[imgl]http://www.justbball.com/images/avatars/schaddy.jpg[/imgl]In the second edition of Bracketology, Andrew ?Schaddy? Schad takes a look at which teams are solidifying their NCAA Tournament status, and who still has work to do as conference schedules come to a close. This may not be the way the NCAA Selection Committee would draw it up, but their influcence doesn?t stretch to JBB. Is your team in or out? We?re not far away from the Madness now? Full Post: Schaddy's Bracketology '07 - Second Edition
Are the teams within the seeds in any particular order? Like for example the Gators are the #3 1 seed and Pittsburgh would be in our bracket(since they are the #3 2 seed). I think you did a great job with it.
They are - many of them have already changed though, LOL, especially with Carolina losing again and Florida picking up back-to-back quality wins. It'd be close between Bucky and teh Gators for the top #1 right now. However, I didn't factor any location stuff into it, like the Gators getting the #1 south spot, Wisconsin getting the #1 midwest, and so on.
What the hell is up with the bias against Duke? They're a #10 seed? Is that a joke? You realize that they have the #11 RPI and #4 Strength of Schedule, don't you? Everybody loves to see Duke fail, but the fact of the matter is that they've got a resume that includes statement wins over teams like Georgetown, Air Force, Gonzaga, Indiana, Clemson, and Boston College (now twice). Then you have Southern Cal, a team with the #50 RPI as a #4 seed? Not to mention Missouri State a #6 seed. If the season ended today, they wouldn't even make the tournament, much less that high. A lot of solid picks, but those were kinda strange to me.
<div class="quote_poster">Voodoo Child Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">What the hell is up with the bias against Duke? They're a #10 seed? Is that a joke? You realize that they have the #11 RPI and #4 Strength of Schedule, don't you? Everybody loves to see Duke fail, but the fact of the matter is that they've got a resume that includes statement wins over teams like Georgetown, Air Force, Gonzaga, Indiana, Clemson, and Boston College (now twice). Then you have Southern Cal, a team with the #50 RPI as a #4 seed? Not to mention Missouri State a #6 seed. If the season ended today, they wouldn't even make the tournament, much less that high. A lot of solid picks, but those were kinda strange to me.</div> You'll notice that I have Boston College as a #4 seed - I wrote this a few days ago now, and I expected BC to defeat Duke in Chestnut Hill, which would've given Duke yet another loss. With that win, Duke has jumped back into the top 8 seeds, for sure, and probably will go higher.
<div class="quote_poster">Schaddy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You'll notice that I have Boston College as a #4 seed - I wrote this a few days ago now, and I expected BC to defeat Duke in Chestnut Hill, which would've given Duke yet another loss. With that win, Duke has jumped back into the top 8 seeds, for sure, and probably will go higher.</div> One game matters that much? And even if they're #8, that's way too low. Apparently the RPI doesn't mean anything today... or quality wins... or talent... or good coaching... hell, what does matter these days anymore? People's personal preferrences?
The 'one game' was on the road against a team that I thought was starting to make a run - yes, it was an impressive win, and Duke moved up because of it. Where would you put them? They did just come off a 4 game losing streak, and there was a good chance they'd make it five in a row - I'm not supposed to factor that in? As to the RPI - Memphis is #9 in the RPI. I'm not basing everything on a system that puts them in the top 10 (I'm sure you're just as disgusted with that as I). Arizona is 17-8 with similar quality wins as Duke, and they're the #10 team in the RPI - I put them as a 10 seed, same as Duke (#11 RPI). No one's complaining about Zona being too low Duke is a solid team, but they went on a 4 (could easily have been 5) game losing streak, and they're .500 in their conference - Zona is 8-6 in the Pac 10, the best conference in the country. Their RPI numbers are good, but not better than other teams that I put in a similar spot (Zona being a prime example). I know I'm going to sound like a hater here, but come on. Duke is getting a raw deal? Yawn. When a team has gotten the benefit of the doubt for decades, I'm not going to lose sleep about putting them as a 10 seed in a preliminary Bracketology article. Sorry man, I understand and respect your argument, but I don't think that I slapped mud all over them. They're on the way back up, anyways, so I'm sure I'll overrate them again by the time I put out my next bracket. With regards to Creighton, you know I'm partial to the MVC (that may not be a good thing LOL), and I expected them to continue their rise to the top of that conference. Now they've been eliminated from contention for the regular season conference crown, so they'll have to make a run in the conf tourney to get into the Dance. In hindsight, was I overly kind to the Blue Jays with a #6 seed. Yes I was. But it's my bracket. Gotta try and project some things, don't I? Where would our poll be if other people hadn't noticed Southern Cal or some other teams before everyone else did? It'd be the same as the national polls. But here at JBB, we think independantly. I gotta do what I gotta do And finally, Southern Cal got a 4 seed for these reasons: they have high-quality wins, and I expect them to play very well down the stretch. They've proven they can hang with the top teams, and the Trojans are very young - continued improvement should be expected. I'm glad I've got you looking out for me though; that way I'll make sure to stop just short of becoming a total Brett Favre
