bukie

So...better than Drew Henson and John Navarre....

More conference tournaments start today in the Patriot League, Atlantic Sun, and Sun Belt conferences.

Otah.

Ohio State 79, Syracuse 65. Also, conference rankings by Pomeroy Rating, which uses a Pythagorean method based on offensive and defensive efficiency, indicates the Big Ten may not be quite as bad as the RPI suggests.

This is a move I am actually happy with. Now they can take a later round flyer on a WR if they like to test the depth, but it's not so much a glaring need anymore.

What, no love for VCU, UMass or Western Kentucky? :)

The conference is bad, but Purdue is the best team Ohio State has beaten this year if they hold on, easily. Purdue has played like a top-20 team, especially since January.

Ohio State-Purdue tied at 62 with a minute to play.

If Otah is on the board at 14, I'd much prefer the Bears take him than a RB. And who is this "Stewart"? I was under the impression there were only 2 RBs in this draft. ;)

Three conference tournaments start tonight. Lot of bubble teams rooting for Butler in the Horizon. They do have a bye to the semis, though, so we won't see them for a few days yet.

2 seed in the west? no thanks. Of those 2 seeds, KU easily scares me the most. And that's despite the fact that a similar UCLA team beat a similar KU team last year in the Elite 8. I would rather draw Texas though. Revenge! :twisted: Of course there's still a lot of work to be done for UCLA to get the 1 seed and stay out west...starting with the big Stanford game on Thursday. I'd say of those, Tennessee would be the weakest 1 seed, with KU the strongest 2 seed. There's a large efficiency gap between KU and Texas, despite how similar their profiles look.

Well, that's how it works in the NCAA tournament also, just standard bracketing. Really, especially in this conference this year, there's little difference between even the 6 and the 11...well, 10 seeds.

i'm not certain, but i think the tiebreaker in that case would be their record against the top four teams. basically, whoever has the better combined record against IU, PU, MSU and WISC. and does the #1 seed always face the 6 vs. 11 winner, or do they reorder so they play lowest surviving seed? Is the tie-breaker overall record or head-to-head? If it's head-to-head, Purdue would be the #1 seed, since they beat Wisconsin twice this season. Right, Purdue is the #1 seed unless Wisconsin wins the league outright. Minnesota would win the tiebreaker then with OSU because they had the fortune to only lose to Wisconsin and Purdue once each (easiest schedule in the conference this year). That assumes they finish tied of course.

i'm not certain, but i think the tiebreaker in that case would be their record against the top four teams. basically, whoever has the better combined record against IU, PU, MSU and WISC. and does the #1 seed always face the 6 vs. 11 winner, or do they reorder so they play lowest surviving seed? The 1 seed always faces the 8-9 winner (which right now would be Michigan/Iowa). 2 seed faces 7/10 winner (PSU/Illinois), 3 seed faces 6/11 winner. Tiebreaker after head-to-head is record vs. best teams in the conference. So, it would be record vs. Wisconsin, then Purdue, then IU, then MSU, and on down.

I would doubt Allstate actually, since Allstate already bought the naming rights to an arena in the Chicago area.

State Farm, Boeing, Sears, Walgreens, Motorola, Allstate, McDonald's, Sara Lee, Exelon...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Griese on Tampa Bay prior to the Bears?

No. 38 in Pomeroy. On the year, when leading at the half, Illinois is 13-13.

I think what kills me most about this year is that if Illinois is an average free throw shooting team, they are on the bubble right now. Their RPI is bad, mostly from the losses, but their schedule has been unexpectedly brutal, even in conference, and they have lost a LOT of close games. Statistically, they're the 6th best team in the conference, they are just atrocious in close games.

That's too bad, would be nice to get fair representation from people that watch more Pac-10 and ACC basketball, respectively, than I know at least I do. Since I haven't really seen much basketball outside the Big 10 this year (and really not too much more inside the Big 10 this year), which teams from the Pac-10 and ACC, respectively, do you guys think should at least get a mention for an at-large bid?

