2011 NCAA Tournament Projections/Bracketology

[Jake]

I'll co-sign with Jake, and I'm serious as hell about it. Those are some interesting matchups.

I was definitely serious. I like all 4 of those games and will be pulling for the Big Ten teams in 2 of them.

I think we're going to play Mason. We'll need to be ready. They're good.

 

[OHSportsFan]

Is it just me or does the whole bracket look a helluva lot easier to pick than we were expecting? I just went through the whole thing and only paused on like 5 games total.

March Madness first-timer, huh? :p

 

[Buck33Eye11]

Boom, Gottlieb's got Belmont over Wiscy

 

[bucknut502]

As a Buckeye fan living in Kentucky, we MUST beat UK if we see them in the Sweet 16. I will not hear the end of it if we don't. All my buddies are Cats fans, seriously, all of them....

 

[Jake]

From following the A Sun a little (Jacksonville U's league) Wisky better watch their ass with Belmont. They are no one's push over.

Gottlieb just took Belmont for what that's worth.

I'm normally a conference homer in the tourney but if Wiscy ended their season by getting crushed at tOSU, losing a stinker to PoSU and then bounced by a 13th seed in the NCAAs I would laugh my ass off.

 

[CentralMOBuck]

Cincinnati as a 6 seed seems high to me, too. I didn't see much of them, though.

I could see Mizzou winning that game. Depends if the road Mizzou or home Mizzou shows up.

 

[Buck33Eye11]

March Madness first-timer, huh? :p

Ha. Pretty sure I said the exact same thing last year, then after KU lost in the 2nd round my bracket fell to complete garbage.

And now that I look at it harder, I just noticed like 6 other games that could really screw things up: scUM vs Duke if the fighting Jay Bilas' play poorly, 'Zona vs Duke could be good too, Cincy and UConn if UConn is tired, Washington-Carolina, etc. etc. etc. And that's only half the bracket!

Good thing I told myself this was just a "preliminary" bracket :p

 

[Tanner]

a title run that included consecutive wins over Kentucky, Carolina, Duke and Kansas would be legendary

 

[jwinslow]

I was definitely serious. I like all 4 of those games and will be pulling for the Big Ten teams in 2 of them.

I think we're going to play Mason. We'll need to be ready. They're good.

8/9 seeds are always intriguing, and that was likely his point

 

[Jaxbuck]

Gottlieb just took Belmont for what that's worth.

I'm normally a conference homer in the tourney but if Wiscy ended their season by getting crushed at tOSU, losing a stinker to PoSU and then bounced by a 13th seed in the NCAAs I would laugh my ass off.

I'd limber up the rib muscles then, just in case.

FWIW Ken Pom
Wisconsin 9
Belmont 19

The thing that makes me think Wisky wins is that once an upset gets "trendy" it almost never happens.

 

[Buck33Eye11]

Rece Davis just asked Nolan Smith, Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker if anyone could give the nickname of their opponent. Nobody could and Nolan only did because somebody told him

 

[jlb1705]

a title run that included consecutive wins over Kentucky, Carolina, Duke and Kansas would be legendary

Beating the three most storied programs of all time (Kansas, Kentucky & North Carolina) and the best program of the last 25 years (Dook) would be among the greatest tournament runs ever.

All I want is six in a row though. I don't care who the Bucks are up against.

 

[bucknut502]

I can see 2 Big Ten teams in the Final Four... I think Purdue will make a run, although, it will be tough for them to beat Kansas. Wisconsin could get hot and make a run as well. And never count out Izzo in the tourney...don't laugh, i'm serious...

 

[OHSportsFan]

Ha. Pretty sure I said the exact same thing last year, then after KU lost in the 2nd round my bracket fell to complete garbage.

And now that I look at it harder, I just noticed like 6 other games that could really screw things up: scUM vs Duke if the fighting Jay Bilas' play poorly, 'Zona vs Duke could be good too, Cincy and UConn if UConn is tired, Washington-Carolina, etc. etc. etc. And that's only half the bracket!

Good thing I told myself this was just a "preliminary" bracket :p

Uh-oh, let the second-guessing begin.

(I'm always in the same boat.)

 

[SloopyHangOn]

So our bracket has more champions from BCS conferences than any other bracket. Sure glad we got rewarded for the top overall seed. :ohwell:

East:
4 BCS (3 Season, 2 Tourney)
5 Non-BCS (3 Season, 3 Tourney)

Southwest:
1 BCS (1 Season, 1 Tourney)
5 Non-BCS (5 Tourney)

Southeast:
2 BCS (2 Season)
7 Non-BCS (5 Season, 6 Tourney)

West:
3 BCS (1 Season, 2 Tourney)
6 Non-BCS (4 Season, 6 Tourney)

So for the sake of dicking with statistics, let's appoint values to this.

5pts for a Non-BCS Championship
10pts for a BCS Championship
1.0 weight for Season Championship
1.5 weight for Tourney Championship

Championship Points
West: 105
East: 97.5
Southeast: 90
Southwest: 62.5

Each bracket then divided by average AP rank.

Difficulty
East: 8.3
West: 6.8
Southeast: 6.6
Southwest: 6.1