Every week one of our HoopsHD Staff releases their own bracket and lets the other staff members take a shot at ripping it apart. For the first time this season, Chad has been given the honors of releasing what will undoubtedly be the most perfect bracket currently available on the entire internet. So, without further ado, below is Chad’s bracket through all games of Sunday, January 9. Below the bracket you will see his comments and the responses of other staff members.
CHAD’S NOTES
– Last week we did our first Bracket Rundown podcast and I ripped into Griggs for wanting to place Wisconsin on the 1 seed line. He was wrong then. However, as of right now (with things like Duke’s home loss to Miami having occurred), I do have the Badgers on my 1 line. This team now has two Tier 1A wins away from home (neutral Houston and at Purdue), two Tier 1B wins (including neutral vs St Mary’s), three Tier 2A wins (including neutral vs Texas A&M) and a Tier 2B win on the road (last night at Maryland). That is probably the best collection of wins after Baylor in the entire nation.
– Kansas is not only off of my 1 line, but they fell to #6 overall. The fact is that the Jayhawks have only one win over a team solidly in the field as an at-large. The win at Oklahoma State is nice, but even if the Cowboys were eligible, they would be right on the Bubble as of now. Add in a loss to a non-tournament Dayton team, and that is not a 1 seed profile.
– Providence is on my 3 line and deservedly so. They won at Wisconsin, a team that I just praised. To quote a line from Griggs, “that may be the best single win any team in the nation has right now.” Add in a win at a very good UConn team, and only two losses, both to teams in the at-large bid hunt still, and you have the highest rated Big East team on my board. Yes, even higher than a Villanova team that has two very good wins away from home also, but more losses and not as good of a group of ‘second level wins.’ I prefer Providence beating Texas Tech and Seton Hall at home over Villanova beating Xavier and Creighton at home.
– Purdue is on my 5 line. The Boilers were the #1 team in the rankings just a few weeks ago, but a home loss (albeit to Wisconsin) and a loss at non-tournament Rutgers does not help. They did beat Villanova on a neutral court, but really do not have any other truly noteworthy wins. I am just not impressed with this team at the moment. I want to see a road win against a tournament-level team and not a team that struggles to defeat Penn State.
– BYU should have been my top 7 seed and Texas Tech should have been my bottom 6 seed. The two teams had to swap spots in my bracket due to the “BYU Rule” — the Cougars cannot be bracketed so they would have to possible play a Sunday game. That being said, BYU had a very impressive win over St. Mary’s this weekend and is certainly trending up. Of course, Texas Tech’s win this weekend was not half-bad either.
– A few days ago, Miami would have likely been a First Four team. Then they won at Duke. This was one of the top two or three wins of anyone in the nation so far, and now has them wearing white in the first round as an 8 seed.
– San Diego State beating Colorado State also placed the Aztecs clearly in my field. In fact, I had both Mountain West teams back-to-back on my seed list on the 8 line, with SDSU ahead by one spot due to this weekend’s win.
– Yes, I have Kentucky on the 10 line. Honestly, I may have ben generous about that. Anyone that objects needs to point to a team that they defeated for me. Their ONLY win against the top two quadrants was neutral against North Carolina, a team I have on the 11 line because the only team in my bracket that they have beaten this season is 16 seed UNC-Asheville.
– Both Ohio U and Chattanooga are on my 12 line but would be ranked higher than my last two at-large teams in. 13 seeds UAB, New Mexico State, Oakland and Iona were not that far behind either, and all six of these teams could be in play for at-large bids if they keep winning but slip up in their conference tournaments.
– My last two teams in were TCU and Memphis. TCU is a team that I really am not a believer in at the moment, but they are 10-2 overall playing in a conference that has 8 of its 10 members in my field. They have a win over Texas A&M and no bad losses. Unfortunately for the Frogs, the Big 12 schedule is going to be brutal, and they need to get to at least 8 conference wins to make the field. I just don’t think that will happen.
– Memphis is my last team in. I was ready to write off the Tigers a few weeks ago, but a 3 game winning streak, and five wins in the top two tiers including the win over Alabama gave them the edge on the final spot. When it comes down to it, I think Memphis is good enough to win a few games in March Madness. I am not certain that anyone I left out is that good. This team cannot afford any more bad losses though.
