Bracket Discussion

[CycloneSpinning]

JP does get to weigh in on Drake.

I don’t think we should worry about 12 seeds. Obviously the NCAA tournament is awesome because crazy things happen, and 12s often beat 5s…but it’s not like we should worry about one particular 12. They’re seeded the way they are for a reason. 5s should beat 12s.

I would feel worse for Drake in the scenario proposed. They don’t get to the tournament often and would deserve to have the whole state at least halfway pulling for them.

 

[CyPunch]

Where on earth did I even imply that?

Every post to be honest. No worries, we all have are biases

 

[clonehome]

Both Iowa and ISU should play Drake and UNI every year. The games should always be played in Hilton and Carver. This is the correct answer, not sure what gets in the way.

I’m old school and want ISU and Iowa to play both UNI and Drake every year home-and-home like they did for a hundred years. There’s only one reason they stopped - pusillanimous. That’s right, we’re pussies. Bring it back.

 

[cyclones500]

Indiana last year?

Good catch - I didn't even think of that when the 2014 was posted earlier. Bad short-term memory!

 

[mjhavlo76]

I would lay money down we draw Drake.

 

[dahliaclone]

I would lay money down we draw Drake.

If it happens honestly I’ll be relieved. They’re more of a 13 than a 12. And would rather play them than Charleston or oral Roberts or Kent State.

 

[mjhavlo76]

Kent State? Meh, they’re not a good matchup with us.

 

[chuckd4735]

I would lay money down we draw Drake.

I highly doubt the committee is pushing for that matchup. That being said, I wouldn't doubt it happens.

 

[Urbandale2013]

I don’t think we should worry about 12 seeds. Obviously the NCAA tournament is awesome because crazy things happen, and 12s often beat 5s…but it’s not like we should worry about one particular 12. They’re seeded the way they are for a reason. 5s should beat 12s.

I would feel worse for Drake in the scenario proposed. They don’t get to the tournament often and would deserve to have the whole state at least halfway pulling for them.

Drake doesn’t scare me but I absolutely don’t want to play them. I want Drake to go as far as they can in the tournament.

 

[Beyerball]

I'm pretty sure Committee doesnt determine individual match ups.

I believe Pollard said they seed teams 1-68..

Then Committee gives Top 4 teams favorable region..

Then computer does the rest. Computer sorts out who has already played in conf and non conf to avoid those match ups early.

Think Pollard said computer spits out like 3-4 scenerio brackets and they vote on which one..

 

[allfourcy]

This is actually an honest question for those that study it more.....is an 11 seed that much different or better than a 12 seed??

 

[IowaState88]

I project a 5 seed vs the winner of the A10 championship playing right now. VCU or Dayton.

 

[alarson]

I'm pretty sure Committee doesnt determine individual match ups.

I believe Pollard said they seed teams 1-68..

Then Committee gives Top 4 teams favorable region..

Then computer does the rest. Computer sorts out who has already played in conf and non conf to avoid those match ups early.

Think Pollard said computer spits out like 3-4 scenerio brackets and they vote on which one..

It makes sense. There are so many conditions they have and so many games to try to avoid, any tinkering by hand has the potential to get out of hand running up against conflicts really quickly

 

[IowaState88]

This is actually an honest question for those that study it more.....is an 11 seed that much different or better than a 12 seed??

12 seeds are all mid majors. Drake, Oral Roberts, Charleston VCU/Dayton... 11 seeds are the bubble P6 teams that got in, NC State, Rutgers, Miss St. Okie St. The mid major teams are very good this year. So it really just depends.

 

[cyclones500]

This is actually an honest question for those that study it more.....is an 11 seed that much different or better than a 12 seed??

Purely historical, but here's a basic guide.

Records for every seed in March Madness from 1985 to 2025

These are the all-time, round-by-round records for every seed in the March Madness men's tournament from 1985 (when the field expanded) to 2025.

www.ncaa.com

 

[WastedTalent]

I highly doubt the committee is pushing for that matchup. That being said, I wouldn't doubt it happens.

I think there's a decent chance a few of the committee members don't even know Drake is in Iowa.

 

[Cy$]

@CoKane @cyclones500 I was told to link to our bracket matrix submission, so here it is https://projection-sunday.wixsite.com/home

 

[mjhavlo76]

I'm pretty sure Committee doesnt determine individual match ups.

I believe Pollard said they seed teams 1-68..

Then Committee gives Top 4 teams favorable region..

Then computer does the rest. Computer sorts out who has already played in conf and non conf to avoid those match ups early.

Think Pollard said computer spits out like 3-4 scenerio brackets and they vote on which one..

I’ve agreed with you a lot on here, but you’re very wrong. The committee VERY much has a lot to do with matchups. Do you know how many variables goes into creating the bracket? It’s not just ranking teams 1-68 and then, voila—there’s the bracket. Think about it…

 

[alarson]

I’ve agreed with you a lot on here, but you’re very wrong. The committee VERY much has a lot to do with matchups. Do you know how many variables goes into creating the bracket? It’s not just ranking teams 1-68 and then, voila—there’s the bracket. Think about it…

I think you're misreading that.

There's a lot more than 1-68 to creating the field, yes. But that's really 90% of what the committee has to do.

From there, they feed that into a computer and that wrestles with all the rules they have for placing individual teams, moving teams up\down from their ideal placement when needed, etc.

It would be much, much harder to manually do all the things they need to do to create the bracket by hand. Hundreds of potential matchups you need to avoid. Any manual changes from the scenarios the computer creates could easily create a cascading effect where you create more bracket issues with each change, so they would likely avoid that.

 

[Psiclone]

Drake doesn’t scare me but I absolutely don’t want to play them. I want Drake to go as far as they can in the tournament.

I'm the same way. Went to ISU for undergrad. and Drake for grad. school. I cheer for both unless we're playing Drake.