*** Official Selection Sunday Thread 2023 ***

[mjhavlo76]

The NCAA March Madness social media page has Iowa State as a 6 seed to face an 11 seed play-in winner of Pittsburgh/Arizona State.

To be honest, some of the fanatics projections of a 5 seed as a “for sure fire bet” may be off, and those saying 4 seed ridiculous.

We would mop the floor with either Pittsburgh or Arizona State. I tend to favor matchups from the 6-11 range. Others are too risky of upsets more time than not to exclude the 1-16; 2-15 games.

 

[madguy30]

The NCAA March Madness social media page has Iowa State as a 6 seed to face an 11 seed play-in winner of Pittsburgh/Arizona State.

To be honest, some of the fanatics projections of a 5 seed as a “for sure fire bet” may be off, and those saying 4 seed ridiculous.

We would mop the floor either either Pittsburgh or Arizona State. I tend to favor matchups from the 6-11 range. Others are too risky of upsets more time than not to exclude the 1-16; 2-15 games.

Ever watched the NCAA tournament?

 

[ISUChippewa]

I hope whoever we are matched up against is a team all the pundits say will beat us. Going in with a chip on our shoulder not getting any love while the other team everyone is saying this years Cinderella.

I think a lot of casual fans will look at our record (which, to be fair, isn't exactly eye-popping), wonder how we got such a high seed in the first place, and then pick the team matched up against us as their upset pick. 4 seed, 5 seed, 6 seed, whatever...I expect a lot of doubters out there.

 

[cyclones500]

I’d like to play any high flying offensive team that doesn’t play elite defense and is soft.

That would be favorable, but am I greedy to add "not a superior 3-point shooting team."? ... opponents getting hot from 3 seems to burn us A LOT.

 

[chuckd4735]

The NCAA March Madness social media page has Iowa State as a 6 seed to face an 11 seed play-in winner of Pittsburgh/Arizona State.

To be honest, some of the fanatics projections of a 5 seed as a “for sure fire bet” may be off, and those saying 4 seed ridiculous.

We would mop the floor with either Pittsburgh or Arizona State. I tend to favor matchups from the 6-11 range. Others are too risky of upsets more time than not to exclude the 1-16; 2-15 games.

We were a 3 seed 3 weeks ago in the initial reveal. No way be are a 6 seed tonight. I get we had a 4 game losing streak after that, but there are no teams behind ISU 3 weeks ago that have done enough to drop ISU 3 seed lines. I think we are a 5, but wouldn't be surprised to see us get a low 4.

 

[madguy30]

I think a lot of casual fans will look at our record (which, to be fair, isn't exactly eye-popping), wonder how we got such a high seed in the first place, and then pick the team matched up against us as their upset pick. 4 seed, 5 seed, 6 seed, whatever...I expect a lot of doubters out there.

I have a colleague that's Insecure Bucky Fan that I can see being weird if WI isn't selected, and saying something about ISU getting in at a decent seed and my only response will be 'metrics'.

50/50 chance they say a team should need 20 wins to get in (never true, ever) when WI's Final Four team was at 18 entering the tourney because they won two B1G tourney games.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Charleston would be best. I watched their title game the other day. They’re solid on both sides of the ball, but they don’t scare me as much as Oral Roberts or Drake.

The thing with Drake and ORU is that they each have a player that can get hot and take over a game.

My perfect choice would be VCU. They get really frustrated when they can't run and the Iowa State transition defense would really bother them.

 

[mjhavlo76]

We were a 3 seed 3 weeks ago in the initial reveal. No way be are a 6 seed tonight. I get we had a 4 game losing streak after that, but there are no teams behind ISU 3 weeks ago that have done enough to drop ISU 3 seed lines. I think we are a 5, but wouldn't be surprised to see us get a low 4.

Do you know how much things can change in 3 weeks with college basketball? A ton!

I started to analyze that particular bracket more and they had Florida Atlantic as an 8 seed playing Iowa, and then the whole damn thing lost credibility…

 

[madguy30]

Do you know how much things can change in 3 weeks with college basketball? A ton!

I started to analyze that particular bracket more and they had Florida Atlantic as an 8 seed playing Iowa, and then the whole damn thing lost credibility…

I mean you just said ISU would mop the floor with two teams...based on...

