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Showing posts from February, 2020

Bracketology 2/28/20

It was a relatively good few days on the bubble, with North Carolina State being the only bubble team to lose. Big winners include Arkansas and Texas, who are as close to the field as they've been in a few weeks. No one picked up a big enough win to move in, but that is bound to change this weekend. 1:  Kansas , Baylor,  Gonzaga ,  San Diego State 2:  Dayton ,  Maryland ,  Florida State,  Duke 3:  Creighton , Villanova, Seton Hall, Louisville 4:  Kentucky , Penn State, Michigan State,  Oregon 5: Auburn, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan 6: West Virginia, Wisconsin, Butler, BYU 7: Colorado,  Houston , Marquette, Arizona 8: St. Mary's, Illinois,   Texas Tech, LSU 9: Arizona State, Indiana, Florida, Virginia 10:  East Tennessee State , Rhode Island, Oklahoma, USC 11: Rutgers, Utah State, Xavier,  Northern Iowa 12: (Wichita State/Stanford), (Richmond/Cincinnati),  Liberty, Stephen F. Austin 13:  Yale,  Vermont, New Mexico State, North Texas 14:  Bowling Green,  Colgate,  Ho

Bracketology 2/26/20

I had the hardest time putting together the 2 line in this update. Duke's loss to Wake Forest makes their path to a 1 seed really difficult, but it's hard to order them compared to the rest of the 2 seeds. I could see an argument for having Dayton over Maryland, or Duke over Florida State. Given the way that San Diego State has been playing recently, it's quite possible that one of these teams jumps up to the 1 line. If Maryland wins out, they might get there even without San Diego State losing. Relatively few changes on the bubble in this update, Memphis falls further back after their loss to SMU, NC State falls a little bit as well after losing to UNC. Oklahoma looks a bit safer after their win over Texas Tech. 1:  Kansas , Baylor,  Gonzaga ,  San Diego State 2:  Maryland ,  Dayton ,  Florida State, Duke 3: Creighton , Villanova, Seton Hall, Louisville 4: Penn State,  Kentucky , Michigan State,  Oregon 5: Auburn, Michigan, Colorado, Ohio State 6: Iowa, West Virgi

Bracketology 2/24/20

After a month of no changes at the top, a crazy weekend sees 4 of the top 5 teams on my seed list lose. Kansas has taken over the #1 overall seed from Baylor, but the Bears remain in the South region. I would've given Maryland the last #1 seed and the East region if they had beaten Ohio State, but San Diego State remains at the end of the 1 line. Creighton also moves up to the 2 line for the first time all year after a dominant win over Butler. Towards the bubble, Stanford has stopped the bleeding with a sweep of their Washington road trip and claims the last spot in the field. The Cardinal's biggest resume strength is their NET rating of 31. Oklahoma has now lost 3 straight and it doesn't get any easier for the Sooners as they face Texas Tech and West Virginia next. The most fascinating bubble team will continue to be Purdue- the Boilers need to take at least 2 of their final 3 before the Big Ten Tournament. 1:  Kansas , Baylor,  Gonzaga ,  San Diego State 2:  Marylan

Bracketology 2/22/20

The biggest bubble result of the last few days was NC State's win at Duke. The Wolfpack are now my second team out of the field, a 4-1 finish and a respectable showing in the ACC tournament will be enough to get them in. Another bubble team on the rise is Providence, who has completely turned their season around since a disastrous Wooden Legacy that saw them lose to Long Beach State and Charleston. A 3-1 finish will probably have them on the right side of the bubble going into the Big East tournament. 1:  Baylor , Kansas,  Gonzaga , San Diego State 2:  Maryland ,  Dayton ,  Duke,  Florida State 3: Louisville,  Creighton , Seton Hall, Penn State 4: West Virginia, Villanova, Kentucky , Colorado 5: Auburn, Michigan State, Iowa, Oregon 6: Butler, Marquette, Arizona, Ohio State 7: Michigan,  Houston , Wisconsin, BYU 8: Illinois, St. Mary's, Texas Tech, Rhode Island 9: Rhode Island, Oklahoma, LSU, Arizona State 10: Xavier, Wichita State, USC, Florida 11: Indiana, Norther

Bracketology 2/19/20

The biggest winner of the last 48 hours is Illinois, who got a massive win at Penn State. The Illini are probably safe from any real bubble trouble- if they win their next two against Nebraska and Northwestern, they're a lock. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Purdue lost at Wisconsin to fall to 14-13. I think it's unlikely the Boilers become the first 16 loss team to make the field, unless it includes a nice run in the Big Ten Tournament. So it will likely take a 3-1 finish in their last 4- the good news is 3 of those games are at home, and the road trip is a winnable one at Iowa. 1:  Baylor , Kansas,  Gonzaga, San Diego State 2:  Duke,  Maryland ,  Dayton , Florida State 3: Louisville,  Creighton , Seton Hall, Auburn 4: Penn State, West Virginia, Villanova, Kentucky 5: Colorado , Oregon, Butler, Michigan State 6: Iowa, Ohio State, Marquette, Arizona 7:  Houston , Wisconsin, BYU, Illinois 8: Michigan, Rutgers, St. Mary's, Texas Tech 9: Rhode Island, Oklahoma, LSU, Xavier

Bracketology 2/17/20

Another busy weekend as there's changes up and down the list. Colorado moves into the protected seeds for the first time all year, and Michigan State is at their lowest seed of the season so far. Richmond moves into the field for the first time in over a month, as does Georgetown after their big win at Butler. It'll be interesting to see how many Big Ten teams actually make the field- Illinois is really sliding now, but should still end up being fine. Purdue and Minnesota are right on the nose of the bubble, and Indiana doesn't have much room to spare. 1:  Baylor , Kansas,  Gonzaga, San Diego State 2:  Duke,  Maryland ,  Dayton , Florida State 3: Louisville, Creighton , Seton Hall, Penn State 4: Auburn , West Virginia, Villanova, Colorado 5: Oregon, Kentucky, Butler, Marquette 6: Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, Arizona 7: Houston , Michigan, BYU, Wisconsin 8: Rutgers, St. Mary's, Texas Tech, LSU 9: Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Illinois,  Northern Iowa 10: USC,

Bracketology 2/15/20

The biggest mover in this update is Stanford, who is down to the First Four after dropping their 6th game out of 7. The Pac-12 is a surprisingly deep league this year, as their home game with Utah looks like the only sure bet left on their schedule. If they lose at home to Arizona this weekend, they're probably going to be out of my bracket on Monday. BYU is going to cause a big bracketing headache on Selection Sunday due to their no play on Sundays rule. I'm unclear how much the committee will move around to accommodate them- for example, would they move Kansas from Omaha to St. Louis to allow BYU to be in their pod as an 8 or a 9 seed? For now, I've found a solution by sending Louisville to St. Louis, but there's no obvious answer. There could also be a Big 10 bracketing issue in the middle of the field, as I had to swap Purdue and Wichita State as there's too many Big 10 teams on the 7 and 10 lines. 1:  Baylor , Kansas,  San Diego State, Gonzaga 2:  Duke,  D