TAS Bracketology 2009

[TheAsianSensation]

Memphis Regional

@Greensboro
1) North Carolina (26-3) vs. 16) Morehead St (17-15)
Dayton (25-6) vs. 9) Texas A&M (22-8 )

@Portland
4) UCLA (24-7) vs. 13) American (23-7)
5) Illinois (23-8 ) vs. 12) Providence (18-12)

@Philadelphia
3) Villanova (25-6) vs. 14) Cornell (19-9)
6) Butler (25-4) vs. 11) Arizona (19-12)

@Kansas City
2) Oklahoma (27-4) vs. 15) Morgan St (19-11)
7) Utah (21-8 ) vs. 10) Siena (26-7)


Phoenix Regional

@Dayton
1) Louisville (25-5) vs. 16) Radford (18-11)
California (22-9) vs. 9) Oklahoma St (20-10)

@Minneapolis
4) Purdue (22-9) vs. 13) Northern Iowa (22-10)
5) Clemson (23-7) vs. 12) VCU (24-9)

@Miami
3) Wake Forest (24-5) vs. 14) Stephen F Austin (17-7)
6) Syracuse (22-8 ) vs. 11) Michigan (18-12)

@Miami
2) Memphis (28-3) vs. 15) East Tennessee St (21-10)
7) LSU (25-6) vs. 10) New Mexico (21-10)


Boston Regional

@Philadelphia
1) Connecticut (27-3) vs. 16) Alabama St (17-9)
BYU (23-6) vs. 9) Ohio St (20-9)

@Boise
4) Florida St (23-8 ) vs. 13) Binghamton (21-8 )
5) Xavier (24-6) vs. 12) South Carolina (21-8 )

@KansasCity
3) Kansas (25-6) vs. 14) North Dakota St (23-6)
6) Arizona St (22-8 ) vs. 11) Utah St (26-4)

@Minneapolis
2) Michigan St (25-5) vs. 15) Bowling Green (16-12)
7) West Virginia (21-10) vs. 10) Boston College (21-10)


Indianapolis Regional

@Dayton
1) Pittsburgh (27-3) vs. 16) CSU-Northridge (14-13)/Chattanooga (16-16)
Texas (20-10) vs. 9) Wisconsin (18-11)

@Boise
4) Missouri (24-6) vs. 13) Western Kentucky (22-8 )
5) Gonzaga (25-5) vs. 12) San Diego St (19-8 )

@Portland
3) Washington (23-7) vs. 14) Weber St (20-8 )
6) Marquette (23-8 ) vs. 11) Creighton (26-7)

@Greensboro
2) Duke (25-6) vs. 15) Robert Morris (23-10)
7) Tennessee (19-11) vs. 10) UNLV (21-9)


The Bubble

New locks:
Texas A&M
Boston College
Wisconsin
Ohio St
Dayton


9 BUBBLE SPOTS
In order of goodness

Oklahoma St
New Mexico
Michigan
Arizona
UNLV

Last 4 in:
Creighton
San Diego St
Providence
South Carolina

Last 4 out:
St Mary's (23-6)
Minnesota (20-9)
Penn St (21-10)
Florida (20-9)

Next 4 out:
Davidson (25-7)
Virginia Tech (17-13)
Miami (17-11)
Rhode Island (22-9)

In bubble trouble:
Temple (19-11)
Maryland (18-12)
Auburn (20-10)
Kansas St (20-10)
Northwestern (17-12)
Kentucky (19-12)
USC (18-12)
UAB (21-10)

Dead:
Cincinnati (17-13)
Georgetown (16-13)
Illinois St (24-9)
Mississippi St (18-12)
Niagara (26-
George Mason (22-10)
Notre Dame (16-13)
Cleveland St (21-10)
Nebraska (18-11)
Vanderbilt (19-11)
Tulsa (21-9)


Most everyone else is not in the NIT.



Break it down!

Big East 8
ACC 6
Big 12 6
Big 10 6
MWC 5
Pac 10 5
SEC 3
MVC 2
A-10 2

[Da Coach]

I thought this had been posted, but now I can't find it-

ESPN's Joe Lunardi came out with his updated bracketology report today--

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

UNI is a 13 seed against 4-seed Gonzaga, and no other MVC team is in the tournament.
Creighton is listed as one of the first 4 out.

