Before you look at the bracket below, I want to make sure you know what you’re looking at. This IS NOT an attempt to guess what the real selection committee will do on Selection Sunday. We have people at Hoops HD who do that and they are much better at guessing the real committee than I am. This is merely myself being a committee of one selecting and seeding the field the way I think it SHOULD look TODAY. Again, this is NOT what I think it will look like in March.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: NC State, Iowa, George Mason, UCLA, San Diego State, Creighton, Ohio State, LSU, Indiana, Oklahoma, California, Santa Clara, Oklahoma State
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-A strong case could be made to put Nebraska on the #1 line. Perhaps they will ultimately end up there. They have some outstanding wins and no one has beaten them. I just think that everyone I have ahead of them tops out a little bit higher right now.
-I’m sticking with my preseason pick of Texas Tech to win it all even though right now I’d only have them on the #3 line.
-While I think Iowa is much better than their profile, and much better than I was probably giving them credit for, I’m still someone that selects and seeds pretty much on merit and not on predictive metrics. Their profile is lousy, which is why they aren’t in. That’s also why Kentucky is barely inside the bubble. Had they not won at LSU I likely would not have selected them at all.
-If you’re looking at the #12 line, Baylor and Auburn were my last two teams in and Hofstra and South Florida were seeded behind them, which means they were outside the bubble.
STAFF COMMENTS
Comments from Stalica:
– I’m guessing that Griggs has Duke higher up in his order of one seeds, assuming that Arizona is his top overall seed. While the South region may technically be Duke’s natural region, wouldn’t they prefer to actually go to the East region and Washington DC which is a little closer to their fanbase?
– We do seem to have a bit of a discrepancy when it comes to the Clemson and SMU resumes. Clemson has two wins against teams in Griggs’ field, yet he has the Tigers on the precipice of a protected seed. SMU actually has three such wins when you consider that Virginia Tech barely made his field (and I do not object to that), yet they’re three seed lines lower? Are the Ponies being dinged for winning their last game on a half-court buzzer beater as opposed to an easy 10-point win instead?
– While I do agree that Louisville is starting to fade given their recent slide, I have to say Tennessee is being a little unfairly punished right now. While the Vols do have a pair of neutral-court wins and still lack a true road win, they still have four very solid wins with Houston (in Las Vegas), Louisville, Texas A&M and now a Texas team that Griggs has suddenly added to his field.
– And yes, I grudgingly admit that teams like the Longhorns and Wisconsin are starting to check critical boxes in their resumes while teams like Iowa and LSU are stalling on that front. They can’t rest on their laurels for too long, though. Kentucky has done enough for now to at least justify their place in the field. They’d be better served as an 8 or 9 seed while Texas should be closer to 9 or 10.
– While I do applaud Belmont’s inclusion into the field for now, they are advised to remember that they’ve used up their strikes in conference play already given a pair of close losses. They can’t take on any more water while other teams continue to lurk beneath them. Especially if Mother Miami potentially loses a regular season game or two and to Akron in the MAC title game again….
