BRACKET NOTES

Bracket was updated by Chad Sherwood on Friday, February 14th at 1:05am, est

-This bracket is based on the Seed List built on our latest Bracket Rundown – CLICK HERE TO VIEW IT

Bracketing the top three lines of this list turned into a nightmare due to the presence of four ACC and three Big 12 teams.  Without moving a few teams around to their second or third best choice of region, it would have been impossible to both follow the bracketing rules requiring the first four teams from the same conference (when within the top 4 seed lines) to all be in different regions while at the same time maintaining balance amongst the four regions.  This is why Kansas ended up in the Midwest instead of the South, Villanova went South instead of East, and Notre Dame got sent out West.  It was one of the tougher Seed Lists to bracket at the top that I have encountered in some time.

As tough as the top was, the rest of the field really fell into place nicely without any need to move a team off of its natural seed line.  The Xavier vs Dayton 8/9 matchup in the West Region was produced naturally.  While I would love to see the game happen, the simple fact was that Dayton was the very last 9 seed team and as such ended up having to take the spot out in Seattle.  It just so happened that their in-state rival was sitting there waiting for them.  I know that when matchups like this are actually set by the Committee many people think it was intentionally done.  With all the bracketing rules out there, it is next to impossible to try to arrange games like this — it s just a matter of pure luck.

If you think that Boise State pick as the 10 seed in the East is insane, I agree with you.  Blame John and David for that, and check out our podcast (linked above) for their insane reasons.

The top teams left out of the field were Purdue, Oregon, Connecticut, Tulsa, Minnesota, Seton Hall, George Washington, NC State and Wyoming (in no particular order).

UNDER THE RADAR

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-For our most recent Under the Radar Podcast where we discuss the teams from outside the major conferences – CLICK HERE