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Bracketology: Michigan State gets its due
Michigan State has completed a near two-month stretch of perfection, last losing at Louisville on November 27. The Spartans’ run includes an impressive 8-0 start in the Big Ten and a 5-0 road record since that loss to the Cardinals. Add in an impressive 7-2 mark against Group 1 (NET ratings) and MSU has a solid top-seed profile.
In the interest of full disclosure, we have seven teams with viable one-seed resumes, and Kentucky is quickly building its case, too. The race is on.
The middle and lower-end of the bracket remains littered with mix of average to questionable profiles. That’s pretty typical for this time of year. With Buffalo’s recent loss, Bowling Green earns the Mid-American’s automatic bid this morning; bumping the Bulls into the at-large pool. That takes away one at-large spot from someone else.
Seed List: Maryland keeps climbing
Maryland kicked off a busy weekend in college hoops Friday night by winning its sixth straight Big Ten game and seventh straight overall. The Terps’ road victory in Columbus was their third league road win and pushed them to 7-1 in B10 play. Their lone conference loss: at Purdue by two points in early December. With five Group 1 wins in tow, Maryland slides up to No. 9 on the Seed List this morning.
Ohio State, meanwhile, has lost four straight and closes January with Purdue, Michigan, and Nebraska, the latter two on the road. Elsewhere Friday, Villanova pushed past Xavier and Buffalo kept winning, defeating Eastern Michigan in MAC action.
Early Saturdays offer a good opportunity to scrub the Seed List and reset as needed. Not a lot of changes this morning, but a few minor tweaks. Enjoy a great Saturday of college hoops.
Quick Takes: Who’s the fourth No. 1 seed?
As we peek ahead toward Thursday’s bracket, one question stands out: Who’s the fourth No. 1 seed? Is it Duke, which lost to Syracuse but was missing key players? Is it Kansas, who has more Group 1 wins than anyone against the nation’s No. 1 schedule? Or is it Michigan State, who is tied with KU with nine wins against Groups 1/2 and whose two losses (Kansas, at Louisville) are by a combined 10 points?
One could make a compelling case for any of the three, and since Selection Sunday is still two months away, it’s really not all that important today. At quick glance, I would favor Kansas by a slight margin for these reasons: the Jayhawks’ top-rated schedule; their superior total of Group 1 wins, especially since two of those wins are Tennessee and Michigan State, and that head-to-head win over MSU as a tiebreaker. The other No. 1’s on Thursday will be Michigan, Virginia, and the aforementioned Volunteers. Read more…
Seed List: Conference play will separate teams
With conference play underway, we start the process of further separating the haves and have-nots in college hoops. Don’t get me wrong, non-conference performance matters, as it should – Oklahoma would not have made last year’s NCAA Tournament without an incredible non-conference season (and some might argue they shouldn’t have made it, regardless). Either way, many teams will make or break their NCAA selection season over the next two months.
For starters, conference play forces high majors to play true road games in hostile environments. Secondly, winning away from home is a defining resume trait, for both selection and seeding. Read more…
Bracketology: New Year’s update
Happy New Year!
At Bracketville, that means a new Bracket and Seed List. No changes on the top line since Christmas Eve – Duke, Kansas, Michigan, and Tennessee all retain No. 1 seeds. Kentucky climbs after its win at Louisville. And with some time on New Year’s Eve, the cutline receives a few modest positional changes.
Now, the countdown begins. Selection Sunday is ahead of us. Conference play ramps up. Teams hit the road, some for the first time when it comes to true road games in hostile environments. Early resumes will be confirmed or dismantled. Others will be built along the way. Thank you for joining in the fun.
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