2008 NCAA Tournament - Mock Selection/Discussion

[Exile on Waveland]

Ohio State is in much, much better shape than "all but dead." In fact, they might even be in the tournament as of this moment. Not sure they end up in it, but they're certainly alive.

 

Yeah, I was going through the remaining bids, and there are a lot more bids available than it seems. If all the teams people said were out were actually out, there'd only be about 50 teams in the tournament.

 

That's what happens when the bubble is so weak; no one seems deserving.

[Flames24Rulz]

Ohio State is in much, much better shape than "all but dead." In fact, they might even be in the tournament as of this moment. Not sure they end up in it, but they're certainly alive.

 

Yeah, I was going through the remaining bids, and there are a lot more bids available than it seems. If all the teams people said were out were actually out, there'd only be about 50 teams in the tournament.

 

That was extremely tough to figure out which teams were deserving enough to make it in. Like we've been saying, there really aren't a lot of deserving teams out there.

[ISUCubsFan]

Ohio State is in much, much better shape than "all but dead." In fact, they might even be in the tournament as of this moment. Not sure they end up in it, but they're certainly alive.

 

I looked at their resume again and I do think I underestimated them. I'd probably move them up to behind Oregon or VCU. I don't want to put them ahead of the Pac 10 duo because they both have more big wins and a much better winning % vs the RPI Top 50. It's going to be close, so they need to root against Va. Tech and Temple today.

[Exile on Waveland]

Ohio State is in much, much better shape than "all but dead." In fact, they might even be in the tournament as of this moment. Not sure they end up in it, but they're certainly alive.

 

I looked at their resume again and I do think I underestimated them. I'd probably move them up to behind Oregon or VCU. I don't want to put them ahead of the Pac 10 duo because they both have more big wins and a much better winning % vs the RPI Top 50. It's going to be close, so they need to root against Va. Tech and Temple today.

 

This is all I was saying. I'm not sure how it will end up, but I could definitely envision a scenario that Ohio State should be invited.

 

I know Arizona State's computer numbers aren't great, but I look at a team that has wins over Xavier, Stanford, USC, Oregon and two against Arizona and have to think they should be included. I'm rooting for ASU to get a bid.

[bukie]

The thing that really hurts Arizona State is their non-conference. Other than Xavier, their non-conference slate was bad. They were blown out by the only other two decent teams they played.

[Exile on Waveland]

The thing that really hurts Arizona State is their non-conference. Other than Xavier, their non-conference slate was bad. They were blown out by the only other two decent teams they played.

 

Their next best non-conference wins were Louisiana State (Pomeroy #96) and then Montana State (#245). That's brutal. But what bubble team has better wins than ASU? I suppose I value who you beat uber (most) alles.

[ISUCubsFan]

Not sure if anyone looked at where the 1-4 seeds will be sent for the 1st and 2nd rounds, so I came up with this with the help of google maps. I just went down the list and found which location was closest.

 

North Carolina - Raleigh

UCLA - Anaheim

Memphis - Little Rock

Tennessee - Birmingham

Kansas - Omaha

Duke - Raleigh

Texas - Little Rock

Georgetown - Birmingham (can't go to Washington)

Wisconsin - Omaha

Stanford - Anaheim

Xavier - Washington

Louisville - Washington

Drake - Denver

Butler - Tampa

 

That assumes we don't make any changes to the top 14, but it shouldn't be too hard to switch them around if we do. That leaves one Denver and one Tampa location open for the last 2 of the top 16. The closest location for the 6 teams that recieved votes are:

 

Vanderbilt - Tampa

Notre Dame - Denver

Connecticut - Tampa

Washington State - Denver

Purdue - Tampa

Marquette - Denver

[bukie]

Clemson 78, Duke 74

Illinois 54, Minnesota 50

Wisconsin 65, Michigan State 63

Texas 77, Oklahoma 49

Kansas 77, Texas A&M 71

[bukie]

UCLA held on to beat Stanford 67-64 and earn the automatic Pac-10 bid.

Temple beat St. Joe's 69-64 to earn the A-10 bid.

UNLV beat BYU 76-61 to earn the MW bid.

Kent State torched Akron 74-55 to get the MAC bid.

Arkansas upset Tennessee 92-91 in the SEC semis.

[bukie]

Mississippi Valley State player hits two free throws with no time remaining to beat Jackson State 59-58 and win the SWAC championship.

[bhogg]

Arkansas is off the bubble.

 

If they can win tomorrow, they might get a very favorable seed from the committee.

[ISUCubsFan]

UGA just made things a lot more stressful for the bubble.

