Just have to laugh at Duke's proposed bracket in latest bracketology. I mean Wichita St, Utah and Gonzaga as the 2,4 and 5 seeds. What a joke. I do think Iowa St. is a good 3, but they play exactly the same as Duke and play no D lol. Of course it probably would not play out that way, but if KY got anywhere close to that bracket they would walk through that bracket.
Bracketology 3-10
- Thread starter bssparks
- Start date
A
anon_013cn8yrfncx2
Guest
Hopefully Lunardi keeps it that way. No way the committee will have one that matches his. Duke will have it easy tho, no question. Regardless of their ranking, their opponents will be teams that don't matchup with them.
As Duke has shown recently any path, no matter how easy the NCAA makes it, isn't a guarantee to get to the Final Four. With that said if they had a bracket like that and don't make it they should make Coach K give part of that 10 million dollar salary back.
Utah is legit top 10 good, but not sure they match up well against Duke. Gonzaga would have a good shot to win a shootout, but that's a no stops game. Might be entertaining to watch. I hope Duke gets Arizona. I think UA would strangle them like an anaconda.
No, ISU is not a good 3 seed. They're Arkansas mark II. If they're hitting 3's, which hasn't been too often lately, they're soft. I would personally kill for ISU as a 3 seed in Kentucky's region. This bracket would be as close to a bye to the FF as possible while still playing the games.
Utah has crumbled against any team in the top 25 (excluding needing an OT to beat Wichita State in SLC).
Dollars to donuts BYU tops the Zags today.
Utah has crumbled against any team in the top 25 (excluding needing an OT to beat Wichita State in SLC).
Dollars to donuts BYU tops the Zags today.
I don't think it really has anything to do with the 1st round games to be honest. Wisconsin is probably the highest 2 or the second highest on his seed list and the mileage to the regionals for Wisconsin are:
MW - 399
S - 968
E - 655
W - 1683
The Midwest is the closest region for them BY FAR. This means as long as they are a strong 2 they will be there.
I also find it odd he has them in Omaha. I get that's the closest region but I would think Columbus being more Big Ten affiliated. The difference between the two isn't very large. Most other brackets I see them in Columbus. But I guess Joe is going strictly distance on this one.
So much for geography...guess that applies to everyone except Duke and the weaker seeds lucky enough to be in their bracket.
Wich St. Not in the East.
Utah and Gonzaga...if geography were a concern, why aren't they in his West bracket with AZ? Makes no sense.
I didn't check the mileage but I'm pretty sure Gonzaga, Utah and Iowa St. would all be shipped out of their natural regions, meaning geography wasn't a factor in deciding where they would be playing. I also think most would agree that this would be the weakest combination of 2, 3 and 4 seeds in the field. I think if Wisconsin had a choice they would rather travel 655 miles to play in the East Regional than play UK 399 miles from home.
Everyone always complains of Dukes easy path, but over the last ten years (if you take out there championship year) they have only Made it past the Sweet 16 TWO TIMES which was 1 Elite Eight appearance and 1 Final Four appearance.
In the same time span just for craps and giggles John Calipari has 1 Sweet Sixteen, 3 Elite Eights, 1 Final Four, 2 Runner Ups and 1 Championship/
In the same time span just for craps and giggles John Calipari has 1 Sweet Sixteen, 3 Elite Eights, 1 Final Four, 2 Runner Ups and 1 Championship/
Unfortunately it doesn't appear that Lunardi gives his seed list out. It's still based on geography tho most likely. You have to remember on the first four lines the first four teams in each conference MUST go to different regions. So that will affect a team going to their natural region. Another factor will be where they are placed on the seed line. A strong 2 will get first pick (assuming there's not a 1 seed from the same conference blocking a region). A weak 2 will most likely not be going to their natural region.
The teams you listed are all different seeds Zags (2), Iowa St. (3) and Utah (4). Not sure the ordering so this will be difficult but say the 2 seeds were in this order, Wisconsin, Arizona, Gonzaga and Kansas. Wisconsin closest region is the MW so they go there, Arizona closest is the W so they go there, when you get to Gonzaga there's only South or East left. South is the closest so they would go there. So Gonzaga is outta their natural region because you have Arizona higher up taking it before they get to them.
The 3 seeds are Oklahoma, Iowa St. Maryland and Notre Dame. Oklahoma and Iowa St could not go East because Kansas is there. MD cannot go MW since Wisconsin is there and Notre Dame cannot go South because Duke is there.
