Here are Bracketology 101's Final Four picks. To see our complete brackets, join our Tournament Challenge group on ESPN.com (see below).
Enjoy the games...
Chris' Final Four
Do you want to see how your NCAA Tournament picks stack up against the guys from B101? Sign up for Bracketology 101's Tournament Challenge group at ESPN.com.
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JOIN B101's TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE GROUP NOW!
The Bracket Matrix has posted his final results matrix for all 53 brackets he monitors, and on his Bracket Matrix blog, he has ranked the top brackets by category (number of exact seeds, etc.). He also lists overall results based on two bracket scoring systems. One of them, proposed by Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline, gives bracketologists one point for every team, exact seed, and seed with one line correct. A better and fairer system, proposed by our buddy Paymon at PHSports, gives brackets three points for each correct team, two points for each exact seed, and one point for each team within one seed line.
Here's how we did:
Top brackets with the most teams seeded exactly right:
March Madness All Season: 41
Bracketology 101: 40
DantheMan4250: 39
Facts & Bracks: 38
Bracket WAG: 38
Top brackets with the most teams seeded within one of the actual seed:
Bracketology 101: 60
Mike on Sports: 60
March Madness All Season: 59
CollegeHoopsNet: 59
7 tied at 58
Top overall brackets (Gary Parrish scoring):
Bracketology 101: 164
March Madness All Season: 164
Mike on Sports: 161
CollegeHoopsNet: 161
Bracket WAG: 160
Facts & Bracks: 160
Lunardi's score: 148
Top overall brackets (Paymon scoring):
March Madness All Season: 333
Bracketology 101 : 332
CollegeHoopsNet: 328
Facts & Bracks: 328
Mike on Sports: 326
Lunardi's score: 307
For more Bracket Matrix stats and results, go to http://bracketproject.blogspot.com/ or http://bracketproject.50webs.com/comparison.htm
Here are our final numbers for this year's bracket:
Teams correct: 64/65
Exact seeds: 40/65
Seeds within one of seed line: 60/65
Joe Lunardi's final stats:
Teams correct: 65/65
Exact seeds: 32/65
Seeds within one of seed line: 54/65
Jerry Palm's final stats (CSTV and CollegeRPI.com):
Teams correct: 65/65
Exact seeds: 31/65
Seeds within one of seed line: 57/65
David Mihm's final stats (Bracketography.com):
Teams correct: 64/65
Exact seeds: 34/65
Seeds within one of seed line: 58/65
For a complete breakdown of how every bracketologist did in predicting the field, click here:
http://bracketproject.atspace.com/comparison.htm
Overall, we are very pleased with how we fared. We set career highs in all three of the above statistics, and cracked the 60 mark in terms of seeding teams within one line. When all of the bracketologists tally up their statistics, we think we might have the best overall bracket.
We are obviously disappointed that Illinois State was left out and that Oregon got in. The Ducks' seeding at a 9 is ridiculous; they should have been one of the last four teams in at best. What ended up killing Illinois State's chances was probably the fact that other mid-majors like Western Kentucky and San Diego stole bids. The committee only gave six at-large bids to mid-majors and unfortunately (and we think unfairly), that list did not include the Redbirds.
In the next couple of days, we will post our Final Four picks and our complete brackets. We will also set up the annual Bracketology 101 Tournament Challenge group on ESPN.com.
The Breakdown
Here is Bracketology 101's Final Field of 65:
Last Four In
Kentucky, Illinois State, St. Joseph's, Villanova
Last Four Out
Oregon, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, VCU
Next Four Out
Ohio State, Massachusetts, Syracuse, New Mexico
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The Seeds
The 1s
North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA, Kansas
The 2s
Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Duke
The 3s
Georgetown, Stanford, Xavier, Louisville
The 4s
Pittsburgh, Drake, Notre Dame, Connecticut
The 5s
Michigan State, Washington State, Indiana, Clemson
The 6s
Purdue, Butler, Marquette, Vanderbilt
The 7s
USC, West Virginia, Gonzaga, Oklahoma
The 8s
BYU, Arkansas, UNLV, Texas A&M
The 9s
Mississippi State, Kent State, St. Mary's, Kansas State
The 10s
Miami-FL, Baylor, South Alabama, Davidson
The 11s
Arizona, Kentucky, Temple, Illinois State
The 12s
St. Joseph's, Villanova, Western Kentucky, George Mason
The 13s
Georgia, Oral Roberts, San Diego, Siena
The 14s
Cornell, Boise State, CS-Fullerton, Winthrop
The 15s
Portland State, UMBC, American, Belmont
The 16s
Austin Peay, Texas-Arlington, Mississippi Valley State, Mount St. Mary’s (Play-In Game), Coppin State (Play-In Game)
The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)
