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It is once again Chad’s turn to post the weekly staff bracket. Below is his current Field of 68 through all games of Sunday, January 30. Following the bracket are his comments on the field as well as (incorrect) criticisms from David Griggs and other staff members. Feel free to tweet your own thoughts about the field to us @HoopsHD or to Chad directly at @csherwood_1973.
CHAD’S COMMENTS
– After some crazy results this weekend, putting together a field was a lot more difficult this week. The top two teams were easy, but the rest was a total mess. In the end, Kansas fell all the way down to the 3 line with the home loss to Kentucky while Baylor maintained a spot on the 1 line despite their loss at Alabama. Kentucky actually leaped all the way up to the 2 line with one of the most impressive road wins any team will have all season.
– I really wanted to find a way to put Houston on the 2 line, but they stayed on the 3. Their resume is not there, but this team just keeps finding ways to win games. I honestly believe a 1 seed is within their grasp if they do not lose another game.
– Alabama made a huge leap with their win over Baylor, jumping back into protected seed range as a 4 seed. Their collections of wins is flat out amazing, as they have now beaten three of last year’s Final Four teams!
– Connecticut is quietly sliding up my seed list as well. The Huskies have won five games in a row and may be one of the most under-noticed teams in the nation right now.
– Saint Mary’s is up to my 7 line after their amazing come-from-behind win over San Francisco. The Gaels have also very quietly put together a solid resume and (with what BYU did this past week) are looking like the second best team in the WCC.
– When it comes to road wins, the Puppet loves to say how “1 is infinitely better than none”. Well 2 is twice as good as one, and that is what the Indiana Hoosiers now have after winning at Maryland, which is enough for their home wins over Purdue and Ohio State to make them a solid tournament pick, landing on my 9 line.
– BYU is on my 11 line. Although the Cougars losses at Santa Clara and Pacific were awful, that is not the reason they fell so low. They should have been a 9 seed, but bracketing rules that require them not to be in a region that plays games on Sunday required a 2 line drop down to 11, as no valid spots existed for them on the 7, 8, 9 or 10 lines.
– West Virginia has lost 5 in a row and has fallen all the way to the First Four. The Mountaineers need to stop the bleeding immediately, and playing at Baylor Monday night is not exactly the way to do so. A very good team was destined to lose a lot of games in this year’s stacked Big 12, and WVU may end up being that team.
– Notre Dame is my newest entrant to the field, as the Irish have won 4 in a row and their win over Kentucky just keeps looking better and better.
– My top team out (according to this bracket) was Wake Forest, a team with a lot of wins but none of any real quality. They should probably be playing Notre Dame in the First Four (three ACC teams in the First Four would make an intra-conference game permissible), but I think my choice of opponent for Notre Dame is much more deserving.
– My top four teams out (after Wake Forest) were VCU, San Francisco, Wyoming and (yes) North Carolina. My next four were Cincinnati, Belmont, Florida and Michigan. I also considered South Carolina (welcome to the Under Consideration Board), Saint Louis, Dayton, Texas A&M, Ohio U, Minnesota and Mississippi State.
– North Texas was ranked below my First Four teams, but now looks like the best team in CUSA after UAB suffered another inexplicable loss this weekend. Jacksonville State, Hawai’i, Longwood and New Orleans are teams that are showing up in my field for the first time this week as well. Plus, a First Four game between in-state foes New Orleans and Southern U would be a ton of fun!
STAFF COMMENTS
-COMMENTS FROM JOHN:
– Again, the triumvirate of Auburn/Gonzaga/Baylor has separated itself from the rest of the nation (last night’s Baylor-Alabama result nonwithstanding). While I can live with Duke being the last #1 seed for now, they’re not going to really have a chance to add as many Tier 1 wins the rest of the way as teams like Kentucky, Purdue, Kansas and UCLA to stay on the 1-line, especially if they have a few more slip-ups in the ACC.
– Alabama is one of the tougher teams to seed right now. Their wins against Gonzaga, Baylor and Houston were against 75% of last year’s Final Four (thanks, Teitel for pointing this out) and few teams are going to match that. But their losses range from bubblish (Iona, Memphis, Mississippi State) to downright atrocious (Missouri and Georgia?). I almost have a feeling that Chad wants them up here just to fall victim to a 4/13 upset in Round 1.
– Xavier is an example of a team that went 1-1 as reasonably expected last week, yet took a completely bizarre route to get there. They missed an opportunity to beat another potential protected seed against Providence, yet probably could be better off getting a road win against a possible NCAA Tournament team as well. I do say “probable” because Creighton (and Seton Hall, for that matter) are going in the wrong direction.
– I applaud Chad for his Notre Dame pick, and the Irish could make him look even better should they be able to beat Duke at home later tonight. I would also be fine with Stanford and Loyola-Chicago changing places on the bracket – the Ramblers are suddenly trending the wrong way and not playing like a team that should be above the cut line right now.
– I really wanted to make a case for Toccoa Falls to be in this field, but I can’t argue with Chad’s pick of Carver Bible this week. This is the kind of conversation we’re having only because teams like Wake, Florida and Mississippi State are squandering golden opportunities to play their way into the field right now.
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-I hate to admit it, but Chad did a lot of things I agree with. I don’t entirely agree with the selection of Carver Bible College, but I at least understand the logic behind it. Teams need to schedule tough, and they did. It wouldn’t shock me at all if the committee awarded them with a spot in the field.
-I don’t think the committee would give Kentucky the #5 overall spot on the seedlist (in other words, the top #2 seed), but I also realize Chad isn’t trying to guess the committee, and this is another move that isn’t totally insane. If you evaluate Kentucky within the realm of how good you think they are and who they are capable of beating (which is not what the committee really does), you look at how they lost at Auburn, but played well and didn’t have a key player in the second half, and then how they blew Kansas out of their own building when they did have all their key players. That’s a team that can win the whole freakin’ thing. When the committee looks at teams, I don’t think they are that subjective, though. They are to a point, but only to a point. Kentucky’s paper isn’t quite there. But, their team is!
-I applaud the exclusion of North Carolina and Wake Forest. I don’t understand why anyone thinks they belong in. There are teams that aren’t all that good on the court, but have had some fluke wins and look good on paper. There are other teams that look like crap on paper given their schedule, or bad luck, or whatever, but still look good on the court. North Carolina and Wake both have crap paper, and they both look like crap on the court. I don’t understand why people can’t see that. Bravo Chad!
-Oklahoma is in tailspin. That’s really the only thing that pops out at me as being way off. If the Sooners were one game against each of the 12 teams on Chad’s 9, 10, and 11 lines, then I suppose they could get lucky and win one or two of them. But, of course, Chad has them on his 8 line! IDIOT!!