For lesser conferences absolutely but unfair to regular season winners.Conference tournaments are exciting!
And as Brad has said, for Power Conferences, they know the seedings by Friday. Just a money grab. Pointless.
For lesser conferences absolutely but unfair to regular season winners.Conference tournaments are exciting!
A few days back, I actually heard some ESPN'er suggest that EVERY BIG 12 team can get in.Just turned it on, got sick of the Big12 love fest on ESPN.
looking more like 7 nowA few days back, I actually heard some ESPN'er suggest that EVERY BIG 12 team can get in.
Still think we need to win Thursday at Minnesota... but as you said, beating NW again could alleviate the damage there. Lose both and I think the committee says that THIS current Rutgers team is not the team that built that resume. I think that will be the case if disaster strikes and then the usual upsets occur in the *AQ* games.
The deciding factor will be HOW MANY B1G TEN teams can make a case. The reason is that while the Big Ten rep can wheel and deal in a general sense.. he/she cannot be in the room when Big Ten teams are discussed. And who does that leave in the room? Why.. all the interested parties from other conferences who will throw around the memory of how poorly the Big Ten did last year's tourney DESPITE all the hype of how good and deep they were. Eliminating any Big Ten team by highlighting the negatives will likely happen. Same could be true for other conferences. And the Big Ten has made enemies with the PAC.. so I expect some shenanigans.. conference-politics shenanigans.
You do good work on this. But we shall see. Never underestimate self-interest and backroom deal-making. The Big Ten will not use its political capital on Rutgers behalf... to help Michigan get in.. sure. OSU if there was a case.. sure.they dont talk conferences...any play from prior year is disregarded. Big 10 will get 9 I think, the question is can they get 10.
Absolutely right. If they can shaft RU, they will take great pride in it. Don't drop last two conference games.You do good work on this. But we shall see. Never underestimate self-interest and backroom deal-making. The Big Ten will not use its political capital on Rutgers behalf... to help Michigan get in.. sure. OSU if there was a case.. sure.
You do good work on this. But we shall see. Never underestimate self-interest and backroom deal-making. The Big Ten will not use its political capital on Rutgers behalf... to help Michigan get in.. sure. OSU if there was a case.. sure.
Lol. Good one ! I’m also trying to figure out what to do on off day between games in Des Moines? Maybe go cow tipping ?I'm still trying to figure out where in the USA Des Moines is? LOL. Is it in France?
Best of Luck,
Groz
What are the 7/10 locations? Do you have a link?No but the probable 1 seeds will be at the following sites (closest to each school):
Kansas: Des Moines
UCLA: Sacramento
Houston: Birmingham
Alabama: Birmingham
Purdue: Columbus
As an 8 or 9 seed, we'll be in the same 4-team pod as a 1 seed (and therefore at the same first-weekend site as them).
Columbus won't happen because they won't want to have a potential 2nd round Purdue-Rutgers rematch.
Yes. Bid stealers are always an issue and moved us down.Not by the committee. Virginia Tech and Richmond won their conference tournaments and created two more autobids than there would have been. Without those we would've been seeded higher. That's why being Last 4 In is always dicey.
nothing is set but those other locations include Orlando, Greensboro Denver,,,,the latter is almost certainly a 2 with ArizonaWhat are the 7/10 locations? Do you have a link?
There will be a handful of bid stealers. Occurs every year. Its why you want to avoid that 11/12 line.Yes. Bid stealers are always an issue and moved us down.
