The Bracketology Topic

[ShyGuy727]

The best time of the year is approaching, and for the first time ever I decided to try and throw together a mock field of 65 (I may try an actual mock bracket once we get a little closer).

This is as of now- if the season were to end today how I believe the field would be selected. If I were projecting how the season was going to finish (which is impossible to predict things like .500 mid-majors winning their conference tourneys and making their formerly one bid conference a two bid one), it would look a lot different- I doubt the Big Ten will get five bids, the A-10 four, etc.

This is just a general outline to get me started...I'll nitpick and tweak more (the seedings especially) as I update once or twice a week.

Comments, criticisms, thoughts, input, output, your own mocks, etc.

AS OF 2/19

Conference Breakdown (bold is current conference leader and auto-bid, everything else is at-large)

America East - UMBC
ACC - Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, Miami (FL) (5)
Atlantic Sun - Belmont
A-10 - Xavier, Rhode Island, St. Joseph’s, Dayton (4)
Big East - Georgetown, UCONN, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, Pitt, West Virginia, Syracuse (8)
Big Sky - Portland State
Big South - Winthrop
Big Ten - Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State (5)
Big 12 - Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor (6)
Big West - CSU Northridge
Colonial - VCU
C-USA - Memphis
Horizon - Butler
Ivy - Cornell
Metro Atlantic - Siena
MAC - Kent St.
MEAC - Morgan State
MVC - Drake
MWC - BYU, UNLV (2)
Northeast - Robert Morris
Ohio Valley - Austin Peay
Pac-10 - UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon (6)
Patriot - American
SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss (5)
Southern - Davidson
Southland - Stephen F. Austin
Summit- Oral Roberts
SWAC - Alabama State
Sun Belt - Western Kentucky, South Alabama (2)
WAC - Boise State
WCC - St. Mary’s (CA), Gonzaga (2)

Last Four In:
Ohio State
Dayton
Miami (FL)
Oregon

Last Four Out:
USC
UMASS
Wake Forest
Ole Miss

Next Four Out:
Florida
Houston
Illinois State
Cal

The Seeds

The 1s
Memphis, Duke, Tennessee, Kansas

The 2s
North Carolina, UCLA, Texas, UCONN

The 3s
Georgetown, Stanford, Purdue, Louisville

The 4s
Wisconsin, Xavier, Butler, Notre Dame

The 5s
Indiana, Drake, Washington State, Kansas State

The 6s
Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Marquette, Clemson

The 7s
Texas A&M, St. Mary’s(CA), Pittsburgh, Arizona

The 8s
BYU, Arkansas, Rhode Island, West Virginia

The 9s
Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Mississippi State

The 10s
Maryland, Syracuse, Ohio State, Baylor

The 11s
Oregon, Miami (FL), St. Joseph’s, UNLV

The 12s
South Alabama, Dayton, Kent State, Oral Roberts

The 13s
Davidson, VCU, Stephen F. Austin, Western Kentucky

The 14s
Cornell, Boise State, Winthrop, Siena

The 15s
American, UMBC, Belmont, CS Northridge

The 16s
Morgan State, Portland State, Austin Peay, Alabama State (Play in), Robert Morris (Play in)

[Crazyswordsman]

Heh. I WISH Syracuse would get in...

Let's see:

America East - UMBC
ACC - Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland (4)
Atlantic Sun - Belmont
A-10 - Xavier, Rhode Island, St. Joseph’s, Dayton, Massachusetts (5)
Big East - Georgetown, UConn, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, Pitt, West Virginia (7)
Big Sky - Portland State
Big South - Winthrop
Big Ten - Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State (5)
Big 12 - Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor (6)
Big West - CSU Northridge
Colonial - VCU, George Mason (2)
C-USA - Memphis
Horizon - Butler
Ivy - Cornell
Metro Atlantic - Siena
MAC - Kent St.
MEAC - Morgan State
MVC - Drake
MWC - BYU, UNLV (2)
Northeast - Robert Morris
Ohio Valley - Austin Peay
Pac-10 - UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State, California (6)
Patriot - American
SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Florida (5)
Southern - Davidson
Southland - Stephen F. Austin
Summit- IUPUI
SWAC - Alabama State
Sun Belt - Western Kentucky, South Alabama (2)
WAC - Boise State
WCC - St. Mary’s (CA), Gonzaga (2)

-CSM

[ShyGuy727]

So, uh, any objections to switching Duke and Texas seed-wise?

