Bracketology - 3/4/22

As we head into the home stretch of the season, one oft-heard complaint about some tournament teams is that "they didn't even go .500 in their conference."

You see, several college analysts (including a couple famous bracketologists) believe that if a team can't even finish .500 in their conference, they should not be allowed in the field. Other numbers and wins be darned, if they can't reach that arbitrary criteria, they're out.

It's well intentioned (wanting more mid-majors), but foolish.

You see, in the era of unbalanced scheduling, teams in the same conference can have vastly different schedule strengths. One team can be 9-9 by feasting on the bottom of the conference, while another is 8-10 having to play stronger competition. Does conference record determine who's better? Not really.

Take LSU. They're 17 in the NET, have Top 20 metrics, and have beaten Kentucky and Tennessee. I have them as a 6 seed. But they're 8-9 in conference, so by some people's definition, they should be excluded.

That's silly. Conference record helps with conference tournament seeding, but aside from that means nothing. The criteria should just be the best teams in the country, and then go from there.

West

1 Gonzaga (1) Portland, OR

16   LBSU (63)

8 SDSU (30)

9 Iowa St (33)

5 Connecticut (17)

12   Chattanooga (50)

4 Arkansas (16) Buffalo, NY

13   Iona (51)

6 Iowa (22)

11   North Texas (44)

3 Texas Tech (12) San Diego, CA

14   Seattle (58)

7 Colorado St (26)

10   Notre Dame (40)

2 Villanova (8) Pittsburgh, PA

15   Colgate (61)

South

1 Baylor (2) Fort Worth, TX

16   Cleveland St (65)/Bryant (66)

8 Seton Hall (31)

9 San Francisco (35)

5 Houston (18)

12   Michigan (46)/Loyola-Chicago (47)

4 Illinois (15) Pittsburgh, PA

13   Vermont (52)

6 Ohio St (24)

11   Memphis (41)

3 Tennessee (10) Indianapolis, IN

14   Princeton (56)

7 Boise St (27)

10   Davidson (37)

2 Duke (7) Greenville, SC

15   Jacksonville St (60)

Midwest

1 Arizona (3) San Diego, CA

16   Nicholls (67)/Alcorn St (68)

8 TCU (32)

9 Marquette (34)

5 Texas (19)

12   North Carolina (45)/Rutgers (48)

4 Providence (14) Buffalo, NY

13   Towson (53)

6 St Mary’s (22)

11   Wyoming (43)

3 Wisconsin (9) Milwaukee, WI

14   Texas St (57)

7 Michigan St (28)

10   Wake Forest (39)

2 Auburn (5) Greenville, SC

15   Longwood (62)

East

1 Kansas (4) Fort Worth, TX

16   Norfolk St (64)

8 Murray St (29)

9 Xavier (36)

5 Alabama (20)

12   South Dakota St (49)

4 UCLA (13) Portland, OR

13   Toledo (54)

6 LSU (23)

11   Miami (FL) (42)

3 Purdue (11) Milwaukee, WI

14   Northern Iowa (55)

7 USC (25)

10   Creighton (38)

2 Kentucky (6) Indianapolis, IN

15   Montana St (59)

Last Four In
North Carolina
Michigan
Loyola-Chicago
Rutgers

First Four Out
Indiana
BYU
VCU
SMU

Check http://www.bracketmatrix.com/ for more outstanding bracketologies.