Below is what I personally think the bracket should look like if the season ended today. This is not an attempt to guess what the committee will do in March. Below the bracket John and Chad will have some comments. They will agree with some of what I’ve done, and they will be correct. They will disagree with other things, and when they do so they will be incorrect.
-I cannot seem to get Iowa off my top line. They have two wins over Michigan State, and a win at Purdue. They also have a close loss to a very good Iowa State team, which isn’t the same as winning, but it’s hardly the kind of loss you penalize them for. They’re also currently unbeaten in Big Ten play.
-I know some may think I have Valpo overseeded on the #7 line, and I know their paper isn’t the best, but I do believe them to be that good. They won at Oregon State, which is something Oregon was unable to do, and are positioned to absolutely blow through the rest of their schedule.
NEXT IN LINE: Cincinnati, Saint Joseph’s, UCLA, Ohio State, UC Irvine, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Stanford, Oregon State, Saint Mary’s, Davidson
COMMENTS FROM JOHN
– As good as Iowa has played in the Big Ten so far, that alone isn’t enough to merit a #1 seed just yet. Their entire body of work is just a notch below Xavier. But I at least understand the puppet’s motivation to have Xavier and Dayton play each other one more time.
– I don’t have too many problems with the protected seeds that David listed, but I would also submit that the leader of the Pac-12 (USC) has done more to earn a protected seed than Arizona has. And yes, the Men of Troy do have the head-to-head advantage for the time being.
– I agree that Valpo and Monmouth are both in the field as at-large if the situation warrants it, but I think that Valpo is not head and shoulders above the First Four just yet. They will be if they run the table in the Horizon. If Gonzaga had the profile of a team like Monmouth, the pundits would probably argue that Gonzaga would be worthy of a protected seed.
– As far as the bubble goes, I agree that Cincinnati doesn’t belong in the field, but why no love for Saint Joe’s? Personally, I would have the Hawks on the 8/9 line playing Villanova in the East Region. That would be the best installment yet of the Holy War – a trip to play in the Sweet 16 in Philly would be at stake.
COMMENTS FROM CHAD
– As John mentions, I like USC’s profile better than Arizona’s as of now and would have those teams flipped in the bracket.
– I am not sure South Carolina doesn’t deserve to be a lot lower, now that they are no longer undefeated. Their resume does have a serious lack of any meat to it.
– I would actually take Monmouth’s profile over Valpo’s right now. The USC and Notre Dame wins are suddenly looking so much better after what has happened the past week.
– Little Rock is grossly overseeded on the 8 line. They should probably be on the 11 line where Arlington is due to their sub-300 SOS. Arlington does not belong in this bracket after their second bad loss of the season. The Ohio State and Memphis wins just don’t carry much weight for me anymore.
– David expects me to attack his Colorado pick but his Buffs actually did impress me last night over what I felt was a very good Oregon team. My Pac-12 attack has to do with Washington. I just don’t think their resume warrants anything close to the 10 line — they should probably be in the First Four if they are going to be included at all. Also, Arizona State’s resume is not good enough to make up for the Sacramento State loss and they should not be in this bracket. I feel that Stanford deserves a lot more attention than anyone is giving them, though at least David considered the Cardinal.
– Finally, I agree with John that St Joe’s belongs in this field. Perhaps in Arizona State’s spot or in Evansville’s. While I am a huge fun of this Aces team, they just don’t have the quality wins and really only have one more chance to get one (home vs Wichita State). If they lost that one, I think the only way in will be through the auto bid.
LINKS
-For Tonight’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-For Jon Teitel’s Bracket (Posted Sunday, January 17th) where he guesses what he thinks the actual committee would do if the season ended today – CLICK HERE
Harvard over Yale and Princeton? Hardly.