<div class="quote_poster">Schaddy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The 'one game' was on the road against a team that I thought was starting to make a run - yes, it was an impressive win, and Duke moved up because of it.</div> Nobody said it wasn't an impressive win, but they've already beaten Boston College this season, in a more impressive fashion. How'd that game dramatically change your opinion of them? I mean, they have the exact same record as Southern Cal. It's not like losing four straight games brought them down to a .500 record - it brought them down to 19-7. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Where would you put them? They did just come off a 4 game losing streak, and there was a good chance they'd make it five in a row - I'm not supposed to factor that in? </div> I'd put them as a #4 seed, maybe a #5 given their recent slump. You're supposed to factor in recent success, but only to an extent. That's not the only factor when it comes to tournament selection. Also, look at that "4 game losing streak" - a 2-point loss on the road to Virginia, a 1-point loss to Florida State, a last minute loss to UNC (one of your #1 seeds), and a loss on the road to rival Maryland. Not exactly a slump by Duke so much as it is a string of unfortunate last-minute losses to great teams. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As to the RPI - Memphis is #9 in the RPI. I'm not basing everything on a system that puts them in the top 10 (I'm sure you're just as disgusted with that as I). Arizona is 17-8 with similar quality wins as Duke, and they're the #10 team in the RPI - I put them as a 10 seed, same as Duke (#11 RPI). No one's complaining about Zona being too low </div> Memphis is very deserving of that RPI, because they haven't lost more than three games all season. The RPI is a computer ratings system, and as such, it's the most reliable out there. Of course there are flaws, and of course Memphis isn't one of the ten best teams in the nation, but there's no better way to look at teams' resumes in an unbiased way. When you're talking about all the other factors that go into tournament consideration though, like the talent that teams have, the coaching they have, or the way they've won or lost games, I think that actually gives Duke more of an edge than the RPI. This is where teams like Memphis fail to meet their high RPI rankings but teams like Duke exceed them. Their entire roster is practically all H.S. All-Americans, Coach K's arguably the best coach in the game at the moment, and all but two of their losses came down to the last minute. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I know I'm going to sound like a hater here, but come on. Duke is getting a raw deal? Yawn. When a team has gotten the benefit of the doubt for decades, I'm not going to lose sleep about putting them as a 10 seed in a preliminary Bracketology article. Sorry man, I understand and respect your argument, but I don't think that I slapped mud all over them. They're on the way back up, anyways, so I'm sure I'll overrate them again by the time I put out my next bracket. With regards to Creighton, you know I'm partial to the MVC (that may not be a good thing LOL), and I expected them to continue their rise to the top of that conference. Now they've been eliminated from contention for the regular season conference crown, so they'll have to make a run in the conf tourney to get into the Dance. In hindsight, was I overly kind to the Blue Jays with a #6 seed. Yes I was. But it's my bracket. Gotta try and project some things, don't I? Where would our poll be if other people hadn't noticed Southern Cal or some other teams before everyone else did? It'd be the same as the national polls. But here at JBB, we think independantly. I gotta do what I gotta do And finally, Southern Cal got a 4 seed for these reasons: they have high-quality wins, and I expect them to play very well down the stretch. They've proven they can hang with the top teams, and the Trojans are very young - continued improvement should be expected. I'm glad I've got you looking out for me though; that way I'll make sure to stop just short of becoming a total Brett Favre </div> Oh, come on. They've gotten favorable calls, but they've also been the best team in college basketball since the Indiana era. That's just undeniable. People hate Duke, and they hate guys like Shane Battier, J.J. Redick, etc. Why? Because they win, and their teams don't. It's a jealousy thing, and even though Duke gets all the publicity, they're deserving of it. Yes, it's extreme to the extent that they get the calls, but don't think for a second that this team couldn't go toe to toe with Wisconsin, North Carolina, UCLA, or Texas A&M --- and this is one of the worst years the school has had since Coach K's been at the helm. Creighton? I was talking about Missouri State. Did I misread? Lemme go back and check, but I think you had Missouri State as a #6 seed. My bad if I misread that though. I'm glad you brought up Southern Cal, because that's one thing that's really been bugging me. I haven't ranked them high (if at all) ever since it became trendy, and even though Shape keeps ranking them in the top ten or around there, there's a lot of our rankers (myself included) who won't even give them a vote. So I don't think that Southern Cal being ranked is so much a "JBB" move but moreso a move made by one or two of our pollers. I really don't think they're deserving of the acclaim they've been getting. They wound up with only three losses in non-conference play, but are we supposed to be surprised? They really only played two teams - Kansas and Kansas State, both of whom blew them out. They lost to South Carolina, the doormat of the SEC, for God's sake. Then in conference play, they've earned a nice record, but they've done so by playing the bottom half of the conference - Arizona State, Washington, California, Oregon State (twice). They lost to UCLA both times they played them, they lost to Washington State in their only matchup so far, and they got blown out by Stanford in their only matchup so far. Their only quality conference wins have been against Oregon, who're playing themselves out of the rankings, and Arizona, who you will even admit aren't that good of a team.[/endOTrant] Anyway, I know I'm blowing it up and making a huge argument out of it, but really that's the only glaring thing I disagreed with in your bracketology, and at least you have a reason behind your selection, unlike a lot of "experts." Most of your picks are spot-on though.
I see your points man. I'm sure there is a bit of anti-Duke in my ranking, but I honestly do try to be objective - you guys know that. I did f up, you said Mizzou St and I thought Creighton And after watching Winthrop rain 3s on them tonight, I'd agree that they were definitely overrated as a 6 seed. I thought they might make a run, but it seems that they're content to tell people that they beat Wisconisn and cross their fingers for an invitation Why can't the teams that we lost to just go undefeated? I appreciate the comments, though - I know I'm not conventional, so I'm glad that there are other knowledgeable guys who can check my stuff.
