OTHER VERY IMPORTANT LINKS
-For a rundown of all of today’s college hoops action, as well as a look back at the News and Notes from yesterday – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between UIC and Wright State – CLICK HERE
Welcome back to another year of NCAA tourney predictions. Last year HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the tourney, including 62 right on the money or within 1 spot of their actual seed. He will spend the next 7 weeks predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on Selection Sunday, with new updates each week. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today, and let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments section. To compare how we stack up with other websites, check out: www.bracketmatrix.com.
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Oklahoma (Big 12)
1: Villanova (Big East)
1: North Carolina (ACC)
1: Kansas (Big 12)
2: Xavier (Big East)
2: Iowa (Big 10)
2: Texas A&M (SEC)
2: Michigan State (Big 10)
3: Maryland (Big 10)
3: Virginia (ACC)
3: West Virginia (Big 12)
3: Iowa State (Big 12)
4: Miami Florida (ACC)
4: Oregon (Pac-12)
4: USC (Pac-12)
4: Arizona (Pac-12)
5: Kentucky (SEC)
5: Purdue (Big 10)
5: Louisville (ACC)
5: Dayton (A-10)
6: Baylor (Big 12)
6: Providence (Big East)
6: Duke (ACC)
6: South Carolina (SEC)
7: Pitt (ACC)
7: Indiana (Big 10)
7: Utah (Pac-12)
7: Texas (Big 12)
8: Butler (Big East)
8: Michigan (Big 10)
8: Notre Dame (ACC)
8: Colorado (Pac-12)
9: Florida (SEC)
9: Wichita State (MVC)
9: St. Mary’s (WCC)
9: Texas Tech (Big 12)
10: Gonzaga (WCC)
10: California (Pac-12)
10: George Washington (A-10)
10: St. Joseph’s (A-10)
11: Valparaiso (Horizon)
11: Seton Hall (Big East)
11: Connecticut (AAC)
11: UCLA (Pac-12)
11: Washington (Pac-12)
11: Florida State (ACC)
12: Monmouth (MAAC)
12: San Diego State (MWC)
12: Arkansas Little-Rock (Sun Belt)
12: VCU (A-10)
13: Chattanooga (SoCon)
13: Hawaii (Big West)
13: William & Mary (CAA)
13: UAB (CUSA)
14: IPFW (Summit)
14: Stony Brook (America East)
14: Princeton (Ivy)
14: Northern Illinois (MAC)
15: Belmont (OVC)
15: Texas A&M Corpus-Christi (Southland)
15: North Florida (Atlantic Sun)
15: Weber State (Big Sky)
16: UNC Asheville (Big South)
16: Cal State Bakersfield (WAC)
16: Navy (Patriot)
16: Wagner (NEC)
16: Hampton (MEAC)
16: Texas Southern (SWAC)
CONFERENCE: # OF TEAMS
AAC: 1
America East: 1
ACC: 8
Atlantic Sun: 1
A-10: 4
Big East: 5
Big Sky: 1
Big South: 1
Big 10: 6
Big 12: 7
Big West: 1
CAA: 1
CUSA: 1
Horizon: 1
Ivy: 1
MAAC: 1
MAC: 1
MEAC: 1
MVC: 1
MWC: 1
NEC: 1
OVC: 1
Pac-12: 8
Patriot: 1
SEC: 4
SoCon: 1
Southland: 1
SWAC: 1
Summit: 1
Sun Belt: 1
WCC: 2
WAC: 1
COMMENTS FROM DAVID
-We’ve never done this with Jon Teitel’s brackets, but I do feel compelled to comment. For starters, I understand (and would like to reiterate) that Jon is attempting to GUESS the ACTUAL COMMITTEE, and he’s damn good at it. He’s better at it than the major media guys that do it. The rest of us here put together brackets based on our own personal analysis and thoughts. With that being said….
If today were Selection Sunday, and the actual committee put Texas Tech on the #9 line, then I think we’d need to completely restructure this whole damn thing!! I know Texas Tech has some supporters among our staff, but they have done absolutely NOTHING that any NIT team couldn’t also do. They have just one true road win, and that was at TCU. They have two additional neutral floor wins against Minnesota and Mississippi State, but those two teams are a combined 3-14 away from home. Their best win is perhaps a home win against Little Rock. It was at Texas Tech, but at least Little Rock has a winning record away from home. Of their eight other wins, all were at home, none were against teams that are inside the bubble, and only South Dakota State has a winning record on the road. You shouldn’t get credit for beating teams at home that lose more than half their road games, and that’s all Texas Tech has done!!
Now again, this is not Jon’s personal pick, and the committee did take an equally abysmal UCLA team from last year. I know UCLA made the Sweet Sixteen, but to me that does not justify the selection. It should be based on merit and not potential future tournament success. If today were Selection Sunday, and the committee not only selected Texas Tech, but placed them on the #9 line, I think a little part of me inside would die. It’s basically saying that if you’re in a strong conference then all you need to do is win a bunch of home games against teams that are weak on the road.
I’m not big on Saint Mary’s either for pretty much the same reasons, but at least they have one notable win against Gonzaga (albeit at home). They also have a few other road wins against teams that aren’t tournament teams, but that have been strong at home. If this were debate class, and I were given the assignment of arguing for Saint Mary’s, I would at least have something to argue. It would be weak, but at least there is SOMETHING there. With Texas Tech, there is nothing there.
For the most part I like the rest of the field, and it gives me confidence that the committee will make some good picks and seed them accordingly. I think Monmouth is better than their seed, but with three bad losses I can see why the committee would knock them all the way down to the #12 line. I also like Valpo more than a #11 seed, but I can see why Jon would think the committee would have them there.