I know Wake and Miami(FL) are possible bubble teams, but getting whomped two games in a row against them isn't top seed material.

I didn't realize how impressive Texas' resume actually is- wins against UCLA, Tennessee and Kansas probably make up the most impressive 3-win combo in the country. They also have wins against possible Cinderellas Oral Roberts and St. Mary's (CA).

Their losses were at Michigan State, vs Wisconsin, @ Mizzou and @ Texas A&M (who they blew out of the gym a month later). In two of those losses they didn't have their 6th man, F Gary Johnson. The Mizzou loss is sort of WTF, but can be overlooked since similar teams have similar losses- Tennessee at Kentucky, UCLA at Washington, see Duke above, etc.

To boot:

#3 SOS
#5 RPI
9-3 vs RPI Top 50
8-3 on the road

They have two more away games, against Michael Beastley led K-State and a trap game at Texas Tech. But I'm definitely getting excited about possibly sending the 'Horns deep in March.

[Crazyswordsman]

Duke is on a downswing.

I was actually kinda upset with the results tonight, because it means Maryland is further out of the picture. Syracuse doesn't play again until Sunday. -CSM

[ShyGuy727]

Yeah, Maryland definitely didn't help themselves tonight.

Nor did St. Joes, losing at home to 11-13 La Salle.

(thanks for the sticky btw)

[Eagle Eye]

UAB 101 - Houston 99

W00t

This has nothing to do with the brackets, I just needed to celebrate.

[ShyGuy727]

Well it pretty much knocks Houston out of at-large contention, as winning last night probably would have their resume's best win.

[Eagle Eye]

Lolz, I know him and the guy that made the poster. Grammar ftw!

Memphis is still a bunch of bitches, how do you go and talk **** to the football team that hasn't said **** to you all game. Knowing good and well there are officers around, so they won't do anything. Funny thing is, they go and bitch about our reaction afterwards.

HELLO?

Also, I like how that cop doesn't do **** about the guy getting slapped.

Memphis didn't win, UAB lost.

26-0*

[Note: You can barely see me at the very top.]

[Crazyswordsman]

"Mempis." Hahhahaha. Makes me laugh.

But yeah, Memphis is a bunch of bitches. I hope Tennessee clobbers them Saturday. -CSM

[Brandon2390]

Oh my the mighty fall...

[ShyGuy727]

...to #2 in the meaningless polls. Whoop.

Chris Lofton might be the most overrated player in college basketball. Seriously.

And I don't know if its a sign of resiliency or one of weakness, in that you shoot less than 50% at the line and get completely obliterated on the boards, yet only lose to the (now number one) team in the nation by only four. I felt coming into this game that Memphis didn't get enough respect and caught a lot of heat for a multitude of BS reasons.

Either way, ugly game by both sides- 26 combined turnovers and what feels like about 40 missed layups.

The dribble-drive motion is AWESOME.

[Lurch1982]

^WTF are you talking about? Memphis' issue is they haven't played the calibur of opponents that the rest of the top 5 has, and (more importantly)they have a garbage conference. Memphis deserves all the flack they get for the same reason Ohio State got all the flack they got this year. Garbage conference, garbage wins, and when they play a real team that has to play real squads more than the two hard OoC teams they schedule, they get beat in their own house EVEN WHEN TENNESSEE"S BEST PLAYER PLAYS HIS WORST GAME.

They haven't beaten anyone good away (UConn, OU were on a neutral court for a tourny, GU and USC were home games) and they haven't shown they can legitimately beat UAB (Screwjob).

You want to think Memphis deserves the hype and doesn't deserve the criticism? Fine. Just gives me a reason to laugh at you in early March.

[Crazyswordsman]

How many years has Memphis gotten a higher seed than they deserve?

