Bracketology

Like everything else at Hoops HD, we do Bracketology a little differently.  We actually have two kinds of brackets.  One is the HOOPS HD STAFF BRACKETS, which is what we at Hoops HD think the selection committee SHOULD be doing.  We are making no attempt whatsoever to guess the committee.  These brackets come out at least once week during the season (usually on Sunday or Monday), and they are CHECKPOINTS based on CURRENT MERIT, not predictions of how good we think the team is or how good we think their profile will look at the end of the season.  In other words, they reflect what a team has done up to that point.  If you see brackets early on in the year and they look totally crazy, that’s why.  You may ask what the point of that is.  Well, two things.  It gets us in the habit of evaluating merit and disregarding our own suppositions, and we simply like doing it that way, so there!!

The second type of brackets are those that are put together by Jon Teitel.  He is trying to guess what the actual selection committee will do.  He is, hands down, one of the best selection committee guessing experts on the planet! Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2023 tourney with 65 of his 67 within 1 spot of their actual seed, including 53 right on the money, which was far more accurate than what any major network projected.  His brackets usually start showing up about ten to twelve games into the year, and are posted once a week from that point on.

JON TEITEL’S BRACKET (Updated Sunday, March 16th, at 5:45, est)

.SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Auburn (SEC)
1: Duke (ACC): AUTO-BID
1: Houston (Big 12): AUTO-BID
1: Florida (SEC): AUTO-BID

2: Alabama (SEC)
2: Tennessee (SEC)
2: Michigan State (Big 10)
2: St. John’s (Big East): AUTO-BID

3: Texas Tech (Big 12)
3: Kentucky (SEC)
3: Wisconsin (Big 10)
3: Iowa State (Big 12)

4: Texas A&M (SEC)
4: Michigan (Big 10): AUTO-BID
4: Maryland (Big 10)
4: Arizona (Big 12)

5: Purdue (Big 10)
5: Clemson (ACC)
5: Oregon (Big 10)
5: Mississippi (SEC)

6: Louisville (ACC)
6: BYU (Big 12)
6: Kansas (Big 12)
6: Illinois (Big 10)

7: UCLA (Big 10)
7: St. Mary’s (WCC)
7: Missouri (SEC)
7: Gonzaga (WCC): AUTO-BID

8: Marquette (Big East)
8: Memphis (AAC): AUTO-BID
8: Connecticut (Big East)
8: Creighton (Big East)

9: Mississippi State (SEC)
9: New Mexico (MWC)
9: Georgia (SEC)
9: Baylor (Big 12)

10: Utah State (MWC)
10: Oklahoma (SEC)
10: Arkansas (SEC)
10: West Virginia (Big 12)

11: Drake (MVC): AUTO-BID
11: VCU (A-10): AUTO-BID
11: Vanderbilt (SEC)
11: San Diego State (MWC)
11: Indiana (Big 10)
11: North Carolina (ACC)

12: Colorado State (MWC): AUTO-BID
12: UC San Diego (Big West): AUTO-BID
12: McNeese (Southland): AUTO-BID
12: Liberty (C-USA): AUTO-BID

13: Yale (Ivy): AUTO-BID
13: High Point (Big South): AUTO-BID
13: Akron (MAC): AUTO-BID
13: Grand Canyon (WAC): AUTO-BID

14: Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun): AUTO-BID
14: Troy (Sun Belt): AUTO-BID
14: UNC-Wilmington (CAA): AUTO-BID
14: Montana (Big Sky): AUTO-BID

15: Robert Morris (Horizon): AUTO-BID
15: Wofford (SoCon): AUTO-BID
15: Omaha (Summit): AUTO-BID
15: Bryant (America East): AUTO-BID

16: Norfolk State (MEAC): AUTO-BID
16: SIUE (OVC): AUTO-BID
16: American (Patriot): AUTO-BID
16: Mount St. Mary’s (MAAC): AUTO-BID
16: Alabama State (SWAC): AUTO-BID
16: St. Francis (NEC): AUTO-BID

1ST 4 OUT
Boise State (MWC)
Ohio State (Big 10)
Texas (SEC)
Xavier (Big East)

HOOPS HD MOCK COMMITTEE BRACKET (Updated Sunday March 16 5:45 PM)