BracketBusters 2009

[TheAsianSensation]

Dammit all to hell.

Now we're in trouble. I just know they're going to have teams skip over us. We'd be the 5th Valley team, and ESPN could easily say "4 is enough" out of the league and put Evansville on TV and not us just because UE was the team that lucked out on being on the right side of the home/road split.



God I hate BB.

[BU RICK]

Sorry for our loss today So I hope it means we will get to play at Loyola in the BB and play them at home next season

[MacabreMob]

Updated after Saturday's Games.

HOME TEAM
20 Siena
31 Davidson
50 St Mary's
69 Evansville
73 Niagara
75 Creighton
89 Nevada
90 Fairfield
99 Drexel
100 Wright St
112 UW Milwaukee
120 Portland St
121 Vermont
126 Drake
140 San Diego
141 UT-Martin
142 James Madison
150 Loyola
151 Long Beach St
157 Rider
158 UIC
161 Bowling Green
163 Wichita St
166 New Mexico St
174 E Kentucky
177 Boston
179 Murray St
182 ODU
186 San Jose St
188 Idaho
196 Kent
201 Ball St
203 Georgia So
208 Valpo
211 UC-Santa Barbara
228 Towson
234 Hawaii
243 Indiana St
245 Winthrop
246 Marist
253 W Michigan
263 UC-Davis
270 Cal Poly
274 William & Mary
276 UNC-Wilmington
282 Central Michigan
286 Bucknell
298 Youngstown St
301 Tennessee St
332 E Michigan
333 SEMO

ROAD TEAM
9 Butler
42 Utah St
52 Miami (Oh)
57 Northeastern
59 Illinois St
61 VCU
62 George Mason
70 Northern Iowa
72 Buffalo
80 UW Green Bay
81 Boise St
91 Bradley
96 Cleveland St
97 North Dakota St
98 Hofstra
115 Austin Peay
125 Akron
127 SIU
137 Loyola (Md)
138 Ohio
149 Missouri St
152 Morehead St
164 Pacific
165 CS Fullerton
167 CS Northridge
170 Iona
178 Morgan St
183 Liberty
184 Montana St
189 Gardner-Webb
197 Manhattan
206 Canisius
217 UMBC
227 Jacksonville St
230 Deleware
232 Louisiana Tech
236 Fresno St
241 UC-Riverside
250 S Dakota St
251 Tenn Tech
252 Elon
254 UC-Irvine
257 Hartford
262 Detroit
265 E Illinois
268 Georgia St
269 Appalachian St
293 St Peter's
309 Toledo
318 Fairleigh Dickinson
330 Northern Illinois

[MacabreMob]

Here are my projected matchups after Saturday's games:

Siena vs Northeastern deuce
Davidson vs Butler deuce
St Mary's vs Utah St deuce
Evansville vs Miami (Oh) U
Niagara vs Illinois St U
Creighton vs VCU U
Nevada vs Northern Iowa deuce
Fairfield vs George Mason U
Drexel vs Buffalo deuce
Wright St vs Bradley 360
Portland St vs Boise St U
Vermont vs UW-Green Bay U
Long Beach St vs North Dakota St 360

------some other matchups------

UW-Milwaukee vs Austin Peay
Drake vs Cleveland St
San Diego vs CS Fullerton
UT-Martin vs Loyola (Md)
James Madison vs Akron
Loyola vs SIU
Rider vs Hofstra
UIC vs Ohio
Bowling Green vs Morehead St
Wichita St vs Montana St
New Mexico St vs CS Northridge
Eastern Kentucky vs Missouri St
Boston U vs Morgan St
Murray St vs Gardner-Webb
ODU vs Liberty
San Jose St vs Pacific

[TheAsianSensation]

And here are mine. In order of best to worst:

Butler @ Davidson - Deuce
Utah St @ St Mary's - Deuce
Northeastern @ Siena - Deuce
Northern Iowa @ Nevada - Deuce
VCU @ Creighton - Deuce

MiamiOH @ Evansville - The U
George Mason @ Niagara - The U
Illinois St @ Fairfield - The U
Buffalo @ Wright St - The U
Boise St @ Portland St - The U
UW-Green Bay @ Vermont - The U

North Dakota St @ Long Beach St - 360
Bradley @ Drexel - 360


others


Cleveland St @ Drake
Southern Illinois @ Illinois-Chicago
Missouri St @ Valparaiso
Ohio @ Wichita St
Tennessee Tech @ Indiana St

[TheAsianSensation]

And the thoughts:

I feel very comfortable predicting those top 5 games.

