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Today’s Staff Bracket was put together by David Dorman! His notes are posted below.
This does not take into account any games played on or after Monday, Nov 22nd
-My at-large field came down to 8 spots for 15 teams.
The last 8 teams that got in were: Oregon, Marquette, Notre Dame, San Diego State, Michigan State, LSU, and the very last two in were Maryland and San Francisco
-The seven that just missed in my bracket were: UCF, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Washington State, Mississippi State, and Saint Mary’s
What stood out?
-Seton Hall on the #3 line? Yes, the Pirates earned the spot with the victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor. That is the best true road win of the season so far
-Marquette was not in my bracket last week but with the very solid showing in the Charleston Classic they moved in. Yes they got blown out by the Bonnies in the title game but the Bonnies are a legit top 20 team
-Michigan State (10 seed) and North Carolina (11 seed) will have plenty of opportunities to better their seed but for now this is where they sit. As of today they both lost their big opportunities
-The Big Ten got 8 bids and the SEC got 7 bids
-The American got 2 bids (Memphis and Houston) but were very close to four bids (UCF and Cincinnati). This conference will be wild to track all year long
-Watch out for the West Coast Conference this year and how many bids they receive. Today they have three (Gonzaga, BYU, and San Francisco) and Saint Mary’s was right on the cut line and could have been the last team in. Will the WCC get four teams in the bracket this year?
-I was very high on the Missouri Valley coming into the season. In my bracket today they only have one team in (Loyola Chicago). Can Drake and Missouri State go on a run and get The Valley more than one team in?
-The Atlantic Ten seems to be down this year with one great team (Saint Bonaventure) and not much else. Will anyone push for a second bid for the A-10?
Enjoy the great games and tournaments this Thanksgiving Week as many teams have their chance to make an early statement!!