Do you have a link to all of the official bracketing rules?
I was using this link (building the bracket is section III):
Maybe this is extremely old newsā¦but are they seriously revealing all 68 teams at once this year? And then just revealing the regions/brackets individually afterward?
Not a fan.
Up to a 3.29 avg. in the Bracket Matrix now. Closer to the next 3 (Tennessee) than to the best 4 (Texas Tech)
6 Likes
To give the forum a visual/reference point for who to root for and against purely based on who is capable of surpassing us.
2 Likes
If we ever string together a stretch where we actually start drilling our open looks from three, I donāt worry about any opponent going forward.
1 Like
Chez I always peg you as a glass half empty guy, and Iām not sure which side this post belongs (not an insult, I completely respect your insights!)ā¦But this is exactly how I feel. We get open looks, and if weāre hitting them, there really isnāt anyone that can scare me.
I guess this is why an early opponent who plays zone is the only thing worrying meā¦if we have an off shooting night and canāt utilize Moe as a mismatch, we could be in trouble. Otherwiseā¦I just feel real confident. This group reminds me a lot of the '04 Pistons in the way we really can beat you in whatever way you choose.
3 Likes
Looking at the teams directly below us, still a lot of possible action.
Clemson will probably have to at least advance and beat UVA to make any significant move. I worry about them the least.
WSU would probably have to beat Houston and Cinci to change their profile significantly, but that might do it and is certainly plausible.
If TTech and WVU both advance to play each other, the winner might have done enough already to move the needle with a chance to do more in the Big12 finals. This is probably the scenario we have to worry about the most.
1 Like
Defensive acumen a new variable. State and Purdue are actually very lucky they didnāt get beat by 20+.
This team could be scary if three ball gets hot in tourney.
3 Likes
Sure would be nice of Tennessee and/or Auburn to take early SEC tournament exits.
I wonder how much losing to Wisky in the quarters wouldāve hurt MSU/helped our argument to be seeded higher. And I wont even get started on how choosing their quarterfinals game against Wisky could really be replaced with any of their narrow wins against mediocre teams. Aside from avoiding bad losses MSUās resumeā is also surviving on efficiency margins, which seems hard to believe after their lackluster just-good-enough February; but somehow they went from curb-stomping everybody in January, to needing lucky bounces @NW and @Wisky
edit: I guess I kind of did āget startedā on itā¦oh well, I will die on this hill while I watch our H2H highlights and JB dancing, on a continuous loop
Yep, playing defense the way we have this year truly has changed my optimism.
Imagine if Moe, Duncan, and Poole all catch fire at the same time. Gives the other 2 on the floor the freedom to do as they please. I try to keep myself in check, and we certainly have laid some eggs this year, but the scenario above with that Dā¦Iām seriously not scared of anyone. Being insanely sincere here. Feel like slyboogie!
6 Likes
Hate to break to you folksā¦but I have reason to believe Maryland may drop out of Q1ā¦sitting cozy at 74. If Penn St. fails to crack it, that may just slightly alter our profile. Still looks like a 4 seed to meā¦but like you all Iām hoping for a 3 (but in Dallasā¦ sorry yāall, I live in Tejas). If Clemson and Tenn take some early Lās this week our outlook improves.
With that being saidāI worry about the 4-13 matchup given that Ohio debacle years back. Someone else mentioned the likelihood of seeing some zoneāand that gives me pause as well. Still, I like the way we can play and win different styles of game. Which 13/14 seeds may give us pause? I think if we make it past round 1 weāre in for a run.
1 Like
Well, if we lose that Q1 win, we can console ourselves that MSU will become 2-4 vs Q1
2 Likes
No worries, John Groce isnāt walking through that door.
Then how come conference record doesnāt matter for Nebraska???
2 Likes
More indication that the bracketologists really arenāt thinking MSU through for some reason. For YEARS, high-profile bracketologists like Lunardi and Palm have preached about how conference record doesnāt matter at all and itās all about who you beat. And then bam, this tweet.
I really donāt get the blindspot here.
3 Likes
Could not agree more!
South Dakota State. Mark my words!!!
That was me trying to get an explanation out of Lunardi, and honestly I think Iāve lost all faith in this process. For years it is āall about RPIā or āwho you beatā, and now conf standings? What a clown-show.
Hopefully the committee has a better sense of things since they are the ones pushing Quad 1/2 Ws. If not, I hope the location or matchup at least works to our favor as a 4.
3 Likes
My working hypothesis is that Beilein teams outperform their Big 10 points-per-possession in the NCAA tournament. Donāt know where to get the data for this, but this analysis would be really cool to see.