Somehow I wonder whether Duke really is my least favorite team. -CSM

[ShyGuy727]

Originally Posted by Lurch1982

Memphis' issue is they haven't played the calibur of opponents that the rest of the top 5 has

That's a lie. Number of opponents in Top 50 the top five have played:

Tennessee: 10
Memphis: 7
UNC: 7
Duke: 7
Texas: 12

And I wouldn't exactly call playing UCONN in New York a neutral court.

EVEN WHEN TENNESSEE"S BEST PLAYER PLAYS HIS WORST GAME.

Lofton's been **** all year. Not even in the top 200 in scoring in the country and not even top ten in the SEC. In the three or four games I've seen him play this year he is constantly careless with the ball and chucks up countless stupid shots. If you didn't know anything about college basketball, he could be easily mistaken for a freshman.

You want to think Memphis deserves the hype and doesn't deserve the criticism? Fine. Just gives me a reason to laugh at you in early March.

You've given me no reason to think they shouldn't still be a one seed.

You're doing something right if you can be absolutely abysmal from the line and still hang with (and beat most of) the best teams in the nation. They're not going to win the Championship, but this is probably the one year that they'll live up to their seed.

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

How many years has Memphis gotten a higher seed than they deserve?

Somehow I wonder whether Duke really is my least favorite team. -CSM

Every year.

[Crazyswordsman]

Wow. Looks like I have a new worst ten colleges of all time:

CSM's 10 least favorite colleges of all time:
10. Nebraska
9. Memphis
8. Florida State
6. Clemson
5. Texas A&M
4. USC
3. Ohio State
2. Duke
1. Notre Dame

-CSM

[Robotazy]

What?

Duke isn't #1?

The fact that you made two topics made me think you hate them with a passion

[Brandon2390]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

Wow. Looks like I have a new worst ten colleges of all time:

CSM's 10 least favorite colleges of all time:
10. Nebraska
9. Memphis
8. Florida State
6. Clemson
5. Texas A&M
4. USC
3. Ohio State
2. Duke
1. Notre Dame

-CSM

Impressed with the fact that Uconn isn't on that list, considering you always seem to hate the teams I like.

[Eagle Eye]

Originally Posted by Lurch1982

They haven't beaten anyone good away (UConn, OU were on a neutral court for a tourny, GU and USC were home games) and they haven't shown they can legitimately beat UAB (Screwjob).

I'm glad someone else here actually saw that.

[ShyGuy727]

Will try and update this, maybe with seeds if I feel like doing it, tomorrow before the show.

The bubble is really, really bad. Picking the last four or five teams in is absolutely ridiculous and nothing more than a shot in the dark. I'd be stunned if the Pac-10 got seven teams in...but seriously, the bubble is just awful and you can make a case for any of the 10 or so true bubble teams.

America East - UMBC
ACC - UNC, Duke, Clemson, Miami (FL), Virginia Tech (5)
Atlantic Sun - Belmont
A-10 - Temple, Xavier, St. Joseph’s (3)
Big East - Pitt, Georgetown, UCONN, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova (8)
Big Sky - Portland State
Big South - Winthrop
Big Ten - Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State (4)
Big 12 - Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Baylor (6)
Big West - CS Fullerton
Colonial - George Mason
C-USA - Memphis
Horizon - Butler
Ivy - Cornell
Metro Atlantic - Siena
MAC - Kent St.
MEAC - Coppin State
MVC - Drake
MWC - UNLV, BYU (2)
Northeast - Mount St. Mary’s
Ohio Valley - Austin Peay
Pac-10 - UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, USC, Arizona State, Arizona (6)
Patriot - American
SEC - Tennessee, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky (5)
Southern - Davidson
Southland - UT-Arlington
Summit- Oral Roberts
SWAC - Mississippi Valley State
Sun Belt - Western Kentucky, South Alabama (2)
WAC - Boise State
WCC - San Diego, St. Mary’s (CA), Gonzaga (3)

Last Four In:
Villanova
Arizona
South Alabama
Virginia Tech

Last Four Out:
Ohio State
Illinois State
VCU
UMASS