Archived Weblog Entry - 03/13/2005: "Bracketology"

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03/13/2005 Archived Entry: "Bracketology"

Bracketology
Collin has lots of good things to say about the seeds. I'll just throw out a few early thoughts.
Tough Calls #1

Texas/Nevada. The 8/9 question. Who to pick? Texas on the downslide for so long now. Nevada nothing like last year's team and had a weak schedule. You need upsets in bracketology and it's too easy to get confused by big name schools and top seeds. I'm leaning towards Nevada.

SIU/St. Mary's. The 7/10. Dang. St. Mary's beat Gonzaga once out of three tries. Weak schedule. SIU always tough. I want to pick upset, but I can't.

Pacific/Pitt. Another 8/9. Easier call. Pitt. Still a dangerous team in a low seed.

Minnesota/Iowa State. Another 8/9! Iowa State. Better conference this year.

Stanford/Miss. State. Ok. Let's just do all the 8/9s. Miss State. Pac 10 is so weak. Miss. State has had some problems, but it's a tough team.

Biggest First Round Upset?
Let me make some bold predictions:
ODU upsets Michigan State. State has had some underachieving moments this year. Weak in the middle even with Davis (the guy can't hustle).
Creighton knocks off West Virginia (Am I really going to pick that one? Hmm. Probably not..but it's tempting)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee over Alabama. I feel better about this one. Horizon League is tougher than the credit it gets. Alabama has injuries (though so does Miss State) and has underachieved lately. I root SEC, but I don't think Alabama has it in them this year.

What I'm No Doubt Going to Do Despite Whatever the Matchup?
Put Florida in the Sweet 16. They can beat Villanova. Can they beat UNC? Probably not. UNC is deeper and more veteran.

More to come...

Replies: 3 comments

Jeff:

Given your theoretical interests, thought you would appreciate this from Slate (talking about Bob Knight and Texas Tech):

"But he's still the coach. Knight can get away with being Knight only in a one sneeze-guard town. This all reminded me of a road trip early into my college years, when, about 280 miles to the east, I passed a tiny central Texas city called Cool (pop. 162, says the 2000 census). To this day I haven't heard a better way to nutshell Lubbock than "about 280 miles from Cool." --written by Dave McKenna)

Posted by Brian @ 03/17/2005 11:34 AM EST

One of the best things EVER was that ESPN allows you to do up to 5 brackets in their Tournament Challenge. Every year, I do an "Upset Special" bracket, with 4 mid-majors getting to the Final Four. (Hey! It could happen...)

What I was going to say was that as a former resident of both the mighty MAC (Miami OH) and the CAA (Old Dominion), there's a lot more room for mid-major sentiment than there used to be. Say what you will about 18 year olds going to the bigs, but it makes for a much more interesting Tournament, since most of them would be going to Duke, NC, Kentucky, etc.

cgb

Posted by Collin @ 03/13/2005 10:33 PM EST

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate the wisdom in these two statements:

"SIU always tough."

and

"Horizon League is tougher than the credit it gets."

I've seen some amazing plays from Darren Brooks of SIU. And UWM is my PhD alma mater.

That's how I pick. Not based on any real knowledge. Just on sentiment, mostly.

Posted by Donna @ 03/13/2005 10:16 PM EST