Bracketology

[Da Coach]

CBS bracketologist Jerry Palm has Wichita State as one of his first 4 teams OUT of the tournament, and Illinois State as the auto-bid and a #12 seed (updated Feb. 26 PM) -

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

ESPN's Joe Lunardi projects Wichita State as the automatic qualifier (a #8 seed), and Illinois State as one of the last teams 4 IN (as a #12 seed), and "on the bubble". His bracket was last updated Feb. 23, and will probably be updated again shortly today--

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

[mvcfan]

Yeah Shocker fans are having a meltdown over Palm on their board. Hopefully ISU and WSU meet in the title game and both can find a way in. I know thats not what many on here want to hear.

[tornado]

No respect for the MVC but there are a few individuals we have to thank for that...
- a couple AD's who drove their programs into the abyss
- a couple coaches who have scheduled poorly so that even when they had 25 wins, they went to the NIT and still couldn't beat anybody
- and a few players who thought they were too big for the Valley so they transferred "up" and wasted their final years of eligibility as bench players on bad teams

[Da Coach]

ESPN's Joe Lunardi just updated his bracket projections-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

He has moved Illinois State more solidly into the tournament field now to a #11 seed, and they are no long among the "Last 4 In". Wichita State is still an #8 seed.

He does not have Illinois in the tournament, as almost nobody does, and he does not even have them in the next 8 teams out. He has Northwestern in as a #10 seed. CBS's Jerry Palm also doesn't have Illinois in the tournament nor in the First 4 Out, and he has Northwestern as a #7 seed.

However, check out this comparison-

https://twitter.com/TomFornelli/status/836217431089635328

Illinois is Team A, and Northwestern is Team B. Their resumes are quite similar, and Illinois has played a much tougher schedule and has beaten Northwestern twice! Yet everyone has Northwestern in the tournament as a "lock", and nobody is even considering Illinois as a long-shot. Interesting.

[tornado]

I have said it all year - look for Northwestern to get the sympathy vote...
They have now lost 2 in a row and 5 of their last 7 --
and could lose their next two as well (Michigan & Purdue)..

PLUS- their premier win isn't looking so good right now - after they beat Wisconsin, the Badgers then proceeded to lose THREE more games in a hurry and drop their RPI fifteen points.

Then they might go into the Big Ten Tournament at 9-9 with their RPI around 60 and sitting in 8-9th place in the Big Ten.
They might then have to face Illinois or Michigan again in the Big Ten Tourney..
It will be interesting..........I don't think they have an NCAA spot locked up yet as some do

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/news/northwestern-all-but-locks-up-first-ncaa-tournament-bid/fa0wfx3gpyqf1sgnoyt8fwi0n

[BUSongwriter]

Home cooking

Ah, the time of year when my blood pressure goes up because of how the fix is always in for the "Power" Five, which already have wide revenue, exposure and recruiting advantages.

Add to that the amount of home games they play compared to the mids. Just a sample, not counting neutral site games:

Illinois: 16 at home, 8 on the road.
Illinois State: 15 at home, 13 on road.

Syracuse: A ninth place bubble team at 17-13, has played 18 home games, 10 road games.
BU: 15 home, 13 on the road.

Duke played eight road games all year.

It makes the inevitable upsets in the early rounds so much more sweet. And I can't wait till BU is back in this conversation, hopefully in just a year or two.

[Da Coach]

Ah, the time of year when my blood pressure goes up because of how the fix is always in for the "Power" Five, which already have wide revenue, exposure and recruiting advantages.

Add to that the amount of home games they play compared to the mids. Just a sample, not counting neutral site games:

Illinois: 16 at home, 8 on the road.
Illinois State: 15 at home, 13 on road.

Syracuse: A ninth place bubble team at 17-13, has played 18 home games, 10 road games.
BU: 15 home, 13 on the road.

Duke played eight road games all year.

It makes the inevitable upsets in the early rounds so much more sweet. And I can't wait till BU is back in this conversation, hopefully in just a year or two.

