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So, let me explain exactly what it is that you’re looking at here. If you want something that ranks how good the teams are or what seeds they will likely end up getting in March, then this is DEFINITELY NOT for you. I am simply ranking teams on their CURRENT MERIT. I’m really only asking myself one question. How difficult would it be for an average team to win the games that these teams have played?? So therefore, any Under the Radar team that won any sort of a true road game is going to be ranked ahead of any P5 team that won a buy game at home, even if those P5 teams are top ten teams.
Conference USA is off to a pretty good start with LA Tech winning at Wichita State, FAU winning at UCF, and Southern Miss winning at SMU. I think that as a group they have the most impressive collection of true road wins so far. I’m not going to predict that they will keep winning at that pace, but it is a rather impressive first week.
Obvious outliers include Buffalo on the #1 line, UC Irvine, LA Tech, Stony Brook, Texas Southern as protected seeds, and then on the flip side teams like Tennessee, Villanova, and Virginia down in the 12-13 seed range. Any common sense person would expect that to be flipped by the end of the year.
So, with so many irregularities that end up looking so out of whack, the number one question is why do I do this at all?? The honest answer is…..I have no freakin’ idea! I just like doing it each week, and I like doing it this way. I do think that it gets me in the habit of assessing all the teams very early, and the earlier I’m doing that then the more I know about them as the season goes on. I also think that the important thing is knowing what each team has done, and not so much worrying about where to rank them. And lastly, it’s fun giving a team some props that won a big game early in the season that many weren’t expecting them to win, even if it is just for a few weeks, and even if our little corner of the internet is the only place that’s happening. If you think that it’s too early for brackets I’m not going to say you’re wrong. For all practical purposes, you’re not. If you think this is a stupid way of doing it, I can respect that as well. But, I am doing it, and I’m doing it this way. When you’re a puppet, you get to do whatever you want!!!
MERIT RANKINGS/SEED LIST
- DUKE – 2-0, neutral floor win vs Kentucky
- BUFFALO – 2-0, road win @West Virginia
- KANSAS – 1-0, neutral floor win vs Michigan State
- OHIO STATE – 1-0 with a road win @Cincinnati
- AUBURN – 2-0, blowout home win against Washington
- FURMAN – 1-0, road win @Loyola Chicago
- North Carolina – 2-0 in true road games with a good win @Wofford
- Florida State – 2-0, blowout win at home vs Florida, road win @Tulane
- UC IRVINE – 2-0, road win @ Texas A&M
- Vanderbilt – 2-0, won @USC
- LOUISIANA TECH – 2-0, win at Wichita State
- STONY BROOK – 2-0 with 2 true road wins @GW and @South Carolina
- Florida Atlantic – 1-0. win @UCF
- Texas – 2-0, neutral floor win vs Arkansas
- GONZAGA – 2-0 in buy games, but beat TX Southern
- TEXAS SOUTHERN – 1-1, road win @Baylor, road loss @Gonzaga
- Southern Miss – 1-0 in div1 games, won @SMU
- Iowa State – 2-0, home win vs Missouri
- NEVADA – 2-0, home wins vs BYU and Pacific
- PENN – 2-0, road win @George Mason
- AMERICAN – 1-0, won @George Mason
- Purdue – 2-0 in buy games, beat Fairfield
- STANFORD – 2-0, road win @UNCW
- FAIRFIELD – 1-1, win @Bucknell, loss @Purdue
- Vermont – 1-0 with a win @ Boston U
- WICHITA STATE – 1-1 with a home loss to LA Tech, but a neutral win vs Providence
- Washington – 1-1, loss @Auburn, home win vs Western Kentucky
- Kentucky – 1-1, neutral loss to Duke, home win vs Southern Illinois
