Big win by California over Oregon. They have swept Oregon, beaten Arizona, and UCLA. The only really bad loss is to Stanford, Washington and Harvard. And those losses are not that bad. Mike Montgomery's team looks like a safe bet for the tournament.
***Official 2013 Bracketology Thread***
- Thread starter CarlHungus
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they got a very favorable schedule remaining. @Oregon St., Utah, and Stanford. Also play vs. Colorado. As long as they don't lose to Oregon St. or Utah they'll be in. 4 top 50 RPI wins will look good.
That was a huge win. Cal went from play-in to "in" right now.
Re: Arkansas — That's one of those sneak-up-on-us teams — they've never truly entered the bubble discussion, but body of work holds up well compared to teams that can't seem to fall off the bubble even if they tried.
BYU in a close one at St Marys. Down 2 with a minute to go.. didn't realize BYU already had 20 wins
Well I don't think it is that hard to get to 20 wins with their schedule. Their best win of the year was against TN State with an RPI of 87 and it was the 1st game of the year.
BYU is toast for an at-large. No wins against a single team with legitimate at-large merit.
I'm not even sure beating St. Mary's could've lifted the status. SMC's best foot forward is the top-50 losses (twice to Gonzaga, neutral loss vs Notre Dame).
Agree on both. I hadn't followed BYU after we blew them out. I know they're not a tournament team, but I was pretty surprised seeing them in the top 70 even.
If St Marys loses to Creighton, I don't think they deserve to be in. And if creighton loses, its entirely possible they play their way out. They picked a bad time to play their worst basketball. Could see them losing their last 3.
And he has Oklahoma as a 7 (similar resume as we have). Speaking of, how is Oklahoma 18th in the RPI? Somehow their SOS is 4. But they are 1-4 against Top 25, 2-6 against Top 50.
Compare that to ISU. We are 2-3 against Top 25 and 2-5 against Top 50. SOS is worse at 77.
RPI is quickly becoming vastly overrated. For example, Middle Tennessee State has a RPI of 23. Their SOS is 104. They are 0-1 against the Top 25 and 0-2 against Top 50. Basically no quality wins.
Lunardi has us as a 10 seed moving up against Oregon again.
Bracketology - NCAA College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN
Bracketology - NCAA College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN
I liked it better when we were an 11 seed against them. I forget who the 2nd round draw was going to be for that one, but MSU is a tough draw
NCAA College Basketball Tournament Bracket Predictions - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and RPI Rankings
Palm has us back in as a 12 in a play-in game against Boise St
Palm has us back in as a 12 in a play-in game against Boise St
The way things are trending, ISU could be headed to the dreaded 8 - 9 game again this year. I imagine we'll finish either finishing 12 - 6 in the conference or 11 - 7. This season could finish eerily similar to last year.
However, unlike last year, I think ISU can avoid the 8 - 9 game with a good showing in the Big 12 tourney. Last year this team was 12 - 6 in conference heading into the tournament, then it stubbed its toe. I think if ISU had beaten Texas, they would have stayed at the 7 seed line. If this year's team can avoid that (assuming a 12 - 6 finish), then we might be able to make the 7 seed line. However, if the team finishes 11 - 7 in conference, then they may have to get all the way to the Big 12 Championship game.
I think we'll win out at home, but lose to either OU or WVA.
I don't want the 8 - 9 game either this year, but as others have mentioned, it is much less scary this season than it was last year. Kentucky was head and shoulders above the rest last year and we were stuck with them. I'm not afraid to play Indiana or Miami as opposed to Michigan State or Florida... they're all pretty much on the same level.
Agree re: Kentucky last year. This year, I agree regarding all the teams in the field, except Indiana. I think they'll be the team to beat come Tourney time, but they don't have as much talent as Kentucky had last year.
Honestly the 5/12, 6/11, 7/10, and 8/9 lines this year really don't have as much differentiation as it stands now, 2nd (3rd) round is going to be a similar level opponent. I would like to avoid Michigan and Indiana for as long as possible otherwise bring it on.
If something close to Lunardi's bracket held, and regional placement was moved slightly, I'd take the 8/9 of this sort:
1. Gonzaga
16. (Sixteen)
8. Iowa State
9. Creighton/WSU
... although I doubt three Midwest teams would end up w/ Gonzaga, since that subregion would probably be Boise ... not enough geographic advantage for a 1.
Now if those types of matchups came in the 2-15/7-10 bracket ...
Geez, take a look at that entire East region in the latest version. That is an absolutely brutal region overall.