drake, Northern Kentucky
16's: Bucknell, Sam Houston St, Texas Southern*, Rider*, St. Francis PA*, Norfolk State*
* denotes play-in game

Last 4 Byes: Florida, NC State, Minnesota, Seton Hall
Last 4 in (in order): Alabama, Temple, UCF, Arizona State (last team in)
First 7 out: Utah State, Butler, Georgetown, Furman, UNC Greensboro, Indiana, Clemson

Bracketology (2/18/19)

A look at my current bracket:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ncwJk9ONwC-jlzj0D5zh_1q3929x_4Ho6sThl8DdxGU/edit?usp=sharing



Here is my current seed list:

1's: Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, Gonzaga
2's: Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina
3's: Purdue, Houston, Kansas, Marquette
4's: Nevada, Iowa State, LSU, Wisconsin
5's: Louisville, Villanova, Kansas State, Texas Tech,
6's: Florida State, Virginia Tech, Iowa, Maryland
7's: Cincinnati, Buffalo, Mississippi State, Mississippi
8's: Washington, St John's, Texas, Auburn
9's: Baylor, Ohio State, Syracuse, TCU
10's: Minnesota, Oklahoma, Wofford, Seton Hall
11's: NC State, Alabama, VCU, UCF*, Temple*
12's: Lipscomb, Arizona State*, Florida*, Davidson, Vermont
13's: Hofstra, Murray State, New Mexico State, Yale
14's: UC Irvine, Old Dominion, Texas State, South Dakota State
15's: Radford, Montana, Loyola Chicago, Northern Kentucky
16's: Bucknell, Sam Houston St, Texas Southern*, Rider*, St. Francis PA*, Norfolk State*
* denotes play-in game

Last 4 Byes: Seton Hall, NC State, Alabama, VCU
Last 4 in (in order): UCF, Temple, Arizona State, Florida (last team in)
First 4 out: Butler, Indiana, Clemson, Utah State

Bracketology (2/11/2019)

Here is my current seed list:

1's: Duke, Tennessee, Virginia, Gonzaga
2's: Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Michigan State
3's: Purdue, Kansas, Houston, Marquette
4's: Nevada, Iowa State, Louisville, Wisconsin
5's: Villanova, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech
6's: LSU, Iowa, Florida State, Maryland
7's: Cincinnati, Buffalo,  Mississippi State, Washington
8's: Mississippi, Auburn, Texas, Ohio State
9's: Baylor, St. Johns, Syracuse, TCU
10's: Minnesota, NC State, Alabama, Oklahoma
11's: Seton Hall, Arizona State, Wofford, Lipscomb
12's: UCF*, VCU*, Butler*, Temple*, Davidson, Vermont
13's: Hofstra, Murray State, New Mexico State, Yale
14's: UC Irvine, Texas State, South Dakota State, Radford
15's: Montana, North Texas, Loyola Chicago, Northern Kentucky
16's: Bucknell, Sam Houston St, Texas Southern*, Rider*, St. Francis PA*, Norfolk State*
* denotes play-in game

Last 4 Byes: Alabama, Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Arizona State
Last 4 in (in order): UCF, VCU, Butler, Temple (last team in)
First 4 out: Indiana, Clemson, Florida, Utah State

Bracketology (2/8/2019)

Updated Bracket: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ncwJk9ONwC-jlzj0D5zh_1q3929x_4Ho6sThl8DdxGU/edit#gid=1931056908

I have come to realize the Bubble is quite weak right now. It feels like a team like Seton Hall may not even currently be in the field in an average Bubble year, but yet here we are with the pirates not even listed as one of my last 4 in (instead one of the last byes). Butler becomes my last team in, mainly become of their 6 wins over Quad 1/2 tiers. That is more quality wins then Florida currently has, and it is hard to not look at those 6 bad losses that Arizona State has. Will be interesting to see if the Bubble can strengthen any in the coming weeks. March is 3 weeks from today!

Here is my current seed list:

1's: Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan
2's: Gonzaga, Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan State
3's: Houston, Kansas, Purdue, Marquette
4's: Nevada, Louisville, Villanova, Wisconsin
5's: Iowa State, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, Kansas State
6's: LSU, Iowa, Maryland, Florida State
7's: Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Buffalo, Washington
8's: Auburn, Mississippi, St. John's, Baylor
9's: Syracuse, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma
10's: Indiana, NC State, TCU, Minnesota
11's: Alabama, Seton Hall, Temple*, UCF*, VCU*, Butler*
12's: Wofford, Lipscomb, Davidson, Vermont
13's: Hofstra, Murray State, New Mexico State, Yale
14's: UC Irvine, Texas State, South Dakota State, Radford
15's: Montana, North Texas, Loyola Chicago, Northern Kentucky
16's: Bucknell, Abiliene Christian, Texas Southern*, Rider*, St. Francis PA*, Norfolk State*
* denotes play-in game

Last 4 Byes: TCU, Minnesota, Alabama, Seton Hall
Last 4 in (in order): Temple, UCF, VCU, Butler (last team in)
First 4 out: Florida, Arizona State, Utah State, Creighton 

Bracketology - Post Super Bowl Update

Now that the Super Bowl is over (and what a snoozefest it was!), we can turn our full attention to the most exciting time of the year! 