- North Texas – 2-0, both wins away from home including @Hawaii
- LONGWOOD – 1-0 with a win @ Richmond
- MONTANA – 1-0 with a win vs Georgia State (who is good)
- CENTRAL CONNECTICUT – 1-1, won @Hartrord, lost @Georgetown
- Wofford – 1-1, home loss to North Carolina, road win @High Point
- Utah State – 2-0, wins @Montana State and at home vs Hartford
- UC Santa Barbara – 1-1 with a win @Wyoming and a loss @North Dakota State
- NORTHERN KENTUCKY – 1-0, road win @Northern Illinois
- Toledo – 1-0, won @Oakland
- JAMES MADISON – 1-0 in div1 games, won @Eastern Carolina
- Kent State – 1-0, won @Cleveland State
- COASTAL CAROLINA – 1-0, road win @Campbell
- New Mexico – 1-0, won @CSUN
- Charleston – 2-0, road win @Western Carolina
- Oklahoma – 1-0 with a true road win @UTRGV
- FLORIDA A&M – 1-0, won @Jacksonville
- Prarie View A&M – 1-0, road win @Santa Clara
- San Diego – 2-0, road win @UC Davis, home win vs Weber State
- SOUTH DAKOTA STATE – 2-0, home win vs Grand Canyon
- North Dakota – 1-0, road win @Milwaukee
- Virginia – 2-0 in buy games
- Tennessee – 1-0 in buy games
- VILLANOVA – 1-0 in buy games
- Michigan State – 0-1 with loss vs Kansas
- Kansas State – 1-0 in buy games
- Oregon – 2-0 in buy games
- Syracuse – 2-0 in buy games
- Mississippi State – 1-0 in buy games
- Michigan – 2-0 in buy games
- Ucla – 2-0 in buy games
- Virginia Tech – 1-0 in buy games
- Northeastern – 1-1 with a road win @Harvard, loss at home to Boston U
- Boston U – 1-1, won @Northeastern, lost at home to Vermont
- Bucknell – 1-1 Road win @Saint Bonaventure, loss at home to Fairfield
- Marshall – 2-0, home win vs Hofstra, road win @Eastern Kentucky
- Lehigh – 1-1, won @Monmouth, lost @Miami FL
- Nebraska – 2-0 in buy games
- Marquette – 1-0 in buy games
- MURRAY STATE – 1-0 with a win at home vs Wright State
- Belmont – 1-0 with a home win vs Illinois State
- Lsu – 2-0 in buy games
- Clemson – 2-0 in buy games
- Louisville – 1-0 in buy games
- Texas Tech – 2-0 in buy games
- Tcu – 1-0 in buy games
- Vanderbilt 1-0 in buy games
- NEW MEXICO STATE – 2-0, home wins vs North Dakota State and UTEP
- Indiana – 2-0 in buy games
- Xavier – 2-0 in buy games
- Georgetown – 2-0 in buy games
- Temple – 2-0 in buy games
- SAINT JOSEPH’S – 1-0 in buy games
- INDIANA STATE – 1-1 on the road. Won @Green Bay, lost @Ball State
- Penn State – 1-0 in buy games
- Houston – 1-0 in buy games
- Creighton – 2-0 in buy games
- Butler – 1-0 in buy games
- Saint John’s – 2-0 in buy games
- UConn – 2-0 in buy games with a win over Southern Miss
- Notre Dame – 2-0 in buy games
- Chattanooga – 1-1, road win @Charlotte, home loss to Eastern Kentucky (
- ucf – 1-0 in buy games with a win over Rider (
- LIPSCOMB – 1-0
- ABILENE CHRISTIAN – 1-0
NOTES ON THE BRACKET
-Outside of conferences, I did not take into account at all whether or not teams played during the regular season, so there was no regard at all to try and avoid rematches. Truth be told, at the end of the year I can remember pretty much who has and has not played each other. At the beginning of the year, I don’t have a good grasp on all of the team’s schedules and who they are going to play. So, I just didn’t worry about it.
-I have to admit that even by absurd early season bracket standards, this is still pretty absurd. Some of the match-ups may be okay. Texas Southern v Michigan State is a very plausible Round of 64 match-up. So is Stony Brook v Syracuse, LA Tech vs Oregon, and a few others. But, I don’t see this being where the seeds end up in the end.
COMMENTS FROM THE STAFF
-Coming soon…..maybe. I can completely understand them being in such a state of shock from looking at this that there is simply too much to unpack.