bukie

But, for the most part, the positional need for the Bears is varied enough that any position could be significantly upgraded with the #14 pick. Even in the second round. Essentially, the only positions where the Bears are set for the reasonable future is LB and special teams.

I'd like to see something along the lines of 1 - BPA 2 - BPA 3a/3b - OL/RB/DL/LB depending on what was addressed in earlier rounds 4 - WR 5-7 - BPA

Are matchups determined yet for the final 8, or is a separate draw held after the round of 16?

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