[bukie]

Coppin State won the MEAC championship 62-60 over top seed Morgan State.

Georgia just won their second game today, 64-60 over Mississippi State.

WAC championship going down to the wire too.

[shnsajax]

Here is what I see so far

#1 Seeds

Memphis - Lock with Tenn loss today

North Carolina - Lock with Duke loss today

UCLA - Lock with Pac 10 title today

Texas/Kansas winner

 

#2 Seeds

Tennessee - Tough spot for them, odd man out.

Duke

Wisconsin - Maybe deserving of a #1, RPI, SOS, and Big 10 hurt them though

Texas/Kansas loser - Georgetown potential loss tonight makes this a lock, plus they don't have the resume to go over Texas or Kansas.

[Derwood]

the is conference tourney season has been amazing. here's hoping the NCAA's are as crazy

[ISUCubsFan]

the is conference tourney season has been amazing. here's hoping the NCAA's are as crazy

 

Yeah, though I could do without a tornado hitting one of the tournament sites. For more excitement Boise State and New Mexico State are going to 3OT for the WAC's only bid.

[bukie]

Pitt beats Georgetown 74-65 to take the automatic bid for the Big East as the 7 seed.

Boise State beats New Mexico State 107-102 in 3OTs to win the WAC bid.

One last bid up for grabs today, CS Fullerton leads UC Irvine 37-27 at the half.

[Andy]

the is conference tourney season has been amazing. here's hoping the NCAA's are as crazy

I just want one finish like the Minnesota/IU game. The last time I can remember a legitimately "OMG what the hell just happened" NCAA buzzer-beater was Northwestern State/Iowa I think in 2006. OSU/Xavier was awesome last year but not quite the same.

[snoodmonger]

Here is what I see so far

#1 Seeds

Memphis - Lock with Tenn loss today

North Carolina - Lock with Duke loss today

UCLA - Lock with Pac 10 title today

Texas/Kansas winner

 

#2 Seeds

Tennessee - Tough spot for them, odd man out.

Duke

Wisconsin - Maybe deserving of a #1, RPI, SOS, and Big 10 hurt them though

Texas/Kansas loser - Georgetown potential loss tonight makes this a lock, plus they don't have the resume to go over Texas or Kansas.

 

 

I don't think the KU/UT loser drops to the 4th two-seed.

[bukie]

Still waiting on one final submission, and I'm tired, so I'll post the results tomorrow morning.

[shnsajax]

Here is what I see so far

#1 Seeds

Memphis - Lock with Tenn loss today

North Carolina - Lock with Duke loss today

UCLA - Lock with Pac 10 title today

Texas/Kansas winner

 

#2 Seeds

Tennessee - Tough spot for them, odd man out.

Duke

Wisconsin - Maybe deserving of a #1, RPI, SOS, and Big 10 hurt them though

Texas/Kansas loser - Georgetown potential loss tonight makes this a lock, plus they don't have the resume to go over Texas or Kansas.

 

 

I don't think the KU/UT loser drops to the 4th two-seed.

 

I wasn't trying to rank the 1 and 2 seeds, just listing them.

[bukie]

Reserved for results of Saturday, March 15:

 

Results of 15-48 ranking:

 

	                      Voter				
Teams          bukie  Andy  Flames  ISU  Total
Connecticut      34    32     31     34    131
Notre Dame       31    34     27     32    124
Washington St.   33    26     29     33    121
Marquette        32    33     30     26    121
Pittsburgh       25    28     34     29    116
Vanderbilt       28    27     33     25    113
Michigan State   26    30     32     24    112
Clemson          30    25     28     27    110
Purdue           29    29     24     28    110
Indiana          23    31     26     30    110
USC              27    23     20     31    101
Gonzaga          22    24     18     23     87
Oklahoma         20    20     25     22     87
West Virginia    24    21     22     17     84
BYU              17    18     23     21     79
Kent State       19    15     21     13     68
Arkansas         18    17     15     18     68
Mississippi St.  21     9     17     19     66
St. Mary's       15    16     12     20     63
UNLV             16    22     11     12     61
Texas A&M        10    19     16     14     59
Miami-Florida    13    11     19     15     58
Kansas State     14     3     14     16     47
Kentucky         11    13      8     10     42
South Alabama     8    10     13      9     40
St. Joseph's     12    12      7      8     39
Baylor            4     6      9     11     30
Arizona           7     4     10      7     28
Davidson          9    14      2      2     27
Illinois State    6     7      4      3     20
Temple            3     5      3      6     17
Western Kentucky  2     8      1      1     12
Villanova         5            5            10
Virginia Tech           1      6             7
Oregon                  2             4      6
Arizona State                         5      5
VCU               1                          1

 

If the fifth member wants to send me his ranking I will still add them in.