I really want Bradley on the U, but ISU will have preference and who do we bump?

I think Bradley/Drexel would be even-money to bump UWGB/Vermont from ESPNU.

[TheAsianSensation]

Apparently Creighton has to be a late game this year again because of arena conflict.

So this is scenario is very much in play:

Butler @ Davidson
Utah St @ Creighton
Northern Iowa @ St Mary's
Northeastern @ Siena
VCU @ Nevada

[Bravesfan]

And the thoughts:

I feel very comfortable predicting those top 5 games.

I really want Bradley on the U, but ISU will have preference and who do we bump?

I think Bradley/Drexel would be even-money to bump UWGB/Vermont from ESPNU.

Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow. After those top eight or ten teams, there's not really that much left. So hopefully ESPNU will televise our game.

[MacabreMob]

FINAL UPDATE OF TEAMS WITH RPI PRIOR TO ANNOUNCEMENT TOMORROW OF TV MATCHUPS

RPI's after games played thru Sunday 2-1.

Listing has RPI-Team-Conference-Conference Standing/Record (if teams are tied, they are listed together in the same place... like Bradley, ISU and Creighton are all listed as 2nd at 7-4 in the MVC)

HOME TEAM
20 Siena MAAC 1st 11-0
30 Davidson Southern 1st 11-0
50 St Mary's WCC 3rd 5-2
70 Evansville MVC 5th 6-5
74 Creighton MVC 2nd 7-4
75 Niagara MAAC 2nd 7-3
88 Fairfield MAAC 4th 7-5
90 Nevada WAC 2nd 6-2
100 Drexel Colonial 3rd 8-3
101 Wright St Horizon 4th 7-4
111 UW Milwaukee Horizon 3rd 9-3
121 Vermont Am East 1st 7-2
125 Portland St Big Sky 3rd 6-3
126 Drake MVC 6th 5-6
138 San Diego WCC 4th 4-3
140 UT-Martin OVC 3rd 7-3
141 James Madison Colonial 5th 6-5
149 Loyola Horizon 6th 4-7
150 Long Beach St Big West 1st 6-2
156 UIC Horizon 7th 3-8
157 Rider MAAC 3rd 7-4
163 Bowling Green MAC 4th 4-3
165 Wichita St MVC 8th 4-7
168 New Mexico St WAC 4th 5-4
177 E Kentucky OVC 6th 6-5
178 Boston Am East 2nd 6-2
180 Murray St OVC 5th 5-4
182 ODU Colonial 5th 6-5
184 San Jose St WAC 6th 4-5
188 Idaho WAC 5th 4-4
196 Kent MAC 7th 3-4
202 Ball St MAC 2nd 5-2
203 Georgia So Southern 7th 5-6
208 Valpo Horizon 7th 3-8
212 UC-Santa Barbara Big West 8th 2-6
228 Towson Colonial 9th 3-8
234 Hawaii WAC 7th 2-7
243 Indiana St MVC 9th 2-9
245 Winthrop Big South 6th 5-5
246 Marist MAAC 8th 3-8
254 W Michigan MAC 4th 4-3
263 UC-Davis Big West 5th 4-4
272 Cal Poly Big West 8th 2-6
274 William & Mary Colonial 12th 1-10
276 UNC-Wilmington Colonial 11th 2-9
284 Central Michigan MAC 7th 3-4
285 Bucknell Patriot 6th 2-5
298 Youngstown St Horizon 7th 3-8
301 Tennessee St OVC 8th 4-7
330 E Michigan MAC 12th 1-6
333 SEMO OVC 10th 0-12

