Bracket Projections: February 20th

Bracket was updated s on Monday, February 20th at 1:05am, est

CLICK HERE to watch the Video Podcast where Chad and David are joined by Warren Nolan as they build the seed list and discuss each team

BRACKET NOTES

-So, the debate started right away with the #1 line.  Villanova has the type of profile that would earn them a #1 seed in almost any other season, and could end up earning them one this season.  On paper, they look better than Gonzaga.  David still feels that Gonzaga is the better team despite the paper, but could not convince Chad and Warren otherwise, so we have Villanova up on the #1 line this week.

-Bracketing rules can really stink sometimes, and in this case they stink for Villanova.  Their reward for being the fourth #1 seed is that they get shipped out west.  Had they been the first #2 seed, chances are they would have gotten to stay in the east.  Is this perhaps another reason that Gonzaga may end up with a #1??  Would we sacrifice technicalities for practicalities??  This is the NCAA, so probably not.

-Utah was another team that there was dispute over.  Warren liked them a lot, Chad liked them a little, and David didn’t like them much at all when compared to the other protected seeds.  They ended up on the #4 line, and actually earned one of their better road wins last night at Oregon State.  The Beavers are not a tournament team, but they were unbeaten at home, so Utah deserves a lot of credit for that win.

-Northern Iowa is a team that all three believe is better than their paper indicates, but the problem is….the paper doesn’t indicate it.  They may have a #3 seed caliber team, but they have perhaps a #5 seed caliber profile.  They ended up as being #13th overall, which makes them the top #4 seed.

-Cincinnati has lost three games in a row, including a recent home loss to Xavier and two others to teams that probably won’t make the field.  Cincinnati still ended up higher on the seed list, largely because of Xavier’s sub 100 losses.  David didn’t agree, but was outvoted.  Again.

-On the other end of the bracket, Texas A&M, UCLA, Stanford, Boise State and Tulsa were also seriously discussed, but ultimately not included in the field.  TAMU probably has the strongest case out of all of them, and as we talked about on the show (linked above) their case is that they really don’t have a weak case.

As for teams that just made it inside the bubble, Davidson was the last team in.  They had a big road win at George Washington, who isn’t great, but is still tough to beat at home, and is one of the better things on Davidson’s profile.

-The teams from one big leagues were not covered in the podcast.  If you’d like to see an analysis on them you can watch our most recent Under the Radar Video Podcast by – CLICKING HERE

-(Note from Chad) On the bracketing side, the two amazing 8/9 games between Ohio State and Cincinnati and Dayton and Xavier were not a setup at all.  Texas and Iowa were the top two 9 seeds and as such went to their nearer regional sites (Louisville and Pittsburgh).  This left both 9 seeded Ohio teams in Charlotte where Ohio State and Dayton were already waiting.   Those games clearly look like a setup, but as you can see during the podcast, I did not put them on the 9 line even realizing these games were possible, and they landed in place but strict application of the bracketing rules.  If I was going to misapply the rules for more intriguing matchups, I would have also swapped Iona and Murray State to give us a Louisville-Murray game.  I did not do so.