NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Preview

[cyclones500]

(Do they do any subsequent updates, like the CFP committee?)

So far, it has been only one in-season reveal.

I assume at some point if it gets enough viewership/buzz, it'll be more. I honestly hope it doesn't, though. Bracketology is so plentiful in general, it'd be redundant.

 

[ClonesFTW]

Fair points. Thanks

The Cyclones are 16-1 with MM, 3-4 without. My understanding is that the committee says they take the loss/return of a key player into consideration. If they indeed do, I think we move up to a 2-seed.

We lost by 11, 19, and 17 in 3 of those losses - I just don't see the committee agreeing that 1 player would impact the final result of those games. Maybe they will surprise me!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Am I the only one that hasn't bought into the hype for Tennessee? I know that outside of being boat-raced by Florida early on, their losses are all by single digits, but I'm struggling to be scared of them like other teams.

And Purdue seems like a very beatable 2 seed. They shoot the ball well, but I would favor our backcourt versus theirs in that match-up and think we could rattle them. They also don't rebound very well as a team.

I'm more worried about a Kentucky or a UConn team hitting on all cylinders than I am of Tennessee or Purdue. If Kentucky stops playing defense like an AAU team, they will be a handful come March.

Came to post this as well. They are going to probably get the biggest bump for playing in the best conference than any other SEC team. At some point they have to beat one of these top teams. All of their big wins are against teams that are in the 20-25 range.

Honestly, we may be better off being a 3 seed in the MW with Purdue vs a 2 seed out West. Purdue is very beatable this year.

 

[Statefan10]

Hopefully this qualifies for this topic but ridiculous how low Drake is being projected in these mock brackets which is typically 11-12. They should be an 8. Now you might say hold on Gohawks it's better to be an 11 or 12 and while I might agree it's telling me Drake can do nothing but win the MVC to get in and as it stands today 23-2 I don't think that's fair

I would guess it has to do with how bad the MVC is.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

We lost by 11, 19, and 17 in 3 of those losses - I just don't see the committee agreeing that 1 player would impact the final result of those games. Maybe they will surprise me!

Looking at box scores isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison though. What about his intangibles that don't show up on a stat sheet? He pulls either the 4 or the 5 away from the basket and if you put an undersized guard on him he will take them off the bounce. His presence completely changes what we try to run. Also, our rotations got completely thrown off. While he was out he were struggled to get back in synch. I think the committee will take that into consideration come selection Sunday. I think they will also have an asterisk next to the Arizona game. Yes, a loss is a loss but some are different than others and that one was a 3/4 court short form a W. That's just bad luck.

 

[GoHawks]

Most teams certainly wouldn't want to face them, but I think their problem is that all their really solid wins are pretty early and there's really no other great team in their league.

I think 10-12 is probably appropriate given their schedule. If they continue to play like this, I would like to see them get an at-large if they don't win the MVC tournament, but I'm not sure they will.

Wins over KState and Vandy could boost their resume enough to have them sneak in if they don't win the tourney, but they simply don't have any more "wow" wins left on their schedule. They just have to hope KState and Vandy keep winning to help their cause.

I still think they probably need to win the MV tourney to be sure, especially since the committee is going to do everything they can to include the entire SEC in the field.

Kills them that they don't have a 2nd strong team in valley like last year's Indiana State even. If you look at gonzaga and St Mary's they don't have much stronger if stronger at all resumes but they're considered safely in. At some point I think a ridiculous W/L record should matter. 30-4 should get you in for about any conference except bottom few. I'm a big believer in Strength of Record over some of these other metrics. Drake's 35th as of today. Which would be an 8 seed. This Drake teams not overly talented either imo compared to last year's so if pressed I'd take field over them to win in St Louis likely leaving them out

 

[coolerifyoudid]

One thing is certain: If Arizona ends up doing well during March Madness, we're going to get really sick of watching Caleb Love's 60 footer over and over.

 

[iowastatefan1929]

SEC is really good(barf) but a decent probability they fold once the games slow down in March.

 

[NYCYFan]

We're battling (for now) with Texas A&M, Florida, and Purdue for potential 2 seed position.

Florida - Has 2 more total wins on the season, no Q2 losses.
Purdue - Same overall wins, same number of Q1 wins, but no Q2 losses.
A&M - Same overall wins, same number of Q1 wins, no Q2 losses

In summary... Kansas State loss is the difference at the moment.

It's interesting. The Marquette win doesn't look nearly as good as it did a month ago while the Kansas State loss doesn't look nearly as bad as it did a month ago, the Texas Tech win looks a lot better too.

I'll say that they're the final 2 seed (#8) in the bracket reveal. Who are the 8 teams with better resumes? I don't see it. You have Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Duke that are the likely 1 seeds, Tennessee, Houston and A&M probable 2 seeds then who? Purdue lost to Michigan so they'll drop a bit, St. John's just lost to Villanova, Arizona perhaps? but they have 6 losses. One of the lower 2 seeds or the highest 8 seed seems like a lock for Iowa State. #7-#9 overall.

