Saturday, March 15, 2014

The Day of Champions

Welcome to the Saturday before Selection Sunday, aka the Day of Champions. Fourteen tournament champions were crowned today. For teams on the bubble, things went...well, not bad...as only one bid was stolen. Stephen F. Austin, a possible at large, won the Southland. Providence was already likely in, but it solidified its position. But...

Bracket Brief for March 15, 2014

Seed South (1)
Memphis (Th/Sa)
East (4)
NYC (Fr/Su)
West (2)
Anaheim (Th/Sa)
Midwest (3)
Indy (Fr/Su)
Site
1
16
8
9
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Florida
Mount St. Mary's
G. Washington
BYU
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Wisconsin
Albany/Coast. Car.
Massachusetts
Memphis
San Diego (Fr/Su)
Arizona
Weber State
Texas
Harvard
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
Wichita State
CS Northr./TX So.
Oregon
Oklahoma State
Site
5
12
4
13
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
New Mexico
Ariz. St./Neb.
Syracuse
Stephen F. Austin
San Diego (Fr/Su)
UCLA
Kan. St./Dayton
VCU
Georgia State
Spokane (Th/Sa)
Gonzaga
Toledo
Connecticut
Delaware
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
Cincinnati
Tennessee
Iowa State
Manhattan
Site
3
14
6
11
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Louisville
NC Central
Ohio State
Southern Miss
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Duke
Tulsa
Michigan State
Louisiana Tech
Spokane (Th/Sa)
San Diego State
New Mexico State
Saint Louis
North Dakota State
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Michigan
Mercer
North Carolina
Providence
Site
7
10
2
15
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
Kentucky
Xavier
Kansas
Milwaukee
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Pittsburgh
Stanford
Villanova
American
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Oklahoma
Colorado
Creighton
Wofford
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Baylor
Saint Joseph's
Virginia
Eastern Kentucky

Note: Through games of March 14, 2014, including America East and Conference USA championship games. Teams in italics below represent projected automatic bids. Teams in bold below represent secured automatic bids. The rankings at the top of each column are based on the overall seeds of the top four teams, so the winner of the regional with the team seeded #1 overall would meet the winner of the regional with the team seeded #4 overall.

Friday, March 14, 2014

More Top Teams Fall as Conference Tournaments Roll Through Friday

Another full day of major conference tournament hoops, and another day of upsets. We start out in the ACC, where most-of-the-season favorite Syracuse fell to upstart North Carolina State, who needs to win the whole tournament to make the field. And Pittsburgh took out North Carolina after giving up a 20-point lead late.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Several Major-Conference, At-Large Teams Are Upset in Their First Games

As conference tournaments narrow, upsets will happen, and the major one happened at Madison Square Garden. In the Mecca, Seton Hall took out former-potential-#1-seed Villanova. It is highly unlikely with this loss that Villanova can hold its #1 seed, especially if Kansas wins the Big 12 tournament or one of the ACC's favorites keeps hold of the conference.

Bracket Brief for March 13, 2014

Seed South (1)
Memphis (Th/Sa)
East (4)
NYC (Fr/Su)
West (2)
Anaheim (Th/Sa)
Midwest (3)
Indy (Fr/Su)
Site
1
16
8
9
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Florida
Wofford
Texas
Harvard
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Villanova
Stony Brook
Pittsburgh
SMU
San Diego (Fr/Su)
Arizona
Weber St./TX So.
Memphis
Baylor
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
Wichita State
M. St. M's/Cst. Car.
George Washington
Iowa
Site
5
12
4
13
Spokane (Th/Sa)
Saint Louis
Stan./St. John's
Cincinnati
Manhattan
San Diego (Fr/Su)
Michigan State
Toledo
VCU
Stephen F. Austin
Spokane (Th/Sa)
Gonzaga
St. Joe's/Tenn.
San Diego State
Delaware
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
North Carolina
North Dakota State
Iowa State
Louisiana Tech
Site
3
14
6
11
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
Creighton
UC Irvine
New Mexico
Colorado
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Louisville
NC Central
Ohio State
Xavier
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Duke
Mercer
Oregon
Southern Miss
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Virginia
Georgia State
Oklahoma
Dayton
Site
7
10
2
15
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
Kentucky
Nebraska
Kansas
Eastern Kentucky
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
UCLA
Oklahoma State
Syracuse
Milwaukee
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Massachusetts
BYU
Michigan
Utah Valley
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Connecticut
Arizona State
Wisconsin
American

Note: Through games of March 12, 2014. Teams in italics in multi-bid conferences below represent projected automatic bids. Teams in bold represent secured automatic bids. The rankings at the top of each column are based on the overall seeds of the top four teams, so the winner of the regional with the team seeded #1 overall would meet the winner of the regional with the team seeded #4 overall.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Day of Preliminaries, and American Enters the 2014 NCAA Bracket

Most of Wednesday's action consisted of the first round of many tournaments. So, essentially, most games involved teams far off the bracket bubble. A few involved bubble teams, but only one such team lost: Georgetown. Georgetown was pretty far off the edge of the bracket anyway, so it is not Earth shaking.

