It is Chad’s turn to put up a bracket this week. Please note that this Bracket is my statement of what *I* personally feel the NCAA Tournament bracket should look like through all games of Sunday, February 17. THIS IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO GUESS THE COMMITTEE. Rather, this is what I think the Bracket should look like. Following the Bracket are some notes I wrote and comments from other staffers here at Hoops HD. Feel free to Tweet at me (@csherwood_1973) with any other comments.
CHAD’S NOTES
– My last four teams in were Auburn, Alabama, Temple and Oklahoma. The top four teams out were Furman, Florida, Clemson and Murray State. The next four out were Utah State, Arizona State, UCF and Nebraska. Also considered were UNC-Greensboro, Georgetown, Liberty, Butler, Tulsa, Davidson and Indiana.
– As I said, this is what *I THINK* the Bracket should look like. 68 TEAMS IS STUPID, ESPECIALLY IN A YEAR WITH SUCH TRASH ON THE BUBBLE AS WE HAVE THIS SEASON!!!! I HAVE FIXED IT!!!!!!!
– Had I gone with 68, Furman, Florida, Clemson and Murray State would be in the field, playing in Dayton. At least I can say that I would love to see two of those teams in, and I am not talking about Clemson or Florida.
– The top 8 teams were fairly easy and I doubt there will be any serious debate about my 1 and 2 seeds. On the three line, Kansas’ recent 3-game win streak has them back solidly on the 3 line in my opinion. Florida State and LSU are both on the 4 line, and are a pair of red-hot teams right now.
– Villanova’s Sunday loss to St John’s has helped expose their profile as somewhat flimsy overall. They lack any truly great wins and have a couple bad losses. That is a 6 seed profile, not a protected seed.
– Minnesota and Syracuse were the top 2 teams on my 10 line. Below that, I hated every single team. NC State and Auburn have garbage profiles. Alabama and Temple are just as bad, and Oklahoma at least finally won a game this weekend, and being on the road at TCU, it was the Sooners best win of the season. I would have Wofford, Lipscomb and VCU all above the last team in, and Belmont would have been better than a couple of my First Four teams had I let those teams into my field.
– Before anyone (this means you Stalica!) yells at me for letting Yale get a home court advantage by playing in Hartford, I would note that they are on the 12 line. The rule that protects teams from playing at a home court disadvantage in the first round only protects the top 4 seed lines (hence, the term protected seeds). Sorry Purdue.
– The bracket has a handful of fascinating matchups, including Virginia Tech vs VCU and Washington vs Syracuse. The South Region also looks totally stacked (sorry Virginia).
STAFF COMMENTS
COMMENTS FROM DAVID
-I hate agreeing with Chad, and I hate complimenting him even more, but I applaud how he went rogue and just decided to shorten the field back down to 64! Last week I took a D2 team! This week Chad has shortened the field. Who knows what Stalica will do next week? He may decide that San Diego is a nicer city than San Jose, and simply move the games down there!
-I’m not quite getting Purdue on the #5 line. They’re 9-1 in their last ten games and have a very good win at Wisconsin. They jump out at me a little more than Marquette or Florida State.
-I realize most will disagree with this, but I think I’m to a point to where I like Wofford more than Buffalo. I know they’re not as high in the rankings, and that the real committee won’t evaluate them that way, but they are unbeaten in a league that’s at least as good, and probably better, than the MAC. They’ve got 8 true road wins, and ETSU and UNCG are a combined 20-3 at home. Two of those three losses are to Wofford. Part of it is an eye test thing, but I think if the two were to play on a neutral floor Wofford would beat them.
-Oklahoma has no business in the field. None. I know he’s not big on Utah State, but at least they’ve won games against decent teams (albeit not good, but at least decent) and they’ve won away from home. I just can’t look at a team that’s lost that much in league play and take them.
-I like that he’s come around to Iowa State and Kansas State! He’s been listening to me! He’s finally doing something right!
COMMENTS FROM JOHN
-I wouldn’t be sold on Tennessee being the overall #3 seed upon further review of the profiles of all the #1 seed contenders. In fact, I could argue that they could even be as low as #6 overall if you just look at quality wins compared to Gonzaga, Kentucky and Michigan State. I’d even have Gonzaga and Michigan State rounding out the 1s with Kentucky and Tennessee right below them for the time being.
-I’d even argue that LSU could be as high as the 3 line now with their win at Kentucky last week, although it is tough to argue them compared to teams like Iowa State and Kansas State in the Big 12. I’d say Kansas should be at the top of the 4 line in this case.
-Other than that, the only other swap I’d argue for in the top 10 lines would be TCU and Syracuse. Similarly meh profiles, so I’d give the Orange more points for winning at Duke than I would for TCU winning at Iowa State. Neither team has followed up those wins with anything significant, though.
-I’m going to go the other way from the Puppet on Oklahoma. If we’re going to punish teams like NC State with Charmin-soft schedules, Oklahoma should get rewarded for a tough schedule (noncon AND the Big 12) and just enough wins to squeak by. For mid-major fans (i.e. Lipscomb, Toledo, UNC-Greensboro) howling at the moon over my choice, I’d say that you better win your conference tournaments if you want to feel confident about getting your dance cards punched.
-We have a Centenary category that adds the worst team in Division I to the Under Consideration board. We added a Stallings category last year for the worst team in the Power 5 conferences. What is the mystery category that Chad is unveiling that justifies Tulsa to be under consideration this year?
-Finally, I have to commend Michigan for tanking their game against Penn State just so they don’t have to go to Columbus for their subregional. Now they are protected from having to play what amounts to road games in the Des Moines subregional (as opposed to Columbus).