I kept Michigan on the 1 line despite the loss at Iowa. If Michigan State would have beaten Indiana, they would have moved up. Gonzaga and Kentucky just don't have the overall resume for a 1 seed at the moment. Michigan only has 2 losses, both on the road vs projected top 6 seeds (Wisconsin and Iowa).

Purdue continues to climb, and we now have a 3 way tie atop the Big 10 standings with 9 games to play. Looks like an intense finish!

I struggled choosing a fourth 5 seed. LSU, Kansas State, Iowa, and Maryland were all considered, and I don't think any deserve it at the moment. It feels like they should all be 6 seeds. But I kept LSU on the 5 line because they only have 4 losses including only 1 conference defeat.

Indiana probably had the biggest win of the past week. Coming off a 7 game losing streak, not many thought they would go into East Lansing and pull off the stunner. With 6 of their last 9 games at home, the Hoosiers may be trending up in the coming weeks. 

Another Big 10 teams continues its downward spiral, with their latest loss at lowly Illinois. Nebraska needs to figure out their issues quickly or they may be kissing their NCAA Tournament hopes good bye.

Seton Hall suffered another tough road loss this week at Butler. They remain the last team in largely because of two marquee victories: at Maryland and a neutral court win over Kentucky. 

It will be interesting to see how the Wolfpack respond at the Tarheels this week, after only scoring 24 points at home, the lowest score in the shot clock era by a ranked team.


Here is my current seed list:

1's: Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan
2's: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Michigan State, Kansas
3's: North Carolina, Marquette, Houston, Purdue
4's: Nevada, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Iowa State
5's: Villanova, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, LSU
6's: Kansas State, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi State
7's: Buffalo, Florida State, Oklahoma, Cincinnati
8's: Auburn, Baylor, Syracuse, Washington
9's: Mississippi, Ohio State, TCU, NC State
10's: Indiana, St. John's, Minnesota, Arizona State
11's: Alabama, UCF, Temple*, Texas*, Nebraska*, Seton Hall*
12's: Wofford, VCU, Hofstra, Lipscomb
13's: Murray State, New Mexico State, Yale, Vermont
14's: North Texas, Northern KY, South Dakota State, Loyola-Chicago
15's: Georgia State, Raford, UC Irvine, Montana
16's: Bucknell, Rider, Sam Houston St*, Norfolk St*, Robert Morris*, Texas Southern*
* denotes play-in game

Last 4 Byes: Minnesota, Arizona State, Alabama, UCF
Last 4 in (in order): Temple, Texas, Nebraska, Seton Hall (last team in)
First 5 out: Florida, Utah State, Butler, Creighton, San Francisco

Bracketology 2019 1st Edition - ONE MONTH UNTIL MARCH!

Link to the Bracket: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ncwJk9ONwC-jlzj0D5zh_1q3929x_4Ho6sThl8DdxGU/edit?usp=sharing



Here is my current seed list:

1's: Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan
2's: Michigan State, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas
3's: North Carolina, Marquette, Houston, Louisville
4's: Nevada, Texas Tech, Purdue, Virginia Tech
5's: Iowa State, Villanova, LSU, Buffalo
6's: Maryland, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Oklahoma
7's: Mississippi State, Iowa, Florida State, Cincinnati
8's: Mississippi, Auburn, Baylor, NC State
9's: Syracuse, TCU, Washington, Ohio State
10's: St. John's, Minnesota, Texas, Nebraska
11's: Alabama, UCF, Seton Hall*, Arizona State*, Temple*, Indiana*
12's: Wofford, VCU, Hofstra, Lipscomb
13's: Murray State, New Mexico State, Yale, Vermont
14's: North Texas, Northern KY, South Dakota State, Loyola-Chicago
15's: Georgia State, Raford, UC Irvine, Montana
16's: Bucknell, Rider, Sam Houston St*, Norfolk St*, Robert Morris*, Texas Southern*
* denotes play-in game

Last 4 Byes: Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, UCF
Last 4 in (in order): Seton Hall, Arizona State, Temple, Indiana (last team in)
First 8 out: Florida, San Francisco, Utah State, Arizona, Creighton, Butler, Clemson, Fresno State