 

So, 1-65:

North Carolina

Memphis

UCLA

Tennessee

Kansas

Duke

Texas

Georgetown

Wisconsin

Stanford

Xavier

Louisville

Drake

Butler

Connecticut

Notre Dame

Washington St.

Marquette

Pittsburgh

Vanderbilt

Michigan State

Clemson

Purdue

Indiana

USC

Gonzaga

Oklahoma

West Virginia

BYU

Kent State

Arkansas

Mississippi St.

St. Mary's

UNLV

Texas A&M

Miami-Florida

Kansas State

Kentucky

South Alabama

St. Joseph's

Baylor

Arizona

Davidson

Illinois State

Temple

Western Kentucky

Villanova

Virginia Tech

George Mason

Oral Roberts

San Diego

Siena

Cornell

Boise State

CS Fullerton

Winthrop

Belmont

UMBC

Austin Peay

American

Portland State

Southland (TX Arlington)

Mount St. Mary's

Coppin State

Miss Valley State

 

Last 4 out:

Oregon

Arizona State

VCU

Dayton (they had a vote, but the voter forgot to put Davidson and W. Kentucky in the field, so I just removed the last 2 from their list and added them)

 

So, here's the S-curve (remember, it snakes):

1.   North Carolina      UCLA           Memphis           Tennessee     
2.   Georgetown          Texas          Duke              Kansas        
3.   Wisconsin           Stanford       Xavier            Louisville    
4.   Notre Dame          Connecticut    Butler            Drake         
5.   Washington St.      Marquette      Pittsburgh        Vanderbilt      
6.   Indiana             Purdue         Clemson           Michigan State  
7.   USC                 Gonzaga        Oklahoma          West Virginia   
8.   Mississippi St.     Arkansas       Kent State        BYU             
9.   St. Mary's          UNLV           Texas A&M         Miami-Florida   
10.  St. Joseph's        South Alabama  Kentucky          Kansas State    
11.  Baylor              Arizona        Davidson          Illinois State  
12.  Virginia Tech       Villanova      Western Kentucky  Temple          
13.  George Mason        Oral Roberts   San Diego         Siena
14.  Winthrop            CS Fullerton   Boise State       Cornell
15.  Belmont             UMBC           Austin Peay       American
16.  Coppin State        Mt St. Mary's  Southland (UTAR)  Portland State
16b. Miss. Valley St.

 

Here are the results of Saturday's voting. Of course, if Illinois and/or Georgia win today, two bids are gone. The last two in are Villanova and Virginia Tech. From here, it's on to form a bracket.

[ISUCubsFan]

Looks good bukie. I think you switched around my WKU and Davidson votes, but it wouldn't change anything. As far as setting a bracket, I think we should try to avoid rematches in the 2nd round if possible. It's not against the rules anymore, but I read somewhere that the committee tries to avoid it. Of the top of my head Kansas-Kansas State, Wisconsin-Indiana, Stanford-Arizona, and Connecticut-Marquette/Villanova could happen in the 2nd round.

[Exile on Waveland]

Looks good bukie. I think you switched around my WKU and Davidson votes, but it wouldn't change anything. As far as setting a bracket, I think we should try to avoid rematches in the 2nd round if possible. It's not against the rules anymore, but I read somewhere that the committee tries to avoid it. Of the top of my head Kansas-Kansas State, Wisconsin-Indiana, Stanford-Arizona, and Connecticut-Marquette/Villanova could happen in the 2nd round.

 

He already said that wasn't the actual bracket, just the seeding. Conference teams can't play in the second round.

[ISUCubsFan]

Looks good bukie. I think you switched around my WKU and Davidson votes, but it wouldn't change anything. As far as setting a bracket, I think we should try to avoid rematches in the 2nd round if possible. It's not against the rules anymore, but I read somewhere that the committee tries to avoid it. Of the top of my head Kansas-Kansas State, Wisconsin-Indiana, Stanford-Arizona, and Connecticut-Marquette/Villanova could happen in the 2nd round.

 

He already said that wasn't the actual bracket, just the seeding. Conference teams can't play in the second round.

 

I know, I was just trying to point out tweaks that could be made. I know the rule used to be that you couldn't play a conference team until the elite 8, but when the Big East expanded they changed them because they could get 9 teams into the tourney. I though they allowed 2nd round matchups if absolutely necessary, but they're unnecessary anyway, so it doesn't matter.