If that’s the case, would we almost prefer the 2 seed (even though I believe were pretty much locked into the 1)? Just looking at these 8/9 seeds, playing the 15, the 7/10, the 3, then Alabama sounds a little better to me than the 16, the 8/9, the 4, then Alabama. Am I wrong there?
Nah, there is a tipping point where size/athleticism just wins out. Loyola is second on defense in the country on Kenpom, but they just don’t have the athletes to really be the second best and their defense will fall off more when they go against elite competition than a team like us or Illinois who rank 7th and 5th.
It is basketball though and they are good enough to pull off the upset in a one off game, but Michigan wins 7+/10 against them even without Livers IMO.