Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
26 FEB Bracket
My mistake dropping Oklahoma. They were always #36 on the curve, but that would have pit them on the 9 across from Kansas with a bunch of ACC and SEC teams in the 8/9 bin to shuffle. Instead dropped them to 10, only forgot to write it in. Funny is that I was surprised at the end when I had a spot for Providence. Just never though to go back and count.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
25 FEB Bracket
Slow Sunday, thought about waiting for FSU/NCST and UCLA/CU, but I think I have enough data to print.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Monday, February 12, 2018
12 FEB Bracket Update
So there is nothing more pointless than the Bracket Preview. I don't know, maybe it is extremely exciting if a) you do not follow much college basketball, b) you enjoy pointless arguments, c) you suffer from premature ejac... instant gratification. Sure there were hardly any surprises (outside of them realizing only 15 teams had separated themselves from the pack, so they picked the 16th randomly) but it did give us at home the sense that there is a method behind the madness, and that analytical metrics will matter, as opposed to S-curving the RPI again.
I'm not factoring in the Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4 Wins and losses until March, since those rankings and values are subject to change greatly over the next few weeks, and there is no source to quickly nab a spreadsheet with the most up to date data.
Not many changes from the last couple brackets up top. UVA remains #1 overall, and Purdue hangs on to their seed. Despite the perception, Duke is still much closer to the top line than most are willing to give them credit for... it's mostly just failing to live up to the expectations after acquiring Bagley. Spreading the 4 ACC teams across the 4 regions works pretty well, though UNC has currently lost their cushy Charlotte gig. The committee will likely ship UVA elsewhere to sell the tickets, but they belong in ACC country.
I have Gonzaga and URI claiming 4 seeds for now, but I believe once I adjust the formula to conform to the NCAA model, their power numbers will slip to the 5/6 range. I swapped MSU and Auburn for this bracket, as the Spartans numbers jumped Sunday due to those B10 games playing to form.
At the bottom of the bracket, there has been some seismic activity. Since most of these teams are either a) Not great, b) reliant upon home wins, or c) stuck in a mid-major without many opportunities for quality opponents, they bounce around each other a lot. Here is the raw list:
The colors are fun, right? First, blue teams are currently under NCAA investigation (or ruled ineligible)... just a reminder and a possible discriminator for the last few teams. For instance, USC was the 68th team last year... if they fall that close to the band saw again, they are getting cut. Right now, I have them 67th.
Green are auto-bids, and it does show how close Middle Tennessee and New Mexico State are from stealing a bid if they lose.
Orange are the teams I feel are safe barring a bad loss or tailspin. These are all somewhat flawed teams. Louisville is streaky. Texas is anything but streaky. Syracuse can't win on the road (unless they catch a streaky Louisville). Virginia Tech lacks non-conference superiority over other NCAA-caliber teams. Michigan is the safest of the bunch, but really ought not to finish behind Nebraska, Penn State, and another B10 Team.
Brown are the last teams in. Baylor has great efficiency numbers, but has a terrible RPI and was buried at the bottom of the Big12 till blowing out Kansas. They still need to do work, though. Providence just lost to DePaul, which had them out, but the lack of teams stepping up against decent opponents allowed them to sneak back in, but they are very close to being irrelevant. UCLA got the big wins they needed this week, though that schedule looks to be the ultimate booby trap. Should be easy home games against UO/OSU, but two games at altitude and closing out with a rivalry game at USC could right back off the bubble. USC themselves are in the same predicament. The Bonnies are in virtue of their head-to-head non-home wins against Syracuse, Vermont, Buffalo, and Maryland, which shows they can compete and beat bubble teams. They are riding high, but need to beat URI and/or Davidson down the stretch and not choke away the easy A-10 games.
Red Teams are First 5 out. Why 5? Because I'm not one of Lunardi's sheep. Maryland was done in by injuries and continues to fade. They will not have a chance to play their way in until the B10 tourney, and semi-finals minimum at that point. Notre Dame could be a factor if they get healthy, and have a huge chance tonight at UNC. Boise State and Marquette both just lost "cannot lose" games and need quality wins... Boise gets Nevada Wednesday, but Marquette has gotta be thinking win-out at this point. Kansas State just has crappy numbers right now, but will get their shot. Funny that 3 of last year's play-in teams (USC, Providence, Kansas State) find themselves in the same spot this year.
