The Breakdown
First off, Happy New Year from Bracketology 101. We wish all of our readers a successful, healthy, and exciting 2007. With the new year comes the time for a new bracket, and there were a couple of interesting changes this week. Some teams (Wichita, UConn) fell several seed lines, while others (Butler, Air Force, Northern Iowa) continued to climb. The ever-impressive Pac-10, which is No. 1 in conference RPI to date, earned a sixth bid this week as USC made its bracket debut. West Virginia also cracks the bracket thanks to their blowout win at home over the Huskies. The toughest decision in this week's bracket turned out to be the selection of the fourth team from the mediocre Big Ten. The final spot came down to Purdue (L vs. Indiana State last week) or Illinois (L vs. Xavier last week), and in the end, the Boilermakers got the nod based on a couple more quality wins, the Illini's tough upcoming schedule, and the fact that Purdue hosts Illinois Jan. 27 in the team's only match-up this season. The MVC kept its same four teams in this week, albeit in a different order, and also saw Creighton step up its play enough to earn a spot on the Last Four Out list. The only other change of note was Xavier replacing Dayton as the A-10's automatic bid.
Here is Bracketology 101's Field of 65 for Jan. 3:
Out This Week
Illinois, Texas Tech, Dayton
In This Week
West Virginia, USC, Xavier
Last Four In
Syracuse, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Purdue
Last Four Out
Illinois, Creighton, Stanford, Texas Tech
Conference Breakdown
ACC (7), Big East (7), Pac-10 (6), Big XII (5), SEC (5), Big Ten (4), MVC (4), MWC (2), WAC (2), Colonial (2)
America East - Albany
ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Maryland, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia Tech
Atlantic Sun - Lipscomb
A-10 - Xavier
Big East - Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Marquette, UConn, Georgetown, West Virginia, Syracuse
Big Sky - Portland State
Big South - Winthrop
Big Ten - Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue
Big 12 - Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas, Kansas State
Big West - UC-Santa Barbara
Colonial - Old Dominion, Drexel
C-USA - Memphis
Horizon - Butler
Ivy - Penn
Metro Atlantic - Marist
MAC - Akron
MCC - Southern Utah
MEAC - Howard
MVC - Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Missouri State
MWC - Air Force, UNLV
Northeast - Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley - Eastern Kentucky
Pac-10 - UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Washington State, USC
Patriot - Bucknell
SEC - Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky
Southern - Appalachian State
Southland - SE Louisiana
SWAC - Alabama A&M
Sun Belt - Western Kentucky
WAC - Nevada, New Mexico State
WCC - Gonzaga
The Seeds
The 1s
UCLA, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin
The 2s
Arizona, Ohio State, Duke, Pittsburgh
The 3s
Kansas, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Butler
The 4s
Tennessee, Texas A&M, Oregon, Notre Dame
The 5s
LSU, Washington, Nevada, Air Force
The 6s
Gonzaga, Memphis, Texas, Marquette
The 7s
UConn, Clemson, Georgetown, Maryland
The 8s
Northern Iowa, Washington State, Michigan State, Southern Illinois
The 9s
Wichita State, UNLV, Kentucky, Florida State
The 10s
Drexel, Boston College, West Virginia, Missouri State
The 11s
USC, Syracuse, Kansas State, Xavier
The 12s
Georgia Tech, New Mexico State, Purdue, Old Dominion
The 13s
Winthrop, Western Kentucky, Akron, Southern Utah
The 14s
Bucknell, Penn, Appalachian State, Marist
The 15s
Albany, Sacred Heart, Portland State, UC-Santa Barbara
The 16s
Lipscomb, Eastern Kentucky, SE Louisiana, Howard (Play-In Game), Alabama A&M (Play-In Game)
Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com
8 comments:
Arizona should be a number 1 seed as of right now. They have played a stronger schedule with neutral/road games unlike most teams. 2 loss Florida should be behind Arizona right now. I agree that come March Florida will probaly deserve a 1 seed, but not now. Arizona has 1-2 in the RPI for quite some time now. East coast bias is the only explanation for that blunder. Oh course when Zona lose at least 1 game this week up in the NW, you will be bragging that you were right. But you are incorrect cause as of right now, Arizona deserves a number 1 seed.
Clemson got a nice road win at FSU. FSU will need to get a good road win or 2 to make up for this tough home loss. Stanford also suffered a bad home loss to Cal. Is Gonzaga in danger of falling out of your bracket? They fell to 9-6 with a pounding at the hands of UVA. Illinois continues to struggle with a loss against a mediocre Michigan. Purdue suffered a bad loss at Minnesota to open the PAC 10.
Can John Beilein coach or what? Villanova is the latest dougle digit loser to WVU. What is going on with Pitino & Louisville? Notre Dame beat them soundly in South Bend
Anonymous has a very valid point about Arizona. Their resume at this point dwarfs Florida's, especially considering the Wildcats's only loss - against Virginia in the season opener - looks a whole lot better now after last night's destruction of Gonzaga. With six teams from the Pac-10 in this week, plus Stanford (before last night) on the Last Four Out list, the "East Coast Bias" argument doesn't exactly apply; my only real issue with Arizona bracket-wise is the committee's probable reluctance to give two Pac-10 teams 1 seeds. This year, if any, though, they deserve it...
All that said about Arizona, if they come up with a Washington sweep this weekend, they'll be a 1 next bracket...
Gonzaga is still in the bracket - and almost certainly will be in all season - however, their recent skid (albeit against some solid teams) brings up the very distinct possibility that Santa Clara or San Diego make a bracket appearance in the future. If the Bulldogs lose a few more games, a prediction of two teams from the WCC is very possible...
The Big Ten may be pathetic (who wants the fourth bid...anybody?? Michigan?), but let's not ignore the sub-par year the Big East is having. They have several unimpressive teams clinging to bids right now (ex. Syracuse, who might be out very soon) and even the top of the league has been shaky. The Big East is a young league in transition right now, and maybe teams will step up as the year goes on, but right now, they have to be looked at as a disappointment...
Appy St presently has an RPI in the top 10. Wouldn't that rate better than a 14 seed?
Appalachian State's RPI is a product of a good OOC schedule and a couple of nice OOC wins (Virginia and Vanderbilt), but their ranking will continue to fall as conference play continues. Come tournament time, the Southern Conference winner (App. St. or Davidson) will likely get no higher than a 13 seed, barring a undefeated or one-loss conference record. If that happens, the winner could squeeze out a spot on the 12 line...we'll see.
Having 6 PAC 10 teams in your field does not make up for the mistake of having arizona as a 2 seed. The Wildcats have played a brutal schedule & are on a great winning streak. You guys are completely incorrect on putting Florida in front of them. Its just a horrible mistake!
It is nice to see I am not the only person who thinks you guys suck.
No you're definitely not, PokerPlayr, but you're still our favorite.
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