I gave myself 24 hours to digest the NCAA Tournament draw, and have a few assorted thoughts. We won't lock into the picks until Wednesday. Filling out a bracket for me is sort of like what picking out a wedding dress is probably like for a chick - I go through a bunch before one feels just right.
Seeding - the Selection committee very rarely gets this right. Tell me, which is the tougher draw?
Draw A: #2 Ohio St., #3 Georgetown, #4 Maryland, #5 Michigan St.
Seeding - the Selection committee very rarely gets this right. Tell me, which is the tougher draw?
Draw A: #2 Ohio St., #3 Georgetown, #4 Maryland, #5 Michigan St.
Draw B: #2 Kansas St., #3 Pittsburgh, #4 Vanderbilt, #5 Butler
In the last eleven years, Draw A has combined for ten Final Four appearances. Draw B has only been past the Sweet 16 once (Pitt last year). However, Draw A went to supposed top overall seed Kansas, while the much easier Draw B went to the fourth #1 Syracuse.
Bracket Buster II - in this year's draw, there were 15 teams from non-BCS leagues on the 5-12 seed lines. Of that group, eight are playing each other: Temple/Cornell, Butler/UTEP, Richmond/St. Mary's, and Northern Iowa/UNLV. Instead of matching up Texas/Wake Forest and Clemson/Missouri, why not mix those teams up against mid-majors?
In the last eleven years, Draw A has combined for ten Final Four appearances. Draw B has only been past the Sweet 16 once (Pitt last year). However, Draw A went to supposed top overall seed Kansas, while the much easier Draw B went to the fourth #1 Syracuse.
Bracket Buster II - in this year's draw, there were 15 teams from non-BCS leagues on the 5-12 seed lines. Of that group, eight are playing each other: Temple/Cornell, Butler/UTEP, Richmond/St. Mary's, and Northern Iowa/UNLV. Instead of matching up Texas/Wake Forest and Clemson/Missouri, why not mix those teams up against mid-majors?
We don't learn anything from matchups like Drake/WKU
Snubs - this was truly a weak field of at-large hopefuls. Unlike past years, I don't feel like there was a team left out that had a legitimate complaint. Virginia Tech had the 339th rated non-league schedule, Mississippi State had only two RPI Top 50 win (Vanderbilt, Old Dominion), and Illinois had fourteen losses with four coming to teams rated outside of the RPI Top 100 (Bradley, Georgia, Northwestern, Utah).
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