I think it's funny that distance is still a consideration when creating the brackets. Realignment has made this criteria obsolete.
2025-2026 MBB computer projections thread
- Thread starter Sigmapolis
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What's great about a backloaded schedule is if ISU wins most of those games it
1) Keeps ISU in headlines. Always a positive when there is a human element in play for seed lines
2) Very good prep work before tournament play. I'd rather face difficult teams right before tourney time than the cream puffs. But the final regular season game should be a breather where fans can sit back and appreciate the work done by this senior class.
Overall, I think this schedule is shaping up great for ISU. Just got to find a way to win over half of those difficult games.
1) Keeps ISU in headlines. Always a positive when there is a human element in play for seed lines
2) Very good prep work before tournament play. I'd rather face difficult teams right before tourney time than the cream puffs. But the final regular season game should be a breather where fans can sit back and appreciate the work done by this senior class.
Overall, I think this schedule is shaping up great for ISU. Just got to find a way to win over half of those difficult games.
It's true that teams are travelling much further for even conference games. But there is not a huge expectation that a road team will have a large fan presence when they are playing true road games. Distance does matter when teams are playing neutral site games and their fans are trying to decide if they can make a trip to the tournament work - and how many of those fans will ultimately go. TV is the big moneymaker for the tournament, however, butts in seats is not inconsequential and they still want to have an electric atmosphere for their TV coverage.
All else being equal I'd rather Iowa State were in St. Louis or OKC over Portland or San Diego.
A lot of the teams affected by that rule are going to be sub-11 AQs who play in smaller conferences without the bonkers geography of the ACC and Big Ten (especially) and to some extent the Big 12.
The Big East and SEC are fairly sensible... still... somehow.
I'm sure the NEC champion would rather be in Philly over on the whole other side of the country if all else is being equal for them while letting one of the low-major western AQs play out there.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
I really think we did what we needed to do this year, it's just hard to account for Mississippi State suddenly sucking and the bad draw of Creighton and Syracuse (also sucking). If those three teams would have had their average year, or if we had gotten better matchups in that tournament, our non-con SOS would be strong.
On the other hand there are still idiots out there (including many talking heads and a few on the Committee I'll wager) who will look at two teams with the same losses to the same teams and say the one with the front loaded schedule is better because they are "finishing strong" over a team with a back loaded schedule.
Remember, it wasn't that long ago that they actually had a "last 10 games" W/L metric on the Nitty Gritty sheets so teams were penalized for a tougher end to their schedule. That kind of thinking hasn't entirely gone away.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
Yeah, I'd definitely like to substitute a couple of those definite 300+ games for 200+
This is all true and good stuff, but you also have to remember teams still have 10-14 games left in the regular season to improve on their numbers.
Iowa State was close to slipping into the 2nd tier you mentioned after the Cincinnati game but have since shot back up into the top 12 or so for both.
Good points. At least there are some smart writers around
Bracketology: Iowa State jumps UConn for fourth No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament bracket projection
The Cyclones join Duke, Arizona and Michigan on the top line of the CBS Sports Bracketology model
www.cbssports.com
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
Nice to see that at least someone is noticing that UConn is barely beating average teams while ISU is murdering themGood points. At least there are some smart writers around
Bracketology: Iowa State jumps UConn for fourth No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament bracket projection
The Cyclones join Duke, Arizona and Michigan on the top line of the CBS Sports Bracketology model
We are currently 6 in adjusted offensive efficiency and 6 in adjusted defensive efficiency on Kenpom. Or put another way, we are a fraction of a point behind UConn in defensive efficiency and over 4 points (in his rating system) ahead of them in offensive efficiency.
Your point stands that there is still time for things to move some, as an example Florida has moved up a fair bit in the last month. But there is very little chance Iowa St. falls outside the top 20 in either metric, we are 5.2 points above 20th on defense and 3.0 points above 20th on offense.
The P5 did that to themselves. They started overpaying for Q4 dreck to get the dates they wanted and that drove every other price up in kind.
Plus, all of the serious programs in that Q2/Q3 range in the Valley, A10, American and MW don't look to be bought unless you want to really make it worth their time
Through January, Iowa State has been hyper efficient from beyond the arc
This chart tells me we need to attempt more threes!
I infer from that chart that Milan has been on a heater.
Jefferson has been shooting great, and probably passes up 1-2 per game he could/should take. He's over 40% now, which is insane. Toure needs to keep shooting when he's open, which he's done a much better job of lately.
I thought that initially.
Then I come back to- don't change a fooking thing right now.
Gonzaga just cost itself a seed line (at least) with that loss.