They have done this at home and exactly just 2 times on the road all year. Against RU at the RAC and tonite against Indiana . Otherwise play pedestrian on the road and shoot terribly. Not tonite. Indiana was playing good to great defense lately but they looked like they were in quicksand compared to Iowa. At least we made a comeback and got it to 6 when they got the airball rebound and kick out 3 and then Murray with the conversion with 1 on the shot clock preventing a 1 possession game with 2 minutes to go. Indiana had nothing , really weak and got called out by Woodson tonight.this is the kind of win that will push Iowa to the 7 line and depending how they finish maybe a 6
AD Mark Coyleits the Minnesota AD that is the Big 10 rep
I suspect Iowa had quite teh shot-in-the-arm with that historic comeback. Each made three probably built confidence.. especially after losing that game would have meant the opposite.. a 3-game skid and they were nearly blown out at home. That was miracle and I expect it paid dividends at Indiana. Heck.. I think that comeback inspired a lot of teams.. maybe even Rutgers vs PSU.They have done this at home and exactly just 2 times on the road all year. Against RU at the RAC and tonite against Indiana . Otherwise play pedestrian on the road and shoot terribly. Not tonite. Indiana was playing good to great defense lately but they looked like they were in quicksand compared to Iowa. At least we made a comeback and got it to 6 when they got the airball rebound and kick out 3 and then Murray with the conversion with 1 on the shot clock preventing a 1 possession game with 2 minutes to go. Indiana had nothing , really weak and got called out by Woodson tonight.
ooo Orlando please.nothing is set but those other locations include Orlando, Greensboro Denver,,,,the latter is almost certainly a 2 with Arizona
Villanova(16-14) 2-8, 3-4, 5-12, Q3 7-2, 12-14Does a regular season finale win over uConn and a trip to the big east championship game get Nova somehow near the bubble?
A&M holds off Ole Miss
Kansas going to win. Texas Tech is likely going to need to win the Big 12 tourney... their overall Q1/2 is going to fall to 5-14. I suppose they can win vs Okie State and make the Big 12 finals and we can reevaluate.
Does a regular season finale win over uConn and a trip to the big east championship game get Nova somehow near the bubble?
The bubble is getting very small.
These teams are either true locks or I feel really, really good about them making it. Seed listing from Bracket Matrix... everyone on the 8 line or higher is a stone cold lock.
(9) Missouri
(9) Rutgers
(9) Florida Atlantic
(10) Pittsburgh
(11) West Virginia
(11) Boise State
I consider these teams to be autobid or bust at this point:
Oregon - They're the closest to being included below, but we saw with Texas A&M last year how hard it is to rise up from a run in the conference tournament. A hypothetical loss in the Pac-12 championship game would be their 14th, and that's a lot to overcome with only one premier win (home vs. Arizona)
New Mexico - Reluctantly included. I suppose there's an argument for them to be in the section below but again, hard to regain a foothold in the conference tournament. If some nutty stuff happens like Memphis losing to SMU, Nevada losing to UNLV, etc starts happening I'm willing to revisit their chances with a strong MWC tournament run, but for now they're here.
Texas Tech - Too many losses, nothing in the non-conference.
Clemson - Just not enough meat on the bone to overcome the flaws on the resume.
Here is the true bubble as I see it. 13 teams for 8 spots:
(9) NC State - Their season is in the books as the odd ACC team without a dance partner for the weekend. They're just 2-6 in Q1 and other teams in this area are much healthier in that department. Wisconsin is 6-6, USC is 4-4, Nevada is 4-5, Arizona State is 4-2. That's their issue. They're almost certainly safe if they win a game in the ACC tournament, but that's the same spot Wake Forest was in last year and they lost to Boston College.
(10) Nevada - This is a car that's out of gas and they're just trying to push it past the finish line. They needed to come back to beat Fresno State and then followed that up with a loss at Wyoming. They close the season out with a home against UNLV. Win that and they're fine. Lose that and it's another Q3 loss for the register and then if Utah State (currently #30) drops out of Q1 range... the resume could look noticeably worse pretty soon.
(10) Auburn - Just 2-8 in Q1 and they've got a pair of really tough ones left, at Alabama and vs. Tennessee. Granted the Vols have been dishing out Q1 wins to all who need them and they might be without their starting PG. But there's a decent chance Auburn enters the SEC tournament at 2-10 in Q1 plus a Q3 loss... really at that point the resume would not be so different from Michigan's. The Wolverines are 3-10 in Q1 with a Q4 loss. Losing to Central Michigan at home is way way worse than losing at Georgia, but Michigan's wins are better. Auburn won on a neutral vs. Northwestern, Michigan won at Northwestern. Auburn beat Arkansas at home, Michigan beat Maryland at home (call that one a wash). Michigan won at Rutgers, Auburn has no road win like that in the tank.