Quick list of teams I think deserve consideration: Top 50 Sagarin ratings: North Carolina Memphis UCLA Duke Kansas Tennessee Wisconsin Texas Georgetown Xavier-Ohio Stanford Indiana Marquette Louisville Washington State Connecticut Notre Dame Michigan State Gonzaga Drake Clemson Pittsburgh Southern California West Virginia Butler Purdue Arizona Saint Mary's-Cal. Texas A&M Davidson BYU Vanderbilt Kansas State Baylor Oklahoma Miami-Florida Mississippi State Oregon Arizona State Ohio State Arkansas New Mexico Florida Illinois State UNLV South Alabama Creighton Va. Commonwealth Syracuse Mississippi Top 50 RPI: Tennessee Memphis North Carolina Duke Texas Xavier Georgetown Kansas UCLA Vanderbilt Wisconsin Louisville Connecticut Drake Michigan St. Indiana Stanford Marquette Butler Notre Dame Washington St. Arizona Pittsburgh Clemson Brigham Young Miami FL Nevada Las Vegas South Alabama Purdue Oklahoma Gonzaga St. Mary's Baylor Illinois St. Kent St. Dayton Mississippi St. Massachusetts Arkansas Southern California West Virginia Virginia Commonwealth Kansas St. Davidson Mississippi Texas A&M Texas Tech Southern Illinois Western Kentucky Creighton There are probably some that made neither of these lists that also deserve consideration.

Committee's final proposed bracket: East Region - Charlotte, NC West Region - Phoenix, AZ 1 - North Carolina - Raleigh, NC Pod Anaheim, CA Pod - UCLA - 1 16 - Coppin State/Mississippi Valley State Mount St. Mary's - 16 8 - Oklahoma Arkansas - 8 9 - UNLV St. Mary's - 9 4 - Notre Dame - Tampa, FL Pod Tampa, FL Pod - Connecticut - 4 13 - George Mason Oral Roberts - 13 5 - Washington State Clemson - 5 12 - Temple Baylor - 12 2 - Georgetown - Birmingham, AL Pod Little Rock, AR Pod - Texas - 2 15 - Belmont UMBC - 15 7 - Gonzaga West Virginia - 7 10 - Kansas State St. Joseph's - 10 3 - Xavier - Washington DC Pod Omaha, NE Pod - Wisconsin - 3 14 - Winthrop CS Fullerton - 14 6 - Indiana Vanderbilt - 6 11 - Baylor Davidson - 11 1 - Tennessee - Birmingham, AL Pod Little Rock, AR Pod - Memphis - 1 16 - Portland State Texas-Arlington - 16 8 - BYU Mississippi State - 8 9 - Miami, FL Texas A&M - 9 4 - Drake - Denver, CO Pod Denver, CO Pod - Butler - 4 13 - Siena San Diego - 13 5 - Marquette Pittsburgh - 5 12 - Virginia Tech Western Kentucky - 12 2 - Kansas - Omaha, NE Pod Raleigh, NC Pod - Duke - 2 15 - American Austin Peay - 15 7 - USC Kent State - 7 10 - South Alabama Kentucky - 10 3 - Louisville - Washington DC Pod Anaheim, CA Pod - Stanford - 3 14 - Cornell Boise State - 14 6 - Michigan State Purdue - 6 11 - Illinois State Villanova - 11 Midwest Region - Detroit, MI South Region - Houston, TX

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.