Purple teams are the next 5 out and need a bolt of lightning to have a chance. Temple is a bizarre case of how much weight will be put on November wins. They are a "strength of schedule" darling, but really need the sweep of Wichita State and another big win to get in the bubble discussion. Nebraska has the best shot of doing this because they are likely going to win out and finish 3rd or 4th in the Big 10; in doing so, they will eliminate Maryland and Penn State from the bubble, and despite crappy numbers and no big wins, they are not Illinois State. Penn State has some great opportunities, getting slumping Purdue and a possible OSU sweep to their resume, but they have to be hoping Rider wins out and scratches off that "bad loss". Ben Howland has MSU playing grating, frustrating basketball that has resulted in some nice wins, but they have ONE road win, and likely are not adding to that. Utah also sucks on the road, but if they sweep the northwest road trip, they finish with home games against UCLA, USC, and Colorado... a possible 7-game win streak. 6-1 (gotta beat Washington, though) gets them to the bubble.
And the white teams? These guys just don't have the profile right now. NC State was way too conservative out-of-conference, and mixed in a couple good wins (Arizona, PSU) with puzzling losses (NIA, UNCG). Western Kentucky just ran out of good juju. The UTSA loss clearly puts them on a lower rung than MTSU, then the other losses (Ohio, Belmont, Missouri St) scream NIT, which sucks, because this team beat Purdue and SMU at their peaks and nearly dropped NOVA as well. SMU is decimated, St. John's is 2-11 in the Big East, but scores 132 on the total efficiency model. 133-134 is the low end of the bubble, which means that the Johnnies are better than their record and could make some noise. LSU swept Arkansas and Texas A&M (while A&M was short-handed, but won't matter, especially since they are short-handed again) and finishes with a manageable schedule. Oregon lost to UConn... this year, which is pretty weak. They finish with opportunities, but their non-conference jewel is Fresno State, which is just no.
Washington doesn't even make the cut right now.
I'm not factoring in the Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4 Wins and losses until March, since those rankings and values are subject to change greatly over the next few weeks, and there is no source to quickly nab a spreadsheet with the most up to date data.
Not many changes from the last couple brackets up top. UVA remains #1 overall, and Purdue hangs on to their seed. Despite the perception, Duke is still much closer to the top line than most are willing to give them credit for... it's mostly just failing to live up to the expectations after acquiring Bagley. Spreading the 4 ACC teams across the 4 regions works pretty well, though UNC has currently lost their cushy Charlotte gig. The committee will likely ship UVA elsewhere to sell the tickets, but they belong in ACC country.
I have Gonzaga and URI claiming 4 seeds for now, but I believe once I adjust the formula to conform to the NCAA model, their power numbers will slip to the 5/6 range. I swapped MSU and Auburn for this bracket, as the Spartans numbers jumped Sunday due to those B10 games playing to form.
At the bottom of the bracket, there has been some seismic activity. Since most of these teams are either a) Not great, b) reliant upon home wins, or c) stuck in a mid-major without many opportunities for quality opponents, they bounce around each other a lot. Here is the raw list:
The colors are fun, right? First, blue teams are currently under NCAA investigation (or ruled ineligible)... just a reminder and a possible discriminator for the last few teams. For instance, USC was the 68th team last year... if they fall that close to the band saw again, they are getting cut. Right now, I have them 67th.
Green are auto-bids, and it does show how close Middle Tennessee and New Mexico State are from stealing a bid if they lose.
Orange are the teams I feel are safe barring a bad loss or tailspin. These are all somewhat flawed teams. Louisville is streaky. Texas is anything but streaky. Syracuse can't win on the road (unless they catch a streaky Louisville). Virginia Tech lacks non-conference superiority over other NCAA-caliber teams. Michigan is the safest of the bunch, but really ought not to finish behind Nebraska, Penn State, and another B10 Team.
Brown are the last teams in. Baylor has great efficiency numbers, but has a terrible RPI and was buried at the bottom of the Big12 till blowing out Kansas. They still need to do work, though. Providence just lost to DePaul, which had them out, but the lack of teams stepping up against decent opponents allowed them to sneak back in, but they are very close to being irrelevant. UCLA got the big wins they needed this week, though that schedule looks to be the ultimate booby trap. Should be easy home games against UO/OSU, but two games at altitude and closing out with a rivalry game at USC could right back off the bubble. USC themselves are in the same predicament. The Bonnies are in virtue of their head-to-head non-home wins against Syracuse, Vermont, Buffalo, and Maryland, which shows they can compete and beat bubble teams. They are riding high, but need to beat URI and/or Davidson down the stretch and not choke away the easy A-10 games.
