JasonEvans
03-15-2015, 02:44 PM
We do it every year. We look at the brackets and say, "how is team X a #5 seed?!?!?! They are better than all the other #5 seeds and half the #4s. Why are they in our bracket?!?!" Then we look a bit more and say the same thing about a #7 or #10 and so on and so on.
So, using BracketMatrix.com (http://bracketmatrix.com/) as my guide, here are the seeds no one wants to see on each seed line.
1. Kentucky - no duuuuuh!
2. Wisconsin - BracketMatrix still has Wisky as a #2 even though I think most of us feel they have moved to the #1 line, probably bouncing either Duke or Virginia. So, I'll say Wisconsin, but if they are a #1 then this honor goes to whichever of Duke or Virginia get dropped to the #2 line.
3. Notre Dame - I think the Irish are all but a mortal lock to be the #3 in the Midwest and I am dying to see them battle Kentucky in the ultimate test of inside power versus outside shooting. As an aside, the other likely #3s (Maryland, Baylor, and Iowa State are all scary good).
4. Oklahoma - Did you know they have 12 wins against the RPI top 50? That's more than Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky and a slew of other top seeded teams.
5. The #5 line is lousy this year. Really not impressive teams. Arkansas hasn't beaten a single team that will be favored in its first round matchup. Utah's record vs the RPI top 50 is 3-7. Wichita St has exactly 1 road win over an RPI top 100 team... Illinois St. So, I guess the team no one wants to see on the 5-line is West Virginia. They do have wins against Kansas and Oklahoma, though both those games were at home.
6. SMU - They've done a nice job of gaming the RPI by playing a lot of top 100 teams but not a lot of top 25 teams, so we don't really know that much about them. Still, they beat Temple 3 times and have a road record of 8-4, which is pretty darn good.
7. Michigan St - Sparty seems to be peaking at the right time. They've won 8 of 10 and 4 in a row against Purdue, @ Indiana, Ohio St, and Maryland. That's an impressive a stretch as any team in the country right now.
8. Oregon - Ducks have been pretty darn hot lately. They've won 11 of 13 including 2 victories over Utah and 3 straight road wins.
9. NC St - As we have seen, the Pack is capable of playing with anyone, especially when the outside shots are falling. I also think the shot blocking of BJ Anya can be a game-changer. If the Pack are playing well, they can take out a #1 seed. By the way, my first instinct was to take Cincy on this line, but did you know they have 2 losses to teams outside the top 200 in the RPI? And both of those loses are fairly recent, games in February. Not good.
10. Okie St - Road wins at Baylor and Texas are impressive. They also have a win over Kansas. But, they have really struggled lately. Still, I ain't taking an SEC team (Ga or LSU) and the best team Colorado St played this year was San Diego St. So, OSU gets the pick here by default.
11. Texas - They've played a nightmare schedule. 7 of the their losses are to teams in the RPI top 10. There isn't anything even close to a bad loss on their resume. But, they sure haven't beaten many good teams either. Still, they've played the best all season long. They'll be a tough out.
After the 11s, we get into the AQ conferences and while I would love to talk about Wofford, Harvard, Buffalo, and UC-Irvine the reality is that no one really looks at those teams and worries too much. Maybe Harvard, which has managed to win games in the tourney in back-to-back years, might scare some folks but I'm done with the "Teams no one wants to see."
So, what did I mess up? Who did I forget? And, most importantly, did I really only do this because I wanted to predict Notre Dame over Kentucky?
-Jason "t-minus 3 hours, 46 minutes until we find out who is going where!" Evans
So, using BracketMatrix.com (http://bracketmatrix.com/) as my guide, here are the seeds no one wants to see on each seed line.
1. Kentucky - no duuuuuh!
2. Wisconsin - BracketMatrix still has Wisky as a #2 even though I think most of us feel they have moved to the #1 line, probably bouncing either Duke or Virginia. So, I'll say Wisconsin, but if they are a #1 then this honor goes to whichever of Duke or Virginia get dropped to the #2 line.
3. Notre Dame - I think the Irish are all but a mortal lock to be the #3 in the Midwest and I am dying to see them battle Kentucky in the ultimate test of inside power versus outside shooting. As an aside, the other likely #3s (Maryland, Baylor, and Iowa State are all scary good).
4. Oklahoma - Did you know they have 12 wins against the RPI top 50? That's more than Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky and a slew of other top seeded teams.
5. The #5 line is lousy this year. Really not impressive teams. Arkansas hasn't beaten a single team that will be favored in its first round matchup. Utah's record vs the RPI top 50 is 3-7. Wichita St has exactly 1 road win over an RPI top 100 team... Illinois St. So, I guess the team no one wants to see on the 5-line is West Virginia. They do have wins against Kansas and Oklahoma, though both those games were at home.
6. SMU - They've done a nice job of gaming the RPI by playing a lot of top 100 teams but not a lot of top 25 teams, so we don't really know that much about them. Still, they beat Temple 3 times and have a road record of 8-4, which is pretty darn good.
7. Michigan St - Sparty seems to be peaking at the right time. They've won 8 of 10 and 4 in a row against Purdue, @ Indiana, Ohio St, and Maryland. That's an impressive a stretch as any team in the country right now.
8. Oregon - Ducks have been pretty darn hot lately. They've won 11 of 13 including 2 victories over Utah and 3 straight road wins.
9. NC St - As we have seen, the Pack is capable of playing with anyone, especially when the outside shots are falling. I also think the shot blocking of BJ Anya can be a game-changer. If the Pack are playing well, they can take out a #1 seed. By the way, my first instinct was to take Cincy on this line, but did you know they have 2 losses to teams outside the top 200 in the RPI? And both of those loses are fairly recent, games in February. Not good.
10. Okie St - Road wins at Baylor and Texas are impressive. They also have a win over Kansas. But, they have really struggled lately. Still, I ain't taking an SEC team (Ga or LSU) and the best team Colorado St played this year was San Diego St. So, OSU gets the pick here by default.
11. Texas - They've played a nightmare schedule. 7 of the their losses are to teams in the RPI top 10. There isn't anything even close to a bad loss on their resume. But, they sure haven't beaten many good teams either. Still, they've played the best all season long. They'll be a tough out.
After the 11s, we get into the AQ conferences and while I would love to talk about Wofford, Harvard, Buffalo, and UC-Irvine the reality is that no one really looks at those teams and worries too much. Maybe Harvard, which has managed to win games in the tourney in back-to-back years, might scare some folks but I'm done with the "Teams no one wants to see."
So, what did I mess up? Who did I forget? And, most importantly, did I really only do this because I wanted to predict Notre Dame over Kentucky?
-Jason "t-minus 3 hours, 46 minutes until we find out who is going where!" Evans