Lets say MD was the first out. Well E is the closest region. Notre Dame may have been the next team. They can't go South or East and the closest region was the MW. Then you have the two B12 teams. They can only go S or W. Since Iowa St. was probably ahead of OU on the seed list, they went South and OU went West.
The 4 seeds are Utah, UL, Baylor and UNI. Hmm Lunardi messed up here I think. Baylor being the 4th Big 12 team actually can only go MW but he has them in East for some reason. But the reason Utah cannot go to their natural region is because Arizona is there. So they went to the next closest which is being the South.
Yep. Since they fell to the likes of Mercer and Lehigh these past few years... NCAA's going to pump them up and pave the road for them, whenever they get the chance.
I'm sure Wisconsin fans wouldn't mind at all driving an additional 256 miles to play in the East Region if it means avoiding UK and possibly going to the FF4. To me the mileage difference between the MW and East locations is not overwhelming for Wisconsin fans. Whereas, having to play the #1 overall seed, who is one of best teams ever assembled and favored to win the National Championship in the MW is quite substantial.
Let's face it, there may be many reasons why a Wisconsin fan wouldn't go to the East Regional Finals, but I can guarantee you that because the venue is 256 miles further than the MW Regionals won't be one of them.
Let's face it, there may be many reasons why a Wisconsin fan wouldn't go to the East Regional Finals, but I can guarantee you that because the venue is 256 miles further than the MW Regionals won't be one of them.
I 100% agree with this. Gonzaga, Utah, and ISU as your 2 / 4 /3 seeds, respectively, should mean an automatic run to the final four. It would be criminal to let them get away with this.
Agreed. But I'm not really sure this is about what the fans prefer.
The fans if judging by the board would just as well go straight S Curve and have perfectly balanced regions.
Yeah for as much talk about Wisconsin here, I'm sure they aren't thrilled about the possible draw either lol
I think that's in the rule book along with they are guaranteed at least 4 games in the state of North Carolina.
Seth: I realize you were bring sarcastic but I think it is a legitimate question. They are always talking about this being the biggest rivalry in all of college basketball but they never have them in the same bracket. I doubt that it ever comes up for discussion by the selection committee.
If you all are interested in the NCAA selection committee process, here it is straight from the NCAA website:
NCAA Selection Committee Procedures
NCAA Selection Committee Procedures
There is literally zero chance that will happen in real life. It doesn't take into account the very realistic fact that this matchup is protected by the committee. Need evidence? Here are the earliest rounds the two schools could meet in the last few tournaments which both were in:
2014: Championship Game
2013: Championship Game
2012: Championship Game
2011: Final Four
2009: Final Four
2008: Championship Game
2007: Championship Game
2006: Championship Game
2005: Final Four
2004: Elite Eight
2001: Championship Game
2000: Final Four
1999: Championship Game
1998: Championship Game
1997: Final Four
1996: Championship Game
1994: Final Four
1993: Final Four
1992: Championship Game
1991: Championship Game
1990: Final Four
1989: Championship Game
1988: Championship Game
1987: Championship Game
1986: Championship Game
1985: Final Four
That's everything since the expansion to 64 teams. For those of you who like stats, we have 26 data points there. Of those 26 years that both appeared in the tournament, a startling 16 times the two teams were given as much protection as possible and couldn't meet until the final game. That's an amazing 61% of the time. They couldn't meet until the Final Four an additional 9 times or 35% of the time. Finally, just 1 time or about 4% they were allowed to potentially meet in the Elite Eight.
The odds of that happening without extreme human intervention would be extraordinarily rare. So no, UNC and Duke won't be matched up in the Sweet 16 this year.
Teams from the same conference cannot meet until specific times. Obviously this was relaxed a bit in the past few years as some conferences have a huge number of teams but that's why u will find UNC and Duke not meeting up until the Final Four/Title Game.
If UL was in our conference, we would not have played them past few years......same with WVU.
It's not a conspiracy just the rules. From the procedures:
Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines.
In fact, this was even more relaxed in years past. It used to be the top three teams from each conference had to be placed in different regions. It didn't matter what seed they were.
Now you also have these rules as well further making it likely UNC and Duke are placed in different regions:
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional final if they played each other three or more times during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional semifinals if they played each other twice during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference may play each other as early as the third round if they played no more than once during the regular season and conference tournament.