Red Teams are First 5 out. Why 5? Because I'm not one of Lunardi's sheep. Maryland was done in by injuries and continues to fade. They will not have a chance to play their way in until the B10 tourney, and semi-finals minimum at that point. Notre Dame could be a factor if they get healthy, and have a huge chance tonight at UNC. Boise State and Marquette both just lost "cannot lose" games and need quality wins... Boise gets Nevada Wednesday, but Marquette has gotta be thinking win-out at this point. Kansas State just has crappy numbers right now, but will get their shot. Funny that 3 of last year's play-in teams (USC, Providence, Kansas State) find themselves in the same spot this year.
Purple teams are the next 5 out and need a bolt of lightning to have a chance. Temple is a bizarre case of how much weight will be put on November wins. They are a "strength of schedule" darling, but really need the sweep of Wichita State and another big win to get in the bubble discussion. Nebraska has the best shot of doing this because they are likely going to win out and finish 3rd or 4th in the Big 10; in doing so, they will eliminate Maryland and Penn State from the bubble, and despite crappy numbers and no big wins, they are not Illinois State. Penn State has some great opportunities, getting slumping Purdue and a possible OSU sweep to their resume, but they have to be hoping Rider wins out and scratches off that "bad loss". Ben Howland has MSU playing grating, frustrating basketball that has resulted in some nice wins, but they have ONE road win, and likely are not adding to that. Utah also sucks on the road, but if they sweep the northwest road trip, they finish with home games against UCLA, USC, and Colorado... a possible 7-game win streak. 6-1 (gotta beat Washington, though) gets them to the bubble.
And the white teams? These guys just don't have the profile right now. NC State was way too conservative out-of-conference, and mixed in a couple good wins (Arizona, PSU) with puzzling losses (NIA, UNCG). Western Kentucky just ran out of good juju. The UTSA loss clearly puts them on a lower rung than MTSU, then the other losses (Ohio, Belmont, Missouri St) scream NIT, which sucks, because this team beat Purdue and SMU at their peaks and nearly dropped NOVA as well. SMU is decimated, St. John's is 2-11 in the Big East, but scores 132 on the total efficiency model. 133-134 is the low end of the bubble, which means that the Johnnies are better than their record and could make some noise. LSU swept Arkansas and Texas A&M (while A&M was short-handed, but won't matter, especially since they are short-handed again) and finishes with a manageable schedule. Oregon lost to UConn... this year, which is pretty weak. They finish with opportunities, but their non-conference jewel is Fresno State, which is just no.
Washington doesn't even make the cut right now.
Friday, February 9, 2018
9 FEB Bracket
UVA will be the #1 overall until they really fuck it up (like lose to Pitt or something... btw, take the under in that one). Reracked the regions, with Xavier stealing the Midwest, shuttling Purdue to LA. Helps align the 2 seeds better, and Duke is falling to the 3 line.
Texas A&M gets the big boost, and seeing they are back to full strength, I have no problem holding at the 5 line. Ohio State feels underseeded at 4.
Does anyone get the feeling a C-USA/PAC-12 challenge would be close?
Louisville and Syracuse are the last teams that are "safe" today, while Providence, Arkansas, Texas, and UCLA (yes, those Bruins) are you happy bubble teams. Boise State is the last bye. Alabama and USC have the best credentials of the first four, while Marquette and Virginia Tech have the best upside.
Saint Bonaventure and Kansas State are the two closest to cracking the field, while Baylor, Maryland, and Notre Dame have work to do. I feel that it is comical to be considering Temple as a viable at-large contender, but their numbers are so much better than Washington and NC State, so you cannot ignore that November happened. My guess is that they finish 4th in the AAC and the committee takes a long look before swallowing the bad losses into the NIT. Western Kentucky needs a run or an autobid, as they are closer to ODU that MTSU now. Mississippi State, Penn State, and Nebraska round out my 10 out. Sorry St. John's, it's not enough to get out of the hole.