 

[dahliaclone]

Do you know how much things can change in 3 weeks with college basketball? A ton!

I started to analyze that particular bracket more and they had Florida Atlantic as an 8 seed playing Iowa, and then the whole damn thing lost credibility…

Why? I think FAU actually gets a 7. Likely a 8/9 but shot at 7.

 

[cyclones500]

We can speculate about potential pairings & sites, but I have a feeling I'll be nervous regardless of ISU's seeding, opponent or location. Kind of ingrained as a Cyclones fan.

 

[chuckd4735]

Do you know how much things can change in 3 weeks with college basketball? A ton!

I started to analyze that particular bracket more and they had Florida Atlantic as an 8 seed playing Iowa, and then the whole damn thing lost credibility…

But the thing is, not much has changed.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Yep. No idea why people are scared of Drake.

Not scared, but they are good enough to beat Iowa State. FWIW, I like Drake TOO (I live in DSM and go to more Drake games than ISU games), and I want to see BOTH Iowa State and Drake win some games in the NCAA Tournament. Playing each other would just be anti-climatic for both teams IMO (win or lose). Just my onion.

 

[Gunnerclone]

That's why I'd rather have Drake than like Arkansas. Feel like they have lots of length and athleticism. Drake is good and will be a tough out but I'd take them over an Arkansas

We’ve shown over the past two years of TJ Time that we eat up young athletic length. I’d rather play against that than say a Drake that has a well-oiled system that they hold to slavishly and a bigger motivation to beat us than just surviving and advancing.

 

[cyclones500]

The NCAA March Madness social media page has Iowa State as a 6 seed to face an 11 seed play-in winner of Pittsburgh/Arizona State.

I'd want to stay away from placement w/ a First Four winner. A First Four winner has advanced to R32 every year since expansion to 68, with exception of 2019.

Not saying it's guaranteed to happen (and if it does, maybe it'd be "the other play-in bracket"). But I'm superstitious w/ sports.

I sometimes wonder how much disadvantage there is to be bracketed with First Four -- essentially you have to prepare for two opponents ahead of time and have only two days to focus on the surviving opponent. Also maybe "tournament butterflies" are out of the way for the First Four team. Can't really measure any of that. Just pondering.

 

[Gunnerclone]

5.) Iowa State vs. 12.) Drake in Albany. Friday 11:50 am tip.

I would trade ALMOST any matchup to stay out of the first session of games on Thursday.

 

[NiceMarmot]

I'm currently doing one last scrub of the field before I post my final prediction later today. Here's what I had for a bracket on Friday morning.

I'd be really surprised if anyone outside of these 24 teams snuck onto the top 6 seed lines. The two that I could see maybe crashing this group are Missouri and Florida Atlantic (typically the mid-major with an outrageously good record gets placed as a 7 or 8 seed, but you never know).

I think there's a clear delineation after Tennessee and then another one after TCU. I'd be surprised if Kentucky and St. Mary's aren't 6-seeds. And I'd be shocked if Indiana fell to the 6 line. Generally though, I could see the teams from 15 to 22 below shuffling around in almost any order.

 

[Gunnerclone]

We were a 3 seed 3 weeks ago in the initial reveal. No way be are a 6 seed tonight. I get we had a 4 game losing streak after that, but there are no teams behind ISU 3 weeks ago that have done enough to drop ISU 3 seed lines. I think we are a 5, but wouldn't be surprised to see us get a low 4.

Feel like the Big 12 has been getting a 1 seed line bump up from conventional wisdom for the past few years where we have solidified ourselves by far and away the best CBB conference.

 

[Cyforce]

I hope so. The WVU style would be a shock to them. Iowa fans will hate Stevenson

Would the committee put Kansas West Virginia in a 2nd round game?

 

[AlaCyclone]

It was almost like the team collectively thought, "Well, this'll be a cakewalk, just have to go through the motions" and got stagnant -- and maybe UAB didn't have much confidence at first, then realized it could go toe-to-toe and was determined to scratch & claw - was able to muck it up the rest of the way and it worked.

I was at that game, and it sucked balls!