You are absolutely right. The fact that Syracuse, with an RPI this morning of 78 is still listed as an NCAA team according to Joe Lunardi (he has them as a #10 seed) is mind-boggling.
There are some of the big schools that will play 18, 19, and even 20 home games this season!

On the other end of the spectrum, Chicago State has only played 6 home games this season (they have 1 more to go).

I'd like to see the NCAA impose a penalty for any team that plays less than 4 true road non-conference games.
There are a number of the Power 5 teams like Syracuse, Minnesota, Indiana, Northwestern and others who played only one true non-conference road game.

And there are a few, like Duke and Illinois, who did not play a single non-conference true road game!.

[Stickboy46]

Yeah Shocker fans are having a meltdown over Palm on their board. Hopefully ISU and WSU meet in the title game and both can find a way in. I know thats not what many on here want to hear.

I don't think its really a meltdown as much as laughing at Palm

http://bracketmatrix.com/

That tracks a ton of different brackets. As of this morning WSU is in 111 of 113 brackets. So Palm is one of 2 people that think that WSU isn't going to make it. It's also WHO he has ahead. He moved WSU down after the 19 point Win at MSU and has KSU ahead of them who just lost to OU by 30 ...(who WSU also beat).

[mvcfan]

Don't get me wrong I hope Palm is wrong.

[BUSongwriter]

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo recently on the work ahead for his team to get into the NCAA tournament:

"I just plan on us figuring out a way. If I'm talking about it, there's five other Big Ten teams talking about it, there's four or five ACC teams, there's three or four SEC teams. I mean, there are so many teams that are 6-8 and 8-6 around the country that everybody's in the same boat."

And in the mid-majors, there are 17-1 conference champion teams in the same boat.

Izzo doesn't have a worry in the world. Now 18-11, 10-6 Sparty is in. But geez, I feel for the under-500 power conference teams who are sooooo deserving and are feeling such pressure now.

Not.

[tornado]

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo recently on the work ahead for his team to get into the NCAA tournament:.....

What an enormous crock of BS!!

The HEAD of the NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SELECTION COMMITTEE is the Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis!
..who just happens to be a very close friend and the employer of Tom Izzo and the AD of the Michigan State Spartans.

The vice-chairman is one of the top Big East guys - so you can bet they will get 8 or 9 teams as well....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_basketball_tournament_selection_process

I think we lump Michigan State getting in with death & taxes this year...

[Da Coach]

Michigan State deserves a bid and will get one barring a complete collapse in their final 2 games and a first round exit from their tournament. They are currently tied for 4th place in the Big Ten. Right now, Lunardi has 7 Big Ten teams in the tournament, but Illinois still has an outside chance to be the 8th.

The ACC will get 8 or 9, but they deserve at least 8, and Lunardi thinks Syracuse will get in as the 9th, though their RPI is currently 79!

And the Big East will not get "8 or 9" teams in the tournament. There are only 7 Big East teams that even have an overall winning record, and only 6 that have RPI's under 70. They only have 4 teams (Villanova, Butler, Creighton, and Xavier) that are locks, and 3 more that are on the bubble. Lunardi shows 7 in the tournament right now, but 3 of them (Providence, Seton Hall, and Marquette) are among the "Last 4 In", and are in danger of getting bumped.

Lunardi shows the SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12 with 5 teams each, and no other conference with more than 2.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

[Da Coach]

Northwestern just likely secured an at large bid with a last-second win over Michigan. NW inbounded the ball at the opposite end with a little over a second left. They threw a full court pass, and somehow their center Dererk Pardon caught it and laid it in for a 67-65 win.

Their final game is Sunday against Purdue.

[Chico]

Northwestern just likely secured an at large bid with a last-second win over Michigan. NW inbounded the ball at the opposite end with a little over a second left. They threw a full court pass, and somehow their center Dererk Pardon caught it and laid it in for a 67-65 win.

Their final game is Sunday against Purdue.

Reminded me of the Bradley-Drake game in Des Moines when Jim Les threw a full court pass to the "Hawk" to win the game at the buzzer.

[bigjimmy]

By the way the kid who threw the perfect pass was Nate Taphorn.