Results of Friday, March 14: Voter results: Voter Teams bukie Flames SSR Andy ISU Total North Carolina 16 16 15 16 16 79 UCLA 15 13 16 12 13 69 Memphis 12 15 13 14 15 69 Tennessee 13 14 9 15 14 65 Kansas 14 10 14 11 10.5 59.5 Duke 9 11 12 11 12 55 Texas 11 12 8 11 10.5 52.5 Georgetown 10 9 11 10 9 49 Wisconsin 8 5 10 7 8 38 Stanford 6 6 7 8 6 33 Xavier 5 8 1 6 7 27 Louisville 7 4 2 5 5 23 Drake 4 3 6 4 1 18 Butler 3 2 4 2 2 13 Vanderbilt 7 7 Notre Dame 3 3 6 Connecticut 1 4 5 Washington State 5 5 Purdue 1 3 4 Marquette 2 1 3 So, rather than having a distinct 16, it appears we have a solid top 14 of 1. North Carolina 2. UCLA 3. Memphis 4. Tennessee 5. Kansas (for now) 6. Duke 7. Texas (for now) 8. Georgetown 9. Wisconsin 10. Stanford 11. Xavier 12. Louisville 13. Drake 14. Butler As for the bottom seeds (13-16...#49-65 overall): Teams Average Oral Roberts 15.25 George Mason 15.25 San Diego 14.5 Siena 12 Cornell 12 WAC (New Mexico St) 11 Big West (CS Fullerton) 9.75 Winthrop 9 Belmont 8.75 Austin Peay 8 AE (UMBC) 7.5 American 7.25 Portland State 6 MEAC (Morgan St) 3 Mount St. Mary's 2.75 Southland (TX-Ar) 2.5 SWAC (Miss Valley St) 1 So, seeds 49-65 (for the time being) are: 49. Oral Roberts 50. George Mason 51. San Diego 52. Siena 53. Cornell 54. WAC (New Mexico St.) 55. Big West (CS Fullerton) 56. Winthrop 57. Belmont 58. Austin Peay 59. America East (UMBC) 60. American 61. Portland State 62. MEAC (Morgan St.) 63. Mount St. Mary's 64. Southland (TX-Arlington) 65. SWAC (Miss. Valley St.)

Results of Thursday, March 13 (34 at-large teams). Here are the selections | Voter | Team | bukie | Flames | Andy | ISU | SSR | ------------------------------------------------------ Xavier | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Duke | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | UNC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Clemson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Indiana | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Purdue | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Kansas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Texas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Kansas State | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Pittsburgh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Louisville | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Georgetown | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Marquette | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Notre Dame | 1 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Memphis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | UCLA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Washington St. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Stanford | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Vanderbilt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Gonzaga | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | St. Mary's | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | BYU | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Mississippi St. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | South Alabama | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | Oklahoma | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | USC | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 1 | Kent State | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | Miami (FL) | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | UNLV | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | Arizona | | 1 | 1 | | 1 | Oregon | | | 1 | | 1 | Dayton | | 1 | | | | Ohio State | | | 1 | | | Kentucky | | | 1 | | | Arkansas | | | | 1 | | Texas A&M | | | | | 1 | Arizona State | | | | | 1 | So, the following 30 teams are IN, no further discussion: Xavier Duke UNC Clemson Wisconsin Indiana Purdue Michigan State Kansas Texas Kansas State Pittsburgh Louisville Georgetown Marquette Connecticut Notre Dame West Virginia Memphis UCLA Washington St. Stanford Tennessee Vanderbilt Gonzaga St. Mary's BYU Mississippi St. South Alabama Oklahoma USC These 4 teams were close to in, needed one more vote: Kent State Miami (FL) UNLV Arizona Other available at-large possibilities: Oregon Dayton Ohio State Kentucky Arkansas Texas A&M Arizona State All other at-large candidates I have noted in the above post The following conference representatives are not in at-large discussion, and will thus be at the bottom of the bracket: America East (Maryland-BC) Belmont (ASun) Portland State (BSky) Winthrop (BSouth) Big West (UC Santa Barbara) George Mason (Colonial) Cornell (Ivy) Siena (MAAC) MEAC (Morgan State) Mount St. Mary's (NEC) Austin Peay (OVC) Patriot (American) Southland (Stephen F. Austin) SWAC (Alabama State) Oral Roberts (Summit) WAC (Utah State)