[TheAsianSensation]

I'll come back to here for the rest of my updates.

I have a lenghty process to get to this point, but I'll save you the grief:

Baylor can steal one of the at-large spots. I think Temple is out with a loss. Let's assume neither happens. Let's assume USC loses tonight. 5 for 8 spots. Let's assume Auburn and Maryland lose tomorrow.

That means Creighton must beat 3 of Maryland, Auburn, St Mary's, Michigan, Minny, Penn St, and Arizona to an at-large bid.

[TheAsianSensation]

Random stat of the day that may interest nobody:

It took all season, but the SWAC has officially moved past the group of independent teams into 31st place in the CRPI.

[BradleyBrave]

An NIT spot is on the line in the Big West title game, as CS-Northridge is guaranteed an NIT spot if they don't win the title game against Pacific. It could have ramifications on BU's miracle-at-best NIT hopes. If it wasn't for this 'conference winners who don't make the NCAA's automatically go to the NIT' thing, I think we'd be in. It would be close though.

Maybe Xavier Crawford can score the winning bucket that sends his current team to the NCAA's and sends his former team to an unlikely NIT.

[Tulsa Brave]

So far, there have been 5 automatic qualifiers for the NIT. If CSN loses, that'll make the final number 6, or possibly 7 if Stephen F. Austin loses tomorrow. The 5 so far are Jacksonville, Davidson, Tennessee Martin, Weber State, and Bowling Green. All other champions that lost in their conference tourney are still NCAA locks.

[TheAsianSensation]

NIT ramifications! ISU's spot might even be on hold.

I've been posting my projections at literally a dozen different places, so apologies for neglecting this particular thread.

Yesterday I did this for the NIT:


MIDWEST regional
1) Minnesota (21-10) vs. Bowling Green (17-13)
4) Kansas St (20-11) vs 5) Notre Dame (17-14)
3) UNLV (21-10) vs. 6) George Mason (22-10)
2) Florida (23-10) vs. 7) Duquense (21-11)

WEST regional
1) New Mexico (21-11) vs. Weber St (20-9)
4) Kentucky (20-13) vs. 5) Illinois St (24-9)
3) Miami (17-12) vs. 6) Vanderbilt (19-12)
2) USC (20-12) vs. 7) Northwestern (17-13)

EAST regional
1) Penn St (22-11) vs. Tennessee-Martin (20-9)
4) Tulsa (23-9) vs. 5) Niagara (26-
3) Davidson (25-7) vs. 6) Mississippi St (20-12)
2) South Carolina (21-9) vs. 7) Cincinnati (17-14)

SOUTH regional
1) Auburn (21-10) vs. Jacksonville (18-13)
4) Rhode Island (22-10) vs. 5) Georgetown (16-14)
3) Providence (19-13) vs. 6) UAB (22-11)
2) Virginia Tech (18-13) vs. 7) Baylor (19-13)



Last 4 in
Cincinnati
Vanderbilt
Duquense
Baylor

Last 4 out
Nebraska
Washington St
Houston
Wisconsin-Green Bay

[BradleyBrave]

NIT ramifications! ISU's spot might even be on hold.

I've been posting my projections at literally a dozen different places, so apologies for neglecting this particular thread.

Yesterday I did this for the NIT:


MIDWEST regional
1) Minnesota (21-10) vs. Bowling Green (17-13)
4) Kansas St (20-11) vs 5) Notre Dame (17-14)
3) UNLV (21-10) vs. 6) George Mason (22-10)
2) Florida (23-10) vs. 7) Duquense (21-11)

WEST regional
1) New Mexico (21-11) vs. Weber St (20-9)
4) Kentucky (20-13) vs. 5) Illinois St (24-9)
3) Miami (17-12) vs. 6) Vanderbilt (19-12)
2) USC (20-12) vs. 7) Northwestern (17-13)

