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Lunardi Pre-Season Bracketology

lion1983

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Not that it really matters (no one knows anything given all the portal turnover that will be the future), but Lunardi of ESPN has his pre-season hoops bracketology out: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...logy-2025-march-madness-men-field-predictions

Some takeaways, but without judgment or comment:

1) 9 Big Ten teams ... 10 SEC teams ... 9 Big 12 ... 7 ACC ... 5 Big East

2) RU is an 11 sed, one of the "Last 4 In" (along with Louisville, Dayton and Pitt)

3) For what it is worth (completely meaningless), Lunardi has the winner of the 11 seeds RU-UL to play a 6 seed St. Johns ... the takeaway is not the match up, but that ST. Johns is a 6 seed while RU is an 11 seed ... we might know more this week - though it is just an exhibition game, and early in RU's practice - RU's defense will likely be much better in January/Feb than in October.

4) Big Ten teams: Top Big Ten Seed: Purdue at a #4 seed ... Indiana is a 5 seed ... UCLA a 6 seed ... Illinois and Mich. St are 7 seeds ... Michigan is an 8 seed ... Oregon and Ohio St are 10 seeds ... Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and USC are all in the "Last 4 Out." ... by implication, he seeds the Big Ten as 1. Purdue, 2. Indiana, 3. UCLA, 4T. Illinois and MSU, 6. Michigan, 7T. Oregon and Ohio St., 9. RU, and 10-13: Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and USC.

5) #1 seeds are Kansas, Duke ... and Alabama and Houston (if RU could somehow steal a win over one of those 2, great wins).

6) Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Princeton are not picked to make the NCAA - but in the even more irrelevant prediction, Wagner is predicted to win their league and be in the play-in game.
 
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Not that it really matters (no one knows anything given all the portal turnover that will be the future), but Lunardi of ESPN has his pre-season hoops bracketology out: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...logy-2025-march-madness-men-field-predictions

Some takeaways, but without judgment or comment:

1) 9 Big Ten teams ... 10 SEC teams ... 9 Big 12 ... 7 ACC ... 5 Big East

2) RU is an 11 sed, one of the "Last 4 In" (along with Louisville, Dayton and Pitt)

3) For what it is worth (completely meaningless), Lunardi has the winner of the 11 seeds RU-UL to play a 6 seed St. Johns ... the takeaway is not the match up, but that ST. Johns is a 6 seed while RU is an 11 seed ... we might know more this week - though it is just an exhibition game, and early in RU's practice - RU's defense will likely be much better in January/Feb than in October.

4) Big Ten teams: Top Big Ten Seed: Purdue at a #4 seed ... Indiana is a 5 seed ... UCLA a 6 seed ... Illinois and Mich. St are 7 seeds ... Michigan is an 8 seed ... Oregon and Ohio St are 10 seeds ... Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and USC are all in the "Last 4 Out." ... by implication, he seeds the Big Ten as 1. Purdue, 2. Indiana, 3. UCLA, 4T. Illinois and MSU, 6. Michigan, 7T. Oregon and Ohio St., 9. RU, and 10-13: Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and USC.

5) #1 seeds are Kansas, Duke ... and Alabama and Houston (if RU could somehow steal a win over one of those 2, great wins).

6) Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Princeton are not picked to make the NCAA - but in the even more irrelevant prediction, Wagner is predicted to win their league and be in the play-in game.
I still don't understand. If 2 of our starting 5 are top 5 NBA draft picks next year...... how can you project RU as an 11 seed? This isn't football. Only 5 guys can be on the court
 
I still don't understand. If 2 of our starting 5 are top 5 NBA draft picks next year...... how can you project RU as an 11 seed? This isn't football. Only 5 guys can be on the court
They are still freshman and our front line is weak. Lots of unknowns but not a bad guess.
 
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I still don't understand. If 2 of our starting 5 are top 5 NBA draft picks next year...... how can you project RU as an 11 seed? This isn't football. Only 5 guys can be on the court
The two will be drafted based on their potential as pros

And, they may not realize a good portion of that potential during the one year in college
 
Not that it really matters (no one knows anything given all the portal turnover that will be the future), but Lunardi of ESPN has his pre-season hoops bracketology out: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...logy-2025-march-madness-men-field-predictions

Some takeaways, but without judgment or comment:

1) 9 Big Ten teams ... 10 SEC teams ... 9 Big 12 ... 7 ACC ... 5 Big East

2) RU is an 11 sed, one of the "Last 4 In" (along with Louisville, Dayton and Pitt)

3) For what it is worth (completely meaningless), Lunardi has the winner of the 11 seeds RU-UL to play a 6 seed St. Johns ... the takeaway is not the match up, but that ST. Johns is a 6 seed while RU is an 11 seed ... we might know more this week - though it is just an exhibition game, and early in RU's practice - RU's defense will likely be much better in January/Feb than in October.

4) Big Ten teams: Top Big Ten Seed: Purdue at a #4 seed ... Indiana is a 5 seed ... UCLA a 6 seed ... Illinois and Mich. St are 7 seeds ... Michigan is an 8 seed ... Oregon and Ohio St are 10 seeds ... Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and USC are all in the "Last 4 Out." ... by implication, he seeds the Big Ten as 1. Purdue, 2. Indiana, 3. UCLA, 4T. Illinois and MSU, 6. Michigan, 7T. Oregon and Ohio St., 9. RU, and 10-13: Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and USC.

5) #1 seeds are Kansas, Duke ... and Alabama and Houston (if RU could somehow steal a win over one of those 2, great wins).

6) Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Princeton are not picked to make the NCAA - but in the even more irrelevant prediction, Wagner is predicted to win their league and be in the play-in game.
“Preseason Bracketology” is just plain stupid.

But as a prognostication of how the Big Ten and other conferences might play out, it’s fine. Thanks for breaking it down for us.

Lunardi’s predictions for the Big Ten seem in line with many others, with Purdue/Indiana/MSU/Illinois toward the top and Rutgers in the middle. People just don’t know where we’re going to land with two freshmen future lottery picks combined with a bunch of role players.
 
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Lunardi is a joke. It's easy to predict which teams are in the tournament when you have their resumes all laid out, but when it comes to preseason predictions he is trash
 
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