Edit: I see that Purdue beat Alabama and Ole Miss out of conference, that's a really strong resume. They probably get a 2 seed so, yeah, could see Iowa State as #9 overall and the top 3 seed.
Texas Tech in the mix too but I see them as a 3 seed.

 

[dahliaclone]

Am I the only one that hasn't bought into the hype for Tennessee? I know that outside of being boat-raced by Florida early on, their losses are all by single digits, but I'm struggling to be scared of them like other teams.

And Purdue seems like a very beatable 2 seed. They shoot the ball well, but I would favor our backcourt versus theirs in that match-up and think we could rattle them. They also don't rebound very well as a team.

I'm more worried about a Kentucky or a UConn team hitting on all cylinders than I am of Tennessee or Purdue. If Kentucky stops playing defense like an AAU team, they will be a handful come March.

I have a few teams I think can be very good but also don’t trust much. Tennessee. Arizona. St. John’s. Memphis. Purdue.

 

[Thomasrickj]

It depends on when the rankings are made. Tennessee, Purdue, and St. John's all lost already this week. If the update is through the end of the games on Friday, then I'm guessing the following:

1: Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Florida
2: Houston, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Tennessee
3: Purdue, Arizona, TAMU, Kansas

 

[Statefan10]

We lost by 11, 19, and 17 in 3 of those losses - I just don't see the committee agreeing that 1 player would impact the final result of those games. Maybe they will surprise me!

Well it doesn't (and shouldn't) work like that because we could say we would've only lost 1 game if we had him, which would mean we should be a 1 seed. IF they cut any slack, they'll see that our only loss with Milan was 3 months ago to the #1 team in the country. That right there could jump you from the first three seed to the last two in my opinion.

 

[NYCYFan]

It depends on when the rankings are made. Tennessee, Purdue, and St. John's all lost already this week. If the update is through the end of the games on Friday, then I'm guessing the following:

1: Auburn, Duke, Houston, Florida
2: Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa State, Texas Tech
3: Purdue, Arizona, TAMU, Kansas

Alabama is a lock for the 1 seed IMO, their resume is far better than Houston's.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

SEC is really good(barf) but a decent probability they fold once the games slow down in March.

I've watched a lot of SEC hoops this year and much like the Big 12, the refs are really letting a lot go. It makes for entertaining games but IMO it backfires come tournament time.

 

[Chitowncy]

I could see us being either the top 3 seed or bottom 2's. We're 7th in NET and 7th in Ken Pom. I know we're 10th in the AP, but so far this week, #5 Tennessee, #7 Purdue and #9 St. John's all lost.

1. Auburn
1. Alabama
1. Duke
1. Houston

2. Florida
2. Tennessee
2. Purdue
2. Iowa State/Texas A&M

3. Texas A&M/Iowa State
3. Texas Tech
3. St. John's
3. Kansas

4. Kentucky
4. Michigan State
4. Arizona
4. Wisconsin/Gonzaga

I agree with this, except I could also see the Committee switching Florida with Houston at the 1 and 2 lines.

So much fun to have a great team to look forward to things like this.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

It's interesting. The Marquette win doesn't look nearly as good as it did a month ago while the Kansas State loss doesn't look nearly as bad as it did a month ago, the Texas Tech win looks a lot better too.

I'll say that they're the final 2 seed (#8) in the bracket reveal. Who are the 8 teams with better resumes? I don't see it. You have Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Duke that are the likely 1 seeds, Tennessee, Houston and A&M probable 2 seeds then who? Purdue lost to Michigan so they'll drop a bit, St. John's just lost to Villanova, Arizona perhaps? but they have 6 losses. One of the lower 2 seeds or the highest 8 seed seems like a lock for Iowa State. #7-#9 overall.

Edit: I see that Purdue beat Alabama and Ole Miss out of conference, that's a really strong resume. They probably get a 2 seed so, yeah, could see Iowa State as #9 overall and the top 3 seed.
Texas Tech in the mix too but I see them as a 3 seed.

K-State is going to be a problem for the committee. They are probably the hottest team in the country but just took too long to figure things out. That loss should definitely warrant special consideration IMO.

 

[Thomasrickj]

Alabama is a lock for the 1 seed IMO, their resume is far better than Houston's.

I agree with you on that one. Swap Houston and Alabama. Thank you. I missed the obvious one.

 

[ClubCy]

If I gave you a 2/3 seed in the West with the first rounds in Milwaukee would you take it?

in this scenario, we’d avoid Purdue in Indy, Auburn in Atlanta, and Duke in New Jersey.

I think I would.

 

[iowastatefan1929]

If I gave you a 2/3 seed in the West with the first rounds in Milwaukee would you take it?

in this scenario, we’d avoid Purdue in Indy, Auburn in Atlanta, and Duke in New Jersey.

I think I would.

Yes, after last year get us the hell out of the hell hole east.

 

[dafarmer]

Whar Iowa, after their dominating win over a power house Rutgers, I’msure hey ae sniffing a tournament berth.