Seed List: Breaking down the top line

Who’s the best team in college basketball?  It’s a tough question, with four or five terrific options.  Who’s the team with the best resume among those five?  Figuring that out was the goal of a deliberate break-down early this morning.

How did it turn out?  The biggest debate was actually between teams four and five, in other words, the last No. 1 seed and the top No. 2 seed.  In this case, those teams were Virginia and Michigan.

Seed List

Ultimately, Michigan State moved to the first position.  The Spartans have a group-best six road wins, lead the nation’s No. 2 NET-rated Conference, have five wins against the currently projected at-large field and rank No. 1 against the Strength of Record.  MSU also has 11 wins against NET Groups 1/2 – including nine  against Group 1.  Note: the last NET rankings available at the time of publication was through Wednesday’s games (1/23).

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Bracketology: Five teams, four spots for top line

Someone had to be the odd man, i.e. team, out this morning.  Try as I might, there simply wasn’t a way to fit five teams into four slots on the top seed line.  Five teams have deserving resumes, and if you consider Gonzaga, which you should, it’s really six teams for four spots.  Talk about your square pegs in round holes.

Bracketology   |   Seed List

Depending on your choice of metric and resume breakdown, there is no “wrong” order to the five (or six).  If we were in the Selection Committee room, discussions would be eventful.  After several run-throughs, the weekend chaos on the top line (Michigan, Virginia, and Kansas all lost), left Tennessee and Michigan State in the top two positions.  For what it’s worth, being a “projected league champion” for bracket purposes this morning ended up being a factor, too.  The good news:  We still have eight weeks to sort through the process, and usually, these things work themselves out.

Bracketology: Duke leads updated Field of 68

Merry Christmas from Bracketville!
With those wishes comes our annual Christmas Eve bracket update and seed list.  If we were watching Polar Express, the first gift of Christmas would go to the Duke Blue Devils, who hold the No. 1 overall seed.  Kansas is a close second, followed by Michigan and Tennessee.  Virginia is next in line.

Bracketology   |   Seed List

As usual for this time of year, we have a lot of ho-hum resumes.  Some teams have gifted themselves with strong schedules, others have been enjoying a feast of pre-Holiday treats, often served with icing on their home court.  As the New Year approaches and conference play begins, we’ll learn a lot more – or at least we hope so.

Until then, enjoy the Holidays.  Have a blessed Christmas with your family and friends.

Bracketology: Hail to the Wolverines!

Hail to the Victors!  As in the Michigan Wolverines, who have vaulted to the No. 1 seed line in our mid-December bracket update.  Joining Big Blue on the top line: Kansas, Gonzaga, and Duke.  Tennessee, Virginia, and Nevada are next in line.

Bracketology   |   Seed List

Given that its Finals week at many schools, college hoops settles a little.  It’s a good time to step back, take a breath, and appreciate some of the incredible action we witnessed since early November. Soon, we’ll begin our weekly trek toward Selection Sunday.

 

Quick Takes: Gators, Sooners toast New York

Good vibes this morning in Gainesville and Norman.  Both the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners toasted Madison Square Garden while exiting the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday night in New York.  It was a particularly nice win for Florida, which had started 0-3 against the best teams on its schedule, losing to Florida State, Oklahoma (oddly enough), and Butler.  Not that a victory over West Virginia is going to move any huge swamps right now, but it gives the Gators a little momentum heading to Saturday’s showdown with Michigan State.

Quick Takes: Michigan completes a perfect November

With its victory over North Carolina on Wednesday, the Michigan Wolverines completed a perfect November.  Big Blue hosts Purdue on Saturday, the first day of December.  Their 7-0 start includes a road victory at Villanova (by 27 points), a neutral-court win over Providence, and last night’s 17-point margin at home against the Tar Heels.  Consider this, too … if Michigan beats Purdue this weekend, the Wolverines will be heavy favorites to complete a perfect December – which means UM could be 13-0 heading into January.  Not a bad reprise for last year’s national runner-up.

Quick Takes: Hello, Michigan – and – B10

Hello, Michigan.  Feeling a bit of revenge, perhaps?  Just a tad?

Whether last year’s NCAA Championship game was on their mind or not, the Wolverines put a beat-down on Villanova Wednesday night.  On the road, no less.  It was a mere 44-17 at the half.  Duke’s 34-point win over Kentucky still resonates, obviously, but the Wolverine’s result ranks pretty high on the early-season stunner meter.

The question now … how do both teams respond?

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