The Future Of Bracketology 101

For the past six years, we have spent more hours than we can count breaking down the "bubble."

It’s only fitting then, that the future of Bracketology 101 rests squarely on it.

Last November, Chris’s wife gave birth to their family’s first child, Ryan, and in late October, Craig’s wife gave birth to their first child, Jaren. Those new additions to the B101 family, coupled with the time commitments of our day jobs, have unfortunately left us with little to no time to devote to the world of bracketology. We still watch our fair share of games and we’ve kept up as much as we can on the college basketball landscape, but not nearly enough to analyze nightly games or put together and debate a weekly bracket.

(At this point, even Lunardi could probably come up with a better Field of 68 than we could.)

(OK…maybe not.)

In the last week or so, we’ve read several comments and received several e-mails wondering where we’ve been, and wondering if last year’s less-than-stellar final bracket had driven us into early retirement. The truth is we have two very important reasons why we haven’t posted anything yet this season. We can’t believe we are saying this, but bracketology – and the hours each week it takes to do it right – just don’t fit into our schedules right now. We’re not ruling out a late-season return, but in the near future, we won’t be adding any new content to B101.

To all of our fans and die-hard commenters, we already miss and will continue to miss all of the daily banter. We feel that over the last six years, no site has been better at debating all things bracketology than B101, and that’s because of the knowledgeable and passionate college basketball fans that visit every day. Don’t forget about us – we’ll let you know about the short and long-term future of the site just as soon as we figure it out.

In the meantime, enjoy the games...

Chris & Craig

Bracketology 101's Bracket Picks

To view or download Chris', Craig's, and Matt's complete tournament brackets, click on the title of this post.

The brackets are downloadable, printable, and are saved in .pdf format. There is also a blank downloadable bracket that you can use for your own picks.

Good luck in your office pools...

Also, if you haven't done so yet, sign up for Bracketology 101's Tournament Challenge group at ESPN.com.

Private Group Name: B101 Bracket Challenge

Password: b101

Sign up for the group ASAP. The group locks at the tip-off of the first game on Thursday. Only one bracket per person, please.

B101's Bracket Reaction

Wow. What a baffling job by the selection committee. Our heads are still spinning, and we have a ton of questions.

Here's 10 of them:

1. Is it possible that we could have done any worse? Four wrong? Seriously?

2. How do UAB and Clemson make the field with one Top 50 win combined, and Colorado get left out with six Top 50 wins (six!), including three wins over a 5 seed?

3. How does VCU, who finished in fourth place in the Colonial and went 3-5 down the stretch, get a bid, and St. Mary's, who was co-champ of the WCC and beat St. John's and Gonzaga, get left out? How is that consistent?

4. How in the world did Utah State and Richmond get 12s?

5. How does Georgia get a 10 and Alabama, who beat them twice in the last week, get left out?

6. How does George Mason get a higher seed than Old Dominion?

7. How do any of the Big Ten bubble seeds make sense? Michigan's a 8?? Illinois a 9? Penn State a 10?

8. How is Butler an 8? How are they three seed lines better than Gonzaga?

9. How is Missouri an 11? How is Kansas State two seed lines ahead of A&M?

10. Why did the SEC title game not even matter? Why is Florida a 2 and Kentucky a 4?

Bracketology 101's Final Field of 68

Here is Bracketology 101's Final Field of 68 (5:22 p.m. ET):

Bracket Breakdown
Last Four In
Virginia Tech, Georgia, St. Mary's, Alabama

First Four Out
Clemson, USC, UAB, Harvard

Next Three Out
Boston College, VCU, Missouri State

The Seeds
The 1s
Ohio State, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Duke

The 2s
Notre Dame, San Diego State, North Carolina, Connecticut

The 3s
Louisville, Florida, Kentucky, Texas

The 4s
Syracuse, BYU, Purdue, Wisconsin

The 5s
St. John's, West Virginia, Arizona, Texas A&M

The 6s
Cincinnati, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Kansas State

The 7s
Old Dominion, UNLV, Xavier, Temple

The 8s
Washington, Utah State, George Mason, UCLA

The 9s
Tennessee, Richmond, Missouri, Villanova

The 10s
Marquette, Gonzaga, Illinois, Florida State

The 11s
Butler, Michigan State, Michigan, Colorado

The 12s
Memphis, Penn State, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia (FF), St. Mary's vs. Alabama (FF)

The 13s
Belmont, Princeton, Oakland, Indiana State

The 14s
Bucknell, Morehead State, Wofford, Long Island

The 15s
Akron, St. Peter's, Northern Colorado, Boston University

The 16s
Hampton, UC-Santa Barbara, UNC-Asheville vs. Texas-San Antonio (FF), Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Alabama State (FF)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)
















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