Tuesday, March 02, 2010

B101's Questions For The Competition

Questions For The Competition is a weekly column that addresses our issues with the brackets of other bracketology "experts." Today's questions are reserved for ESPN's Joe Lunardi, SI.com's Andy Glockner, and CBSSports.com and CollegeRPI.com's Jerry Palm. Keep in mind that these questions are about each expert's most recent brackets, which were released before Monday's games.

Overview:
With the bubble being as weak as it is right now, it's tough to argue about some of the at-large differences we have with other bracketologists. We were surprised to see so many bracketologists with Virginia Tech in their bracket, but for brackets done as if the season ended today, having the Hokies in isn't terrible. We took them out in large part because we don't think they'll win at Georgia Tech this weekend, but most other brackets aren't looking that far ahead. The same could be said for Dayton, who we don't have in because of their upcoming game at Richmond. Most of the issues we had with the other bracketologists this week were in terms of seeding rather than teams.

Joe Lunardi (ESPN) - March 1 Bracket
Our plug on SportsNation has to be concerning for you. The last thing you need is for your co-workers to start comparing our stats to your abysmal bracket stats over the last four years (we won't even get into all the bracketing principles issues you've had the last few weeks.) You a little nervous now that we've invaded your home turf? Does your office have a nice view?

UConn's so far in that they aren't even on the Last Four In list?

How did Temple drop from a 4 to a 5 after two wins? They have a worse resume than BYU? How exactly?

Jerry Palm (CBS, CollegeRPI.com) - March 1 Bracket
We joked after URI and Charlotte lost that weekend that A-10 fans didn't need to worry because you would still have five A-10 teams in your field on Monday. As least we thought we were joking...

How in the world would the A-10 get five bids (five!) if the season ended today? How is Dayton a 10? They're that safe?

Worst of all, how is Rhode Island - after losing FOUR of FIVE - still an 8 seed? That's insane. Oh wait - the Rams' RPI is 37. That explains everything.

How is Mississippi in the field at all, and more specifically, how are they in over Mississippi State? The Bulldogs swept the Rebels head-to-head and are two games better in the SEC. Explain.

St. Mary's is a 10 seed? How are the Gaels that safe?

How is Cincinnati (who has lost five of seven) ahead of Notre Dame (who just picked up two huge wins) on your Last Four Out list?

Andy Glockner (SI.com) - March 1 Bracket
Did you really try to justify Dayton's spot in your bracket by saying that the Flyers "don't have any double-digit losses?" Seriously? That's the criteria?

How is Richmond still a 5 seed?

Isn't UTEP a little low as a 13?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good post, have you ever gotten a response from any of these guys?

SMA said...

Pretty obvious why Glockner does those things for Dayton and Richmond, he's a major A-10 homer. Great writer, great guy, but huge A-10 homer, anyone who has followed him and listened to his ESPN podcasts knows this.

Bracketology 101 said...

Glockner wrote us about a month ago and we put his e-mail and our response to it in a Mailbag post. We tweet back and forth with him on a semi-regular basis, too. He's a cool guy, who despite our criticism, definitely knows his stuff.

We've never gotten a response from Palm or Lunardi. Needless to say, aren't holding our breath.

SMA said...

What do you guys think about Louisville? Glockner says the winner of tonight's game is in, but then starts talking about how they're in trouble after the disaster. Obviously beating Syracuse would put them in, but what if they're 10-8 going to New York? What needs to happen?

Jeff G said...

"How did Temple drop from a 4 to a 5 after two wins? They have a worse resume than BYU? How exactly?"

Did I mention this is the best site on the 'net?

Go Owls!

Anonymous said...

How about a question for B101? When did you jump off the Virginia Tech bandwagon? You guys have ignored their horrible OOC resume the past month, what changed your mind now? Did someone finally tell you that most of their wins are against teams outside the top 100?

Anonymous said...

Jerry Palm will actually answer questions over on the CBS Sports boards if you want to post over there after he does a bracket.

Anonymous said...

Hey Jeff, good to see another Temple fan on here.

I'm glad that people are noticing that Lunardi keeps putting Temple lower while they keep winning games. That doesn't make much sense.

--Dan.