Bracket Predictions

It's so disheartening knowing my team (Illini) will likely be missing the tournament (by far my favorite sporting event) for the fourth straight season. Despite that, I'm still excited for the upcoming tournament. The committee is going to reveal the top 16 teams next weekend, similar to what the CFB Playoff committee did. My predictions as of today:

West

1. Gonzaga
2. Oregon
3. Virginia
4. Wisconsin

South

1. Louisville
2. Baylor
3. Kentucky
4. UCLA

East

1. Villanova
2. Florida St
3. West Virginia
4. Duke

Midwest

1. Kansas
2. North Carolina
3. Arizona
4. Florida

Don't know what regions they would be placed in, but here's my guess at the top 16.

1 seeds: Gonzaga, Villanova, Kansas, Louisville
2 seeds: Baylor, Oregon, Arizona, Kentucky
3 seeds: Wisconsin, Virginia, UNC, Florida State
4 seeds: West Virginia, Maryland, UCLA, Cincinnati

Update before today's games

East
1. Villanova (overall #1)
2. Arizona
3. Florida St
4. Florida

South
1. Baylor
2. Louisville
3. Kentucky
4. Virginia

Midwest
1. Kansas
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Purdue

West
1. Gonzaga
2. Oregon
3. Duke
4. West Virginia

So this is what the bubble feels like? MSU is terrible and thankfully the bubble is pretty weak this time around. Just a terrible time for MSU teams. Began with the playoff loss to Alabama. Followed by the worst loss in tournament history. Then a giant collapse for the football team and going to end up missing the dance.

My self pity regarding the Illini missing out on the Tourney again may have come prematurely. They've won 5 in a row and can get to .500 in the Big 10 by winning at Rutgers on Saturday (the worst team in the conference, by a large margin). A .500 record in the conference would usually have been enough, but the conference isn't great this year. Win a game in the BTT (which likely will be an 8-9 game between Iowa or Michigan) and I think the Illini will find themselves in The Dance.

Predictions after 3/1 games

Midwest

1. Kansas
2. Kentucky
3. Florida St
4. Virginia
5. Purdue
6. Iowa St
7. St Marys
8. Virginia Tech

West

1. Oregon
2. Gonzaga
3. Duke
4. West Virginia
5. Notre Dame
6. Wisconsin
7. Creighton
8. Michigan St

East

1. Villanova
2. Louisville
3. UCLA
4. Florida
5. Cincinnati
6. Oklahoma St
7. Maryland
8. Miami

South

1. North Carolina
2. Baylor
3. Arizona
4. Butler
5. Minnesota
6. Dayton
7. South Carolina
8. SMU

Is there a reason UCLA is ranked #3 in the country but it seems like every bracketology guy has them no higher than a 3 seed?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by acesfull86

Is there a reason UCLA is ranked #3 in the country but it seems like every bracketology guy has them no higher than a 3 seed?

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Rankings don't mean anything to tournament seedings.

Bubbles popping left and right. Iowa and Illinois with very bad showings tonight. Indiana isn't getting any talk and I think if they are playing on Saturday they should be in the discussion.
Kansas continues to play great until March and then you can toss it all out the window. Probably will still get a 1 seed, but they are ripe for an early exit like usual. I think we could finally see Gonzaga make a legit run to the final four. Their frontcourt is outstanding and pose a great advantage over a lot of teams.

1 seeds:
Villanova, UNC, Kansas, Oregon

All about the matchups come Tourney time. Could see Gonzaga making a run, or being bounced in the Sweet 16 if they are facing a team with quality big guys like a Purdue.

Duke is a team that has the talent to win it all and depending on who is in their part of the bracket, might be my choice to do so

Kansas probably cost themselves the overall #1 seed, though does that really matter in the tournament? Villanova probably takes the overall one seed if they win their conference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NinersSBChamps

Rankings don't mean anything to tournament seedings.

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They may not come into play in the selection room, but there is obviously a correlation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrimsonCowboy

Kansas probably cost themselves the overall #1 seed, though does that really matter in the tournament? Villanova probably takes the overall one seed if they win their conference.

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They'll still be a 1 and they'll still be in the Midwest, so this really means nothing. May change your Final Four matchup, but you make it that far you are going to be playing a tough team regardless of what your overall seed is.