– My top four teams out, in order, were UCF, Wyoming, Monmouth and VCU. Beyond those four, I also considered Virginia, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Saint Louis, Louisville, Florida, St Bonaventure and Michigan. While a few good things can be said about most of these teams, none of them have done anything yet that makes me believe them to be at-large worthy. I really wanted to find a way to get Monmouth into my field, but I like Iona’s profile better in the MAAC and the Gaels are only a 13 seed right now.
STAFF COMMENTS
FROM THE PUPPET:
-I never like it when I have to agree with Chad, but I must say that I think he did a really good job. I would have Gonzaga on the #1 line over Auburn simply based on where their resume tops out, but I can understand Chad’s thought process for not having them higher. While the top of their resume is strong, it is also not exactly as abundant as Auburn or Wisconsin. [Chad’s Reply: I barely had the Zags on my 2 line (#8 overall). They are 3-2 against teams in or under consideration and 8 of their 12 wins are against teams ranked 247 or worse in the NET. Auburn is 6-1 against teams in or under consideration and has 3 true road wins — three more than Gonzaga has].
-I agree with every UTR team Chad has in the field. There are four that I believe to be inside the bubble, and he’s got them all in (Loyola Chicago, Belmont, Murray State,, and Iona). Oh wait….He’s got IOWA inside the bubble, and IONA on the #13 line!! CHAD, WTF!!?? I know they just lost at Saint Louis, but the win over Alabama is super impressive, and while the loss at Saint Louis was missed opportunity at a notable road win, I wouldn’t call it a setback. [Chad’s Reply: The Gaels blew a huge chance at Saint Louis. It would have been an impressive win, but Under the Radar teams that want at-large bids have to get impressive wins. Beating Alabama is great, but one win alone is not enough. With the loss to SLU, this team better be dominant in the MAAC. As for Iowa, the Hawkeyes have a pair of Tier 2A wins away from home and no losses outside of Tier 1A. That’s the profile of a team slightly inside the bubble for now.]
FROM DAVID DORMAN:
-Wisconsin has three very solid, neutral court Maui Invitational wins over St. Mary’s, Texas A&M and Houston. The committee always wants to see true road wins and the Badgers have that box checked. They went to West Lafayette and stunned the college basketball world with a decisive victory over the Boilermakers. Not many teams come March will have that road win on their resume. Two more true road wins against Georgia Tech and Maryland to go with home victories over Indiana, Iowa and Marquette and it’s hard to argue with Chad. This resume today is that of a 1 seed.
-Next I went to make sure Chad’s bracket had all the deserving mid-major schools in the bracket. Chad had all 4 West Coast Conference teams in and that makes perfect sense to me. BYU, St. Mary’s, San Francisco and Gonzaga look to put 4 teams in the NCAA’s from the WCC for the first time ever. This conference plays terrific basketball year in and year out so make sure you stay up late and watch these WCC battles especially when 2 of these 4 are involved. The UTR conference I’m very interested in is the Ohio Valley. Belmont and Murray State were on Chad’s board, big fist pump. These 2 schools are playing at a very high level and extremely deserving of at large bids come March if needed.
-Chad has two more deserving teams from the mid major level in his field. Iona and Loyola have put together very solid resumes that will have them in the field even if they are both upset in their respective conference tournaments. Loyola as a 7 seed I can live with but Iona on the 13 line is not fair. They have put together a resume that is closer to a 10 seed than 13.
-This year is not the ACC’s finest assortment of teams. After Duke I don’t see a school that will be involved in the second weekend. Having said that, I agree with Chad’s inclusion of Miami after “THE U” went to Cameron Indoor and came away with a victory. Like Wisconsin’s victory at Purdue, Miami’s win at Duke will be something on their resume not many, or any, will have. The rest of the ACC is on the bubble at this moment and I agree with Chad on this league. UNC an 11 seed and Wake a 10 seed have plenty of work left if they want to dance. That gives the ACC 4 bids with Virginia Tech, Louisville, Virginia, Notre Dame and Clemson all on the outside looking in. It will be very interesting to see how the committee evaluates this conference in a few months.
-Chad has Colorado State on the 8 line. I do not believe the Mountain West is getting enough credit this season. I have the Rams on the 6 line today. Besides the Rams, Chad also put SDSU in his bracket on the 8 line. Like Chad, at this time I also only have 2 teams in from the MWC but Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and Fresno State still have plenty of talent and opportunities ahead. It would not surprise me to see this conference have 3 teams in the final bracket even without a surprise conference tournament winner.