It is Chad’s turn again to post the HoopsHD Staff — the weekly bracket posted by a rotating member of the HoopsHD Staff in which we set forth where we field the NCAA Tournament should be if today was Selection Sunday. Below the Bracket are Chad’s comments followed by reactions from other members of our staff. Enjoy!!
CHAD’S COMMENTS:
- Despite Tennessee’s loss having been by 30 points, they have moved up to #3 overall for me, passing Duke. Tennessee has four Tier 1A wins away from home and only one overall loss. Duke has two Tier 1A wins away from home and 2 overall losses.
- Houston does not have the wins yet to really merit a 3 seed, but this is a damn good team that, by quirks of the order of their Big 12 conference games this season, just has not had a chance to prove themselves in league play yet. But this is a great team and I was tempted to seed them even higher.
- Ole Miss also made my 3 line. What they did this week at Alabama speaks for itself. There is a real chance that Chris Beard’s team may prove to be the second best team in the SEC behind Auburn.
- Another team that is rising fast is Missouri, The Tigers turned a profile with nothing but a home win over Kansas into something truly special this week by throwing in a road win at Florida — and remember, Tennessee lost by 30 at Florida! I may have Mizzou still under-seeded on my 6 line.
- Gonzaga may have blown any real chance at a protected seed last night when they lost at Oregon State. No matter how good this team is on paper, they just will not have the chances for marquee wins the rest of the way to make any significant move towards the top 4 seed lines.
- UC-Irvine is solidly in my field as a 9 seed, while conference-mate UC-San Diego was my very last team in. If both teams can continue to steamroll the rest of the Big West the way they did in last night’s wins, this will be a 2-bid conference.
- My last four in, in order, were St John’s, Vanderbilt, Iowa and UCSD. My top four out, in order, were Wake Forest, Texas, BYU and Ohio State. Also considered were Arizona State, Indiana, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Penn State, Northwestern, LSU, USC, Oregon State, Boise State, Villanova, SMU, North Texas, Bradley, Florida State and Santa Clara.
- Buckeye fans may not like my decision to leave Ohio State out. Their wins over Kentucky and Texas are both good wins. They do not have any bad losses. However, at the end of the day this team is 4-7 against the top three Tiers and 3-7 against the top two. That pretty much categorically leaves a team out.
STAFF COMMENTS:
From John Stalica:
– Memphis stepped on their first Lego with a loss at Temple last night. They might be able to absorb one more loss to remain in the Top 4 lines, but this better not be habit-forming. Lest they become the Dayton of the American and fall completely off the board.
– Illinois would probably be the beneficiary of a Memphis falling out of protected seed territory. Their win against Mizzou now looks better with the rise of the Tigers, and although they did get a pair of West Coast road wins against Oregon and Washington, the USC loss at home shows they’re capable of almost anything in conference play.
– St. John’s as a First Four team is a bit mistifying; they’re actually off to their best overall start since the 1998-99 season in which they would reach the Elite 8. Hopefully they don’t sleep through their alarms very often like they did against Georgetown earlier this week.
– UCLA is another team headed in the wrong direction after four straight losses (including against two teams not in Chad’s field). They finally get some much needed home cooking this week, but they too could find themselves out of the field soon if they don’t get out of their current slump.
– With Mother Miami as a 15 seed, is that a testament to how good the Redhawks have been or is that an indictment of the MAC in general this year? I thought they’d at least get a better matchup than Troy in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge.
From David Griggs:
-Let me first say that THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY WEEK!!! Chad just came along and took it from me!! My bracket would have been MUCH better!!!!!
-Having said that, I find myself agreeing with much more than I disagree with. Gonzaga as a 7 seed may seem low to a lot of people, but their profile suggests that they belong in that 6-7 seed range, and quite frankly so does their play on the court. They have a few good wins, but they also have more missed opportunities. The Zags are good. They belong in the top half of the bracket. But, they don’t belong on the top 4 lines.
-UC Irvine on the 9 line is also properly placed. They do have a bad loss at Duquesne, but when you look at their overall resume and season this is a top 40 team.
-Utah State’s loss to UNLV really set them back, but I think it set them back from being on the fringe of a protected seed to the 6-7 seed range.
-I do like UConn and Michigan a little more than Chad does. Like I said, my bracket would have been better!
