Sunday, March 13, 2016

Quick reactions/criticisms of actual bracket

SOUTH 32
@Des Moines - Thursday afternoon session
1) Kansas vs. 16) Austin Peay - interesting that Peay avoids the play-in game
8) Colorado vs. 9) UConn - by the way, the Des Moines regionals are loaded.  Kansas/UConn in the afternoon, Indiana/Kentucky at night
@Spokane - Friday afternoon session
4) California vs. 13) Hawaii - wow, California all the way to the 1 line.  Here's where road/neutral got to me: they were 5-10 in road/neutral games.  4 seed is aggressive for that kind of record
5) Maryland vs. 12) South Dakota St
@Providence - Thursday night session
3) Miami vs. 14) Buffalo
6) Arizona vs. 11) Vanderbilt/Wichita St - metrics schmetrics.  The committee obviously discarded them, and threw Vandy/WSU at the end of the bracket to throw everyone off their scent.  Vandy was a true bubbler, but this is a flagrant seed for Wichita
@Brooklyn - Friday afternoon session
2) Villanova vs. 15) UNC-Asheville - so why isn't Nova in the East regional?  I honestly don't know.  It looks like seed imbalance isn't an immediate issue.  Xavier and Villanova could trade and not break any principles.  Unless they specifically wanted to protect UNC, I'm not sure
7) Iowa vs. 10) Temple

WEST 35
@Spokane - Friday evening session
1) Oregon vs. 16) Holy Cross/Southern - so a play-in game winner to Dayton?  No choice.  The other three 1 seeds are playing at Thursday/Saturday sites
8) St Joseph's vs. 9) Cincinnati
@Providence - Thursday afternoon session
4) Duke vs. 13) UNC-Wilmington - aw man, no Duke in Spokane after all.  And to add insult to injury, Duke's in the afternoon session instead of the night session
5) Baylor vs. 12) Yale
@