Just so everyone knows what they are looking at…
The STAFF BRACKETS at Hoops HD are NOT an attempt to guess the Selection Committee. Jon Teitel is our Selection Committee Guessing Expert. If anyone else tried to do it as accurately as he does it, we would fail, so we don’t even try. This is merely what WE PERSONALLY THINK the NCAA Tournament should look like if the season ended TODAY.
Below are some of my notes on the bracket, and below that are some comments from other staff members. If any of them disagree with anything I have done, they are wrong!!
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Michigan State, Colorado State, Loyola Chicago, VCU, Tulsa, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, Indiana, SMU, Duke, Syracuse, UAB, Missouri State
NOTES FROM DAVID
-I’ll start with Illinois on the #7 line. Please notice that no one that they have beaten is seeded ahead of them. In fact their best win is arguably at home against Minnesota, and I say arguably because Minney has yet to win a road game. Penn State and Northwestern are nice road wins, but relatively speaking a #7 seed is a nice seed. They have lost to every team that they’ve played that’s safely inside the bubble who’s actually won a road game. It may actually be easier to argue that they shouldn’t even be as good as a #7 seed as it is to argue that they should be better than a #7 seed.
-Oklahoma State is appealing their NCAA Tournament ban, and while a case is under appeal a team is actually eligible to compete, so as of now they are eligible for our brackets. They have a really solid body of work with wins at Texas Tech and against Kansas, and some other notable road wins against Wichita State and Marquette. That seems protected seed caliber to me!
-It is very rare that half of a conference ever ended up as protected seeds, but I’ve got half the Big 12 on the top four lines.
-Marquette is the most schizophrenic team out there these days. They are in my field because of their two monster wins against Creighton and Wisconsin, and while they do have a lot of losses, none of them are terrible.
-It’s tough to know for sure what to do with Saint Bonaventure because of so few OOC games, but I like what I’ve seen so far, and this bracket is all about me! So…they are in!
OTHER STAFF COMMENTS/CRITICISMS:
FROM CHAD:
– I will start with Villanova. I get it that the reason they have not played since December 23 is not their fault — but in the end, you get a protected seed, and even a #1 seed, by beating teams. The win at Texas is great, but beyond that one win, all the Wildcats have done is win at a good but not great Marquette team. Oh, and they lost to Virginia Tech. By the eye test, from what we saw, I think this is one of the best 4 teams in the nation. But, I cannot justify a 1 seed for a team that is not playing while others (like Kansas and Iowa) are playing and winning games against very good teams. 2-1 against the top two quadrants simply is not there. I would probably have them as low as the 3 line right now, in fact.
– Speaking of Virginia Tech, I think David is smoking something when he puts them on the 4 line. Yes, they beat Villanova — but that is all they have really done. The Hokies have one true road win and it was only at Wake Forest. I get that they beat Duke this week, but that is a Tier 3 win — I don’t give it much stock unless and until the Blue Devils turn their season around. In other words, the Hokies are about 4 lines too high.
– I agree with David that Maryland belongs inn a 7/10 game — just as the 10 seed and not the 7. Wins at Illinois and Wisconsin are great (though according to David, Illinois is nothing special so that should not count as much). However, the Terps are only one game over .500 against D1 competition, and 3 games under .500 in conference. The schedule they have played and will continue to play is intense, but in the end, you don’t get to wear white in the first round by losing a ton of games. Maryland belongs in the field, just not nearly this high.
– Of course, I need to address Illinois. Unlike Maryland, for example, the Illini have a decent overall record and are 5-3 in the Big Ten. This includes 4 wins over teams that are either in the field or at least on the bubble. That is more than, oh say…1 seed Villanova! I am not saying that Illinois needs to be a protected seed (though personally I would have them as such), but putting them on the 7 line is just plain stupid. #StupidPuppet
– Utah State. Sweeping a San Diego State team (at home) that is proving that they are not nearly as good as we thought they would be and doing absolutely nothing else puts you in the board for consideration. It does not put you in the field. Giving them a 10 seed is a joke. They would be my 5th team out right now.
– Apparently beating a Kentucky team that isn’t even under consideration and losing at home to Hofstra is good enough to put Richmond in the field. The Spiders would be on my board, but are not close to the field at all. The Bonnies, on the other hand, I would not have in, but I can live with David’s reasoning, as they are one of the toughest teams to evaluate right now. I won’t complain about that pick even if I would not have chosen them myself.
– Now let’s go to my list of teams that did not even merit consideration (and I personally have 13 teams beyond the field at least Under Consideration): Northwestern. Seriously, this pick is just plain awful. Teams that belong in before the Wildcats (and Utah State and Richmond as well): Michigan State, Colorado State, Tulsa, North Carolina, TCU, Indiana, Providence. Seriously — how can you put Northwestern in and not even have TCU on the Board???
– Among the single bid leagues, both Georgia State and Northeastern are way under-seeded. But, at this point, I am shocked David did not add an Ivy League team in as well, because he clearly has no idea what is going on this season in college basketball.
– All in all, I would say that David did a solid job this week, but that would be an utter and complete lie. This field sucks. Please ignore it. And delete him from your list of Twitter account you follow.
