It is Chad’s trurn for our weekly Staff Bracket. Below is his bracket through all games of Thursday, January 29. This is how he feels the bracket SHOULD be if the Field of 68 were announced today. Below the bracket are Chad’s notes followed by comments from other HoopsHD Staffers.
CHAD’S NOTES:
- My top four teams out were Ohio State, VCU, Missouri and TCU. I also considered Seton Hall, Butler, Cal, Oklahoma State, Texas, Stanford, Akron and George Mason.
- Despite their loss to Michigan, Nebraska is still my #5 overall team. The loss was a close loss on the road against a 1 seed, and the Huskers had a real chance to win the game — despite Rienk Mast not playing! They actually proved to me, despite the loss, that they desreve to be in the 1 seed conversation all season.
- Iowa State had slipped after their losses at Kansas and at Cincinnati, but the Cyclones have now won 3 straight, including a road win at an Oklahoma State team that is at least on the Board. This team is back on the 2 line and heading in the right direction again.
- The Big Ten led the way with 10 bids, followed by the ACC and SEC with 9 each, 7 from the Big 12 and 3 each from the Mountain West, Big East and West Coast. The SEC only had one team (Vadnderbilt) on the top 4 seed lines, and that was a 4 seed. However, the conference took 5 of the 8 spots on the 5 and 6 lines. In other words, a ton of good teams but no great ones. Compare that to the Big 12, which only got 7 teams in but 6 of those 7 are on the Top 4 seed lines.
- Santa Clara snuck into my field as a First Four team. Despite lacking in wins against the field, the Broncos are 11-4 against the top three tiers and only have one bad loss. They just had less warts on their profile then some of the final teams that I compared them against. However, they need to hold serve in several challenging road games ahead and probably need one more win against St Mary’s or Gonzaga if they want any chance of hearing their names called on Selection Sunday.
- I do not have Seton Hall in my field or even among my top four out. The Pirates did rebound from an awful first half to beat Xavier this week — but it was a home win against a Tier 3 team, and does nothing to prove to me that this team belongs in. In fact, if I was forced to place a fourth Big East team in my field right now, I might choose Butler over them.
- One other team that I took a very serious look at is VCU. The Rams have almost quietly won 4 in a row, and should make that 5 against Loyola-Chicago tonight. They do not have a loss to anyone that is not on “the Board.” As they pile up a large volume of wins, combined with better metrics than some of the other bubble teams, I really feel that this team can find itself right in the mix at the end of the day. They just cannot afford more than 1-2 more losses this season, as almost any loss in conference play will be a “bad loss.”
STAFF COMMENTS:
COMMENTS FROM STALICA
– An argument could be made for Vandy that they could be a seed line higher after throttling Kentucky at home. Despite a brief lapse during January, the Commodores are now 8-2 away from home. While Chad likely docked them a bit for their loss at Texas, I do not see how BYU is as low as a 4 seed. The Cougars do not have any bad losses and also have 3 wins against teams away from home that could likely be NCAA Tournament bound.
– Tennessee is getting hot at the right time after a pair of back-to-back road wins at Alabama and now at Georgia. 6 is about right for them, but Texas A&M also a 6? While they are 6-1 in the SEC, their only win against a team in Chad’s field is at Auburn. Their schedule is back-loaded and it’s still unclear as to whether or not Bucky Ball will remain on top in the SEC.
– Auburn would have also been a justifiable pick for the 6 line, especially after a win at Florida. It’s too early for Saint Louis to be that high; wouldn’t Mother Miami be up to a 9 if we’re starting to value bloated records? SLU was close to having a hiccup at home before Robbie Avila hit a game-winning 3 to save the Billikens from a home upset against GW.
– I’m about ready to make a motion to shrink the field down after seeing a team like Indiana in the field. Their case seems to be more of “we have the least offensive loss” paired with a home win against Purdue (who suddenly is on a losing streak of their own). I would love to see the MAC and the Valley sneak a second team into the field, but the case won’t be there until they can accrue gaudy records come the beginning of March. Akron and Belmont are the best chances to crash the field (or Mother Miami and Belmont should the Zips win the auto bid).
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-I dislike Chad immensely, but I guess we aren’t talking about that right now.
I do want to speak up for Belmont. Right now I am the only Hoops-HD-er that has Belmont inside his/her bubble. I am not trying to guess the committee so I understand why those who are trying to do that would not be selecting Belmont. And I’m not naive enough to think that the MVC is harder than…say…the Big Ten. But I do feel that Belmont is better than a couple of teams in Chad’s First Four. To be 9-1 in true road games, and to win at places like Northern Iowa, and UC Irvine, and BIG at Middle Tennessee, and at Charleston, and even at Valpo…that’s hard to do!! It’s a lot harder to do that than it is to beat mid-level Big Ten and MWC teams at home.
I’d also venture to say this. If you told any coach in America you’d give them a million bucks if they could do one of the two following things…win all those true road games that Belmont has won, or getting to play five teams in the top 25 and having to just go 1-4 against them, every single coach in the country would choose the latter!!