ROAD TEAM
9 Butler Horizon 1st 10-0
40 Utah St WAC 1st 9-0
52 Miami (Oh) MAC 2nd 5-2
57 Northeastern Colonial 1st 10-1
59 Illinois St MVC 2nd 7-4
60 George Mason Colonial 3rd 8-3
61 VCU Colonial 2nd 9-2
71 Buffalo MAC 1st 6-1
73 Northern Iowa MVC 1st 10-1
79 UW Green Bay Horizon 2nd 9-2
84 Boise St WAC 3rd 5-3
91 Bradley MVC 2nd 7-4
95 Cleveland St Horizon 5th 6-5
98 North Dakota St Summit 1st 10-1
99 Hofstra Colonial 5th 6-5
115 Austin Peay OVC 2nd 8-3
123 Akron MAC 4th 4-3
124 SIU MVC 6th 5-6
137 Ohio MAC 7th 3-4
139 Loyola (Md) MAAC 5th 6-6
148 Missouri St MVC 9th 2-9
152 Morehead St OVC 1st 9-2
161 Montana St Big Sky 4th 5-4
164 Pacific Big West 3rd 5-3
166 CS Fullerton Big West 4th 5-4
167 CS Northridge Big West 2nd 6-3
170 Iona MAAC 6th 5-6
179 Morgan St MEAC 1st 6-2
181 Liberty Big South 3rd 7-4
189 Gardner-Webb Big South 5th 6-5
197 Manhattan MAAC 6th 5-6
210 Canisius MAAC 10th 2-10
217 UMBC Am East 7th 3-6
227 Jacksonville St OVC 9th 3-8
230 Deleware Colonial 9th 3-8
232 Louisiana Tech WAC 7th 2-7
235 Fresno St WAC 9th 1-6
239 UC-Riverside Big West 7th 3-5
250 Tenn Tech OVC 7th 5-6
251 S Dakota St Summit 4th 5-6
252 Elon Southern 10th 3-8
255 UC-Irvine Big West 5th 4-4
257 Hartford Am East 9th 2-7
262 Detroit Horizon 10th 1-10
266 E Illinois OVC 4th 7-4
268 Appalachian St Southern 7th 5-6
269 Georgia St Colonial 8th 4-7
293 St Peter's MAAC 8th 3-8
310 Toledo MAC 10th 2-5
319 Fairleigh Dickinson Northeast 8th 4-7
331 Northern Illinois MAC 10th 2-5

[Fyrebyrd]

My only request is it not be a Horizon league team.

[MacabreMob]

My only request is it not be a Horizon league team.

Boy oh boy... Wright St looks like it could be the one.

But I suppose it also depends a little on what others might campaign and request. We could fall into Fairfield's or Drexel's lap.

[TheAsianSensation]

For the love of God, please, Drexel. That's the perfect home game for next year to round the schedule nicely.

I'd imagine Les is campaigning for that one; we've played 294 Horizon teams in the past 5 years.

[real fan]

I agree that Drexel looks to be a good fit.

[MacabreMob]

I agree with TAS quite a bit. You can lock in some top matchups.

IMO, locked in:

Siena vs Northeastern ESPN2
Davidson vs Butler ESPN2
St Mary's vs Utah St ESPN2

Next ones looking good:

Evansville vs Miami (Oh) ESPNU
Portland St vs Boise St ESPN360?

The rest get a little dicey:

Creighton vs VCU ESPN2
(Maynor and P'Allen)
Niagara vs Northern Iowa ESPN2
(if UNI wants a higher RPI team and doesn't want a repeat with higher "profile" Nevada or vice versa)
Fairfield vs George Mason ESPNU
Nevada vs Illinois St ESPNU
(see UNI's comment)
Drexel vs Buffalo ESPNU
Wright St vs Bradley ESPN360?
UW-Milwaukee vs Austin Peay ESPN360?
Vermont vs UW-Green Bay ESPNU
Long Beach St vs North Dakota St ESPN360?

These last 8/9 games can really be a toss up. I really think Wright State and Bradley will be matched up.

Question becomes tv.

LB St/ND St are teams leading their leagues... maybe a Friday night matchup on the U? Portland St/Boise St are (also mediocre rpi teams like Bradley and Wright St) in the upper tier of their conferences. Both those matchups being in the later time slots might get them on tv.

So of my ESPN360 projected lineups... one is gonna get the U and one is gonna get nothing.

[TheAsianSensation]

ESPNU has a tendency to prefer league leaders for their broadcasts, to get more conferences involved. That's the incentive for a lot of the lower conferences - to get their leader a TV game.

With that caveat, that means a 2nd place MVC team is going to get shut out from TV probably.



If we're a home team this year, we'd probably have George Mason come visit us. Sick.