Friday, February 26, 2021

Bracketology 2/26/21

You may notice a surprise is this edition of Bracketology. Michigan State, a team left for dead as recently as a week ago, is now not only on the bubble, but as of today in the field. How does a team rise up so dramatically?

The answer, to quote Orwell, boils down to "All games are equal. But some games are more equal than others." In the last three weeks, Michigan State picked up a solid Q1 road win over Indiana, and then two massive home wins over Illinois and Ohio State. In a bubble that is known for mediocre teams losing to good ones, beating two Top 5 teams in the country does huge favors for a resume. In one week, Michigan State now has 5 Q1 wins, two of them Top 5, and only one loss outside of Q1, and the road loss to Northwestern is Q2. The metrics still aren't that strong, and Michigan State has a murderous stretch of games still, including two games against Michigan. But even so, this has been a remarkable achievement for Tom Izzo's group.


Region 1

1       Gonzaga (1)

16   Prairie View A&M (67)/North Carolina A&T (68)

8       Florida (32)

9       Maryland (35)

5       Tennessee (18)

12   Belmont (49)

4       Texas (13)

13   Winthrop (54)

6       Missouri (23)

11   VCU (42)

3       Villanova (9)

14   Liberty (58)

7       Oklahoma State (25)

10   North Carolina (40)

2       Iowa (8)

15   Siena (59)

Region 2

1       Baylor (2)

16   Texas State (65)/ South Dakota (66)

8       Rutgers (30)

9       San Diego State (34)

5       USC (17)

12   Western Kentucky (50)

4       Virginia (15)

13   Toledo (52)

6       Wisconsin (24)

11   Louisville (41)

3       Houston (10)

14   Abilene Christian (57)

7       BYU (26)

10   Drake (39)

2       Illinois (5)

15   James Madison (62)

Region 3

1       Michigan (3)

16   Eastern Washington (64)

8       Loyola (Chicago) (31)

9       UCLA (33)

5       Texas Tech (19)

12   Michigan State (45)/ Xavier (46)

4       Arkansas (16)

13   UC-Santa Barbara (51)

6       Clemson (22)

11   Seton Hall (43)

3       Florida State (11)

14   Wright State (56)

7       Colorado (28)

10   St, Bonaventure (37)

2       West Virginia (7)

15   Grand Canyon (60)

Region 4

1       Ohio State (4)

16   Wagner (63)

8       LSU (29)

9       Oregon (36)

5       Creighton (20)

12   Wichita State (47)/Colorado State (48)

4       Kansas (14)

13   Colgate (53)

6       Purdue (21)

11   Connecticut (44)

3       Oklahoma (12)

14   Furman (55)

7       Virginia Tech (27)

10   Boise State (38)

2       Alabama (6)

15   UMBC (61)

Last Four Byes

Louisville
VCU
Seton Hall
Connecticut

Last Four In

Michigan State
Xavier
Wichita State
Colorado State

First Four Out

Stanford
Minnesota
Duke
Georgia Tech

Next Four Out
Indiana
Richmond
SMU
Ole Miss

No comments:

Post a Comment