If UL was in our conference, we would not have played them past few years......same with WVU.
It's not a conspiracy just the rules. From the procedures:
Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines.
In fact, this was even more relaxed in years past. It used to be the top three teams from each conference had to be placed in different regions. It didn't matter what seed they were.
Now you also have these rules as well further making it likely UNC and Duke are placed in different regions:
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional final if they played each other three or more times during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional semifinals if they played each other twice during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference may play each other as early as the third round if they played no more than once during the regular season and conference tournament.
Keep in mind that Lunardi is rated 44th best in his bracketology predictions or so I read on this sight some place earleir ihn the week. Although Lunardi may be able to do a pretty good job at picking the schools, where those schools end up is pretty much a crap shoot for him as well as it is for us normal fans. Just saying....
A
anon_013cn8yrfncx2
Guest
Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines.
In fact, this was even more relaxed in years past. It used to be the top three teams from each conference had to be placed in different regions. It didn't matter what seed they were.
Now you also have these rules as well further making it likely UNC and Duke are placed in different regions:
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional final if they played each other three or more times during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional semifinals if they played each other twice during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference may play each other as early as the third round if they played no more than once during the regular season and conference tournament.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Well I guess we'll know for sure when this year's bracket is announced. UNC did not finish in the top four of their conference so that part is out. UNC in 4/5 slot and Duke in the 2 slot would mean they will not play each other 3 times unless they meet in the conference finals (seems very unlikely to me). So there really is pretty much no reason for them to be in different regions this year based on any rule/guideline.
In fact, this was even more relaxed in years past. It used to be the top three teams from each conference had to be placed in different regions. It didn't matter what seed they were.
Now you also have these rules as well further making it likely UNC and Duke are placed in different regions:
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional final if they played each other three or more times during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional semifinals if they played each other twice during the regular season and conference tournament.
Teams from the same conference may play each other as early as the third round if they played no more than once during the regular season and conference tournament.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Well I guess we'll know for sure when this year's bracket is announced. UNC did not finish in the top four of their conference so that part is out. UNC in 4/5 slot and Duke in the 2 slot would mean they will not play each other 3 times unless they meet in the conference finals (seems very unlikely to me). So there really is pretty much no reason for them to be in different regions this year based on any rule/guideline.
FWIW tho Duke is projected to be in the South Region.
For UNC the mileage between regions:
MW - 417 Miles
East - 520 Miles
South - 1041 Miles
West - 2232 Miles
So IMO it's more likely they go Midwest or East than South. East you do run into UVA but they only played each other once so far so that's probably not an issue.
Of course all of this depends on 1) What other teams are 5 seeds and 2) Where UNC is on that line. The first 5 seed.....prob MW.......the last......prob W
Its going to be an exciting march...the field is deep this year with quality...
the 7-10 seeds are going to be tough second games for the 1 and 2 seeds...
MSU, Ole Miss, Iowa, VCU, LSU, NC St, UGA, LSU, Cincy, St. John's, Dayton, Texas...are all programs that could fall in the 7-10 range...
I dare say there may be a couple of 1 and/or 2 seeds that don't make it past the second game...
the 7-10 seeds are going to be tough second games for the 1 and 2 seeds...
MSU, Ole Miss, Iowa, VCU, LSU, NC St, UGA, LSU, Cincy, St. John's, Dayton, Texas...are all programs that could fall in the 7-10 range...
I dare say there may be a couple of 1 and/or 2 seeds that don't make it past the second game...
This explains why Duke and UNC haven't been paired against each other in some years, but not all. In 2014, Duke was a 3 seed and UNC was a 6. In 2013, Duke was a 2 and UNC was an 8. They didn't meet in the ACC tournament and only played twice. I don't see anything in those rules that would have prevented them from being paired against each other. There's probably other examples but I didn't look any farther.
Edit: They could have met prior to the regional semifinals in 2014 so 2013 is the only year that applies.
This post was edited on 3/10 4:45 PM by Lumpy 2
I'd love to get Northern Iowa in the Sweet 16. If there is any way to get a type of bracket that Florida got last year on their way to the final four, I would be thrilled.
There will be at least one or two 1s or 2s go down the first weekend. I think Nova, Kansas, and Gonzaga are all extremely overrated.
There will be at least one or two 1s or 2s go down the first weekend. I think Nova, Kansas, and Gonzaga are all extremely overrated.