(10) Memphis - They're really lucky the A&M win has aged this well because there's not a whole lot else going on here. They've dodged enough bullets that a win at SMU is enough to get it done. A win over Houston would obviously lock them up but I'm thinking it's likely not necessary. Now if they take a bad loss in the AAC tournament we could revisit.
(11) USC - They're up to 4-4 in Q1 but only the UCLA win is all that impressive. The others are at Arizona State, at Utah, at Colorado. The neutral site loss to Wisconsin could end up being a big deal if those two are vying for a final spot. They probably just need to win one of their final two (Arizona, Arizona State, both at home) to punch their ticket, although if they only beat ASU they're still in the Dayton mix.
(11) Wisconsin - The team that won't go away thanks to six Q1 wins. The perfect example of a team doing it with zero style points. Pretty much all of their good work happened before the calendar flipped. Their only Q1 wins since December 12 are at Ohio State and at Penn State, neither of which is gonna pop any eyeballs. But there's also home wins over Iowa and Michigan in that span. Their issue is a mounting loss total. They could go into the Big Ten tournament at 17-13 and if they drop to 17-14 that's really the danger zone. On the other hand Purdue is struggling right now so the Badgers can make all their problems go away with a win tomorrow.
(11) Arizona State - They saved their season with the buzzer beater but the work is not done. The 4-2 Q1 record is great but the 4-6 Q2 record is not, and there's that pesky Q4 loss. Working in their favor is a neutral site win over Michigan... Wolverines are 9-11 in the first two quadrants with a Q4 loss, Sun Devils are 8-8 with a Q4 loss... Like USC they've got two big games left (at UCLA, at USC) so they could be 4-4 in Q1 in a heartbeat. Of course, win one of those and they're likely safe at 5-3 in Q1.
(11) Mississippi State - Crisis averted at home against South Carolina. Now they've got to go play at Vanderbilt to close out the season, the type of spot where you get no credit for winning but a loss is damaging. It's the difference between 9-9 and 8-10 in the first two quadrants (plus there's a Q3 loss) which could easily be the make-or-break difference.
North Carolina - Now we're into the territory where teams can't simply tread water, they need to get stuff done. A Q1 loss is not an issue for a team like Auburn at this point and if UNC loses at home to Duke there's just simply not enough there to justify including the Tar Heels. They'd be 1-9 in Q1 and the 1 is barely hanging in there (Virginia at #29). If UNC wins that and Mississippi State loses at Vanderbilt and Arizona State loses their two games and Nevada loses to UNLV... there's a path.
Michigan - Yet another team with a two Q1 games remaining (along with Auburn, Arizona State, and heck I'll include USC as their head to head with ASU might as well be Q1 given the stakes) as they're at Illinois and Indiana. The obvious question: is a split enough? That'd get them to 4-11 in Q1 but their neutral site win over Pitt (#53) and their home win over Michigan State (#31) are tantalizingly lose to Q1. Say those two flip, well now suddenly they're 6-11 in Q1. But wait, there's more. Maybe Virginia falls out, now they're 6-10 in Q1 (and still 4-2 in Q2)... That's not amazing but it's a whole lot more appetizing than the current 3-11 mark. And yes, I'm reducing this to quadrants for simplicity's sake, the committee will understand a Q2 neutral win over Pittsburgh is a lot more impressive than a Q2 home win over UCF. What we do know is there's no shot at an at large without at least one win in the next two.
Utah State - Grand opening, grand closing. Utah State had a Q1 win for about a day before Nevada lost and fell back to Q2. Utah State themselves are still #30 in the NET but there's zero Q1 wins plus a Q3 and a Q4 loss... and the Q3 loss is the worst possible Q3 loss (loss to #200 SMU... if they slip to #201 it's back to Q4). On the other hand if they add a win against Boise State that'll take care of the Q1 problem and there are also wins over Bradley, Oral Roberts, and a split with fellow bubbler Nevada. I think at best we're talking about them as one of the last two teams in the field.