I feel good about this bracket, but then Saturday will happen and blow it up.
Texas A&M gets the big boost, and seeing they are back to full strength, I have no problem holding at the 5 line. Ohio State feels underseeded at 4.
Does anyone get the feeling a C-USA/PAC-12 challenge would be close?
Louisville and Syracuse are the last teams that are "safe" today, while Providence, Arkansas, Texas, and UCLA (yes, those Bruins) are you happy bubble teams. Boise State is the last bye. Alabama and USC have the best credentials of the first four, while Marquette and Virginia Tech have the best upside.
Saint Bonaventure and Kansas State are the two closest to cracking the field, while Baylor, Maryland, and Notre Dame have work to do. I feel that it is comical to be considering Temple as a viable at-large contender, but their numbers are so much better than Washington and NC State, so you cannot ignore that November happened. My guess is that they finish 4th in the AAC and the committee takes a long look before swallowing the bad losses into the NIT. Western Kentucky needs a run or an autobid, as they are closer to ODU that MTSU now. Mississippi State, Penn State, and Nebraska round out my 10 out. Sorry St. John's, it's not enough to get out of the hole.
I feel good about this bracket, but then Saturday will happen and blow it up.
Sunday, February 4, 2018
4 FEB Bracket
Villanova remains the number 1 overall, holding a small margin over Virginia. There is an ocean to Purdue, and another ocean to get down to Xavier and Duke, rounding out the top 5. Auburn and Cinci keep winning, and Clemson maintains solid numbers.
Play-in lines will remain both on the 12 for now, but this will shift as one-bid teams slip in the rankings.
Nobody in the Big 12 has really taken charge, leaving a mess of differently-abled teams. TCU looks done without Fisher, and Texas will go as far as bad basketball will take them. K-State fell from lock to out, having been swept by KU and WVU, and the TCU/Baylor wins have lost their numbers luster.
The middle of the SEC is equally frustrating, as Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas A&M, and Georgia have spent the last 3 weeks bouncing between 35 and 60, and now LSU, USC and MSU want to enter the mix... hell, even Vandy is trying to play ball.
Teams hanging on for dear life: Houston, Alabama, Providence, Boise State, Arkansas.
This is actually better for the first 4 on this list, as they typically been in the last 5 in category. Consistent winning should be rewarded. Arkansas should right the ship with 5 winnable games before a difficult close.
Last Five In: Syracuse, UCLA, Western Kentucky, Washington, Marquette.
The numbers have Marquette out as of today, but this is their spot to hang onto as they just were put through the gauntlet, still have a road test in Newark before closing with 2 St. John's, 2 Creighton w/o Kramliej, Georgetown, and DePaul. 5-2 seems likely. Washington has the worst numbers of anyone I have put into the bracket, but their big wins give them the nod over NC State for now. UCLA and ASU are basically playing a bracket buster game this week. Syracuse comes and goes, will probably be gone after Louisville nukes their offense. WKU has the best chance of hanging out here, but the committee won't be thrilled about a multibid C-USA... they need to keep winning and remain ahead of ODU.
First Five Out: Kansas State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Baylor, NC State.
I'm pretty sure MD is finished, but they could find another gear... and let's be honest- making the Big 10 championship game is not a stretch if they can hold on to the 4th or 5th spot. Just gotta catch Purdue napping. KSU is a bracketology nightmare... a week ago during their run the checked in a 21. WTF? Nobody is confusing KSU as a top 5 seed. This week? 69... I'm reading it more like 50ish... VA Tech needs more than a couple road wins over collapsing ND and BC. They are closer that NC State mathematically, but I think 4 out of 5 dentists would ride the hot hand. Baylor is more likely finishing 9th in the conference over getting a 9 seed. Just erratic play all around.
Next Five Out: Notre Dame, Nebraska, Southern Methodist, St. Bonaventure, Penn State
Temple was out to a hot start with the RPI to back it up, then started the AAC 0-4... now they are sneaking back, but probably aren't getting a sniff at more than 11 losses. SMU and ND have been done in by injuries. The Bonnies are dangerous and will very likely win out the regular season and find there way in, but as it stands now, they are prone to dropping a sub-100 road game and being NIT bound. Penn State and Nebraska are just yuck and nobody wants to watch them. Give me Yante instead.
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