Bracketologist Yahoo! Group

I set up a bracket pick-em group for my fellow bracketologists and me on Yahoo! I figure after we seed them all, we might as well pick them all too. And you could win a billion dollars. The Yahoo bracket group is here, feel free to message me on Twitter at @BracketBriefer for the password.

Happy picking everyone, and good luck on Selection Sunday with your bracket projections!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Upset Directional State: Conference Tourneys Go To The Spoilers

The big story this year is how many #1 seeds are falling in their conference tournaments. So far, no bubble spots have been stolen, but at this rate, bubble teams should be terrified. Two upsetters, Milwaukee and Mount St. Mary's, got their automatic bids Tuesday night, on the home court of their opponents no less. But a couple of favorites, North Dakota State and Gonzaga, got their bids too. The important thing to note from tonight's losing teams is that BYU is still safe for an at-large bid.

Bracket for March 11, 2014

Seed South (1)
Memphis (Th/Sa)
East (4)
NYC (Fr/Su)
Midwest (2)
Indy (Fr/Su)
West (3)
Anaheim (Th/Sa)
Site
1
16
8
9
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Florida
Wofford/Coast. Car.
George Washington
Arizona State
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Villanova
Stony Brook
Massachusetts
Iowa
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
Wichita State
Wright State
Baylor
Memphis
San Diego (Fr/Su)
Arizona
Weber St./TX So.
Texas
Harvard
Site
5
12
4
13
San Diego (Fr/Su)
North Carolina
St. Joe's/Neb.
Iowa State
Louisiana Tech
Spokane (Th/Sa)
VCU
North Dakota State
Cincinnati
Manhattan
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
Ohio State
Tenn./So. Miss
Saint Louis
Stephen F. Austin
Spokane (Th/Sa)
Michigan State
Toledo
San Diego State
Georgia State
Site
3
14
6
11
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Michigan
Boston U
Oklahoma
Stanford
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Duke
Delaware
Gonzaga
St. John's
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
Creighton
Mercer
New Mexico
Xavier
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Louisville
NC Central
Oregon
Dayton
Site
7
10
2
15
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Connecticut
BYU
Syracuse
Robert Morris
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Pittsburgh
Oklahoma State
Wisconsin
Utah Valley
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
UCLA
SMU
Kansas
UC Irvine
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Kentucky
Colorado
Virginia
Eastern Kentucky

Note: Through games of March 10, 2014. Teams in italics below represent projected automatic bids. Teams in bold below represent secured automatic bids. The rankings at the top of each column are based on the overall seeds of the top four teams, so the winner of the regional with the team seeded #1 overall would meet the winner of the regional with the team seeded #4 overall.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Nothin' But Postseason

The regular season is now closed, and the major conferences have a few days off before their tournaments start. That left Monday to the little guys, who crowned three more champions, all who will receive automatic NCAA bids. Only one of those teams, however, won its conference's regular season championship, so clearly the NIT is filling up with mid-majors.

Bracket Brief for March 10, 2014

Seed South (1)
Memphis (Th/Sa)
East (4)
NYC (Fr/Su)
Midwest (2)
Indy (Fr/Su)
West (3)
Anaheim (Th/Sa)
Site
1
16
8
9
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Florida
Wofford/Co. Car.
Geo. Wash.
Arizona State
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Villanova
Stony Brook
Pittsburgh
Harvard
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
Wichita State
Weber St./TX So.
Baylor
Memphis
San Diego (Fr/Su)
Arizona
Utah Valley
Texas
Iowa
Site
5
12
4
13
San Diego (Fr/Su)
North Carolina
Stephen F. Austin
Saint Louis
Iona
Spokane (Th/Sa)
Ohio State
Louisiana Tech
Iowa State
North Dakota State
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
Michigan State
Tenn./St. Joe's
Creighton
Toledo
San Antonio (Fr/Su)
VCU
So. Miss/Neb.
Cincinnati
Georgia State
Site
3
14
6
11
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Virginia
Delaware
Oklahoma
Xavier
Orlando (Th/Sa)
Louisville
NC Central
Oregon
Dayton
Spokane (Th/Sa)
San Diego State
Mercer
Gonzaga
St. John's
Raleigh (Fr/Su)
Duke
Boston U
New Mexico
Stanford
Site
7
10
2
15
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Connecticut
BYU
Wisconsin
Eastern Kentucky
Buffalo (Th/Sa)
Kentucky
Colorado
Syracuse
Robert Morris
St. Louis (Fr/Su)
UCLA
SMU
Kansas
UC Irvine
Milwaukee (Th/Sa)
Massachusetts
Oklahoma State
Michigan
Wright State

Note: Through games of March 9, 2014. Teams in italics below represent projected automatic bids. Teams in bold below represent secured automatic bids. The rankings at the top of each column are based on the overall seeds of the top four teams, so the winner of the regional with the team seeded #1 overall would meet the winner of the regional with the team seeded #4 overall.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Conference Tournaments: Hurting Mid-Major Conferences Since Forever

Today, we saw the stupidity behind conference tournaments. This season, the America East decided to host its conference tournament in Albany. #1 seed Vermont, who lost only one game in the conference all year, was stuck playing #4 Albany, who lost seven conference games. Not entirely surprisingly, behind its home crowd, Albany knocked off Vermont, eliminating who is clearly the America East's best team from tournament consideration.