Penn State - Gotta have the last two at Northwestern and vs Maryland, I think. If they got those they'd be 5-7 in Q1, 4-5 in Q2... man, that still doesn't feel like enough, does it? Then again we're talking about Michigan having a shot if they get to 10-12 in the first two quadrants, and the Nittany Lions don't have an awful loss like they do. If they only split they'd be 4-8 in Q1, 4-5 in Q2 and 8-13 definitely not gonna get it done.
Oklahoma State - Fairly close to life support. They play at Texas Tech in a battle of 16-14 teams... the reason Oklahoma State is on here and Texas Tech is autobid or bust is that this is a Q1 game for the Cowboys on the road and a Q2 game for Tech at home. They need a win in Lubbock and at least one more in the Big 12 tournament.
And lastly, two complete wildcards if they lose their conference tournament:
Oral Roberts
Charleston
I'm not fully discounting the committee would include them as an at-large in a year where there are so few viable mid-majors. Oral Roberts is 27-4 and ran the table in the Summit League. They own a win over Liberty and their losses are to St. Mary's, Houston, Utah State, and New Mexico. Any loss in the Summit League tournament is a bad loss, but I'm not fully ruling them out.
Charleston doesn't have any wins as good as Liberty (their best is Virginia Tech) and they've lost to Hofstra and Drexel. So their case is weaker than ORU's but 4 losses is hard to ignore especially if the bubble really gets ugly.
SOUTH REGION – Louisville | MIDWEST REGION – Kansas City | |
Birmingham | Birmingham | |
1) Alabama | 1) Houston | |
16) Alcorn State-FDU | 16) Texas A&M Corpus Christi | |
8) Rutgers | 8) Illinois | |
9) Providence | 9) Arkansas | |
Orlando | Orlando | |
5) Saint Mary's | 5) Xavier | |
12) VCU | 12) Southern Mississippi | |
4) Indiana | 4) TCU | |
13) Toledo | 13) Utah Valley State | |
Greensboro | Greensboro | |
6) Iowa | 6) Kentucky | |
11) Nevada | 11) Wisconsin-North Carolina St | |
3) Tennessee | 3) Kansas State | |
14) Furman | 14) Colgate | |
Des Moines | Denver | |
7) Missouri | 7) Duke | |
10) Boise State | 10) Mississippi State | |
2) Baylor | 2) Texas | |
15) Kennesaw State | 15) Vermont | |
WEST REGION – Las Vegas | EAST REGION – New York | |
Des Moines | Columbus | |
1) Kansas | 1) Purdue | |
16) UNC Asheville | 16) Howard-Morehead State | |
8) Texas A&M | 8) Iowa State | |
9) Pittsburgh | 9) Florida Atlantic | |
Albany | Albany | |
5) Miami | 5) Creighton | |
12) Oral Roberts | 12) Bradley | |
4) Connecticut | 4) Virginia | |
13) Iona | 13) Hofstra | |
Sacramento | Columbus | |
6) San Diego State | 6) Northwestern | |
11) USC-Michigan | 11) Memphis | |
3) Gonzaga | 3) Marquette | |
14) UC Irvine | 14) Yale | |
Denver | Sacramento | |
7) Maryland | 7) Michigan State | |
10) West Virginia | 10) Auburn | |
2) Arizona | 2) UCLA | |
15) Eastern Washington | 15) Youngstown State |
On March 1 last year there were 18 teams listed in at least one bracket that were not included in the Bracket Matrix composite field of 68. **Aside from the obvious bubble-bursting conference tourneys, do we think the bubble also gets stronger at the very end of the year due to desperate teams overperforming?
Are we often saying “weak bubble” in mid-Feb, then by Selection Sunday we’re like “It’s actually a normal bubble”?
Aside from the obvious bubble-bursting conference tourneys, do we think the bubble also gets stronger at the very end of the year due to desperate teams overperforming?
Are we often saying “weak bubble” in mid-Feb, then by Selection Sunday we’re like “It’s actually a normal bubble”?