📄 2044 Dance Partners, Building a Better Bracket w/ EC Hood: Part 2 Mar 5th
- Bracketology
EC Hood- 0
- 4 minutes read
Dance Partners, Building a Better Bracket. A bracketology presentation by EC Hood
The 2043-44 regular season is over, and the run up to Selection Sunday is mirroring real life, where conference tournaments are in full swing. In CBGM, this week is taking on extra importance to several teams around the bubble. Many programs can help themselves immensely… or knock themselves backwards into the NIT.
This bracket is a “best-case scenario” as we have put all the regular season conference champions into the dance. We know that won’t happen in reality, so take all of this with a grain of salt. The key thing to look at are bid stealers, and there aren’t as many out there as usual.
Still, the conferences that can screw things up for everyone are worth watching.
Let’s start in the Southland, where Incarnate Word rolled to a 19-1 regular season record and now sits with a 23-6 overall mark and a 46 NET ranking. The in-game committee might indeed see this as an at-large resume, so if the Cardinals stumble this week, it could spell trouble for the bubble.
Akron (23-7, 38 NET) seems like an at-large lock if they lose in the MAC tourney, with Toledo, Ohio and Central Michigan all lurking with NET rankings in the 50s. Right now, I have only Akron in the field as the MAC champs, and I’m not sure the Zips will deserve a bid if they lose early. But the game seems to feel otherwise.
It doesn’t seem like FDU (21-8, 60 NET) and Bucknell (20-9, 49 NET) are at-large contenders but bubble teams should be rooting for them to win out anyways.
The Missouri Valley and Sun Belt will need one of their top three teams to win the league or more bid stealers will emerge.
TCU (16-13, 12-8) is my last team in, and the game has them safely in, but an early loss in the Big 12 tournament might have them sweating.
Several programs need to finish strong this week to improve their stock. The last four out and next four out in particular can all get in with solid tournaments. Rhode Island, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt and Creighton are my first four out. Memphis, DePaul, UCLA and Arizona State are next. There are several other programs just outside of this that can still make a run. Look out for UMass, Michigan State, USC and NC State.
Elsewhere, the four No. 1 seeds feel locked in on my end, though the game’s Bubble Watch has Minnesota 3rd and Missouri 5th despite Minnesota’s NET ranking of 13.
Shout out to some A.I. programs having big years in Colorado (25-6, 11 NET) and Nevada (23-7, 16 NET).
Good luck everyone!
IN GAME DATE: Mar 5th