EAST regional
1) Penn St (22-11) vs. Tennessee-Martin (20-9)
4) Tulsa (23-9) vs. 5) Niagara (26-
3) Davidson (25-7) vs. 6) Mississippi St (20-12)
2) South Carolina (21-9) vs. 7) Cincinnati (17-14)

SOUTH regional
1) Auburn (21-10) vs. Jacksonville (18-13)
4) Rhode Island (22-10) vs. 5) Georgetown (16-14)
3) Providence (19-13) vs. 6) UAB (22-11)
2) Virginia Tech (18-13) vs. 7) Baylor (19-13)



Last 4 in
Cincinnati
Vanderbilt
Duquense
Baylor

Last 4 out
Nebraska
Washington St
Houston
Wisconsin-Green Bay

USC won the Pac-10, so they're going to the NCAA's. I guess add Nebraska?

[TheAsianSensation]

USC won the Pac-10, so they're going to the NCAA's. I guess add Nebraska?

Yea.

Really, there's a few other teams that can sneak in as well. The NIT bubble isn't that well defined.

The other thing to take away from it is that Bradley's profile doesn't quite match up with those final teams listed. Washington St and Cincy were showing up on NCAA bubble watches a week or two weeks ago. A .500 Big 12 team. Tom Penders' smug face. If the NIT field were extended back to 40 teams, Bradley could be right there. It's sort of a shame the NIT reduced their field AND gave out autobids - it's just too restricting. This restriction led to both the CIT and CBI being formed - in reality, we only need one of those to exist.



A suggestion to make the NIT field 64 teams was brought up somewhere. It actually seems like a great idea - gets rid of the messy lower tournaments, and can cover the deserving teams. Remember, massive D-1 expansion means more postseason spots need to be created.

[TheAsianSensation]

For the record, I just checked NITology. I had Vandy in and Nebraska out, and those were our only differences.

Great minds think alike.

[BradleyBrave]

Yea.

Really, there's a few other teams that can sneak in as well. The NIT bubble isn't that well defined.

The other thing to take away from it is that Bradley's profile doesn't quite match up with those final teams listed. Washington St and Cincy were showing up on NCAA bubble watches a week or two weeks ago. A .500 Big 12 team. Tom Penders' smug face. If the NIT field were extended back to 40 teams, Bradley could be right there. It's sort of a shame the NIT reduced their field AND gave out autobids - it's just too restricting. This restriction led to both the CIT and CBI being formed - in reality, we only need one of those to exist.



A suggestion to make the NIT field 64 teams was brought up somewhere. It actually seems like a great idea - gets rid of the messy lower tournaments, and can cover the deserving teams. Remember, massive D-1 expansion means more postseason spots need to be created.

The answer is an 80 team NCAA Tournament where the top 2 seeds in each region get to play teams that 'play in' for seeds 15 and 16 (the MEACS, Big West's, etc). A 32 team NIT after that would be about as many teams as anyone needed to see play past their conference tournament.

[TheAsianSensation]

The answer is an 80 team NCAA Tournament where the top 2 seeds in each region get to play teams that 'play in' for seeds 15 and 16 (the MEACS, Big West's, etc). A 32 team NIT after that would be about as many teams as anyone needed to see play past their conference tournament.

That would actually be 72 teams, if there were play-ins for the 15s and 16s only.

I would lean towards 68 myself, but as long as there's some form of minor expansion.

This is sort of an arbitrary number, but 112 postseason teams sounds right to me. 68 in the NCAAs and 48 in the NIT would be that breakdown.

[pfunk880]

I'd also be in favor of a 72 team NCAA. It would be a slight enough expansion to keep things reasonable, and it would give the play-in games more legitimacy.

[BradleyBrave]

That would actually be 72 teams, if there were play-ins for the 15s and 16s only.

I would lean towards 68 myself, but as long as there's some form of minor expansion.

This is sort of an arbitrary number, but 112 postseason teams sounds right to me. 68 in the NCAAs and 48 in the NIT would be that breakdown.

You are correct. 72 it is. It was late and I was watching a bad Big West game. Clearly I wasn't thinking straight.

[BUFAN]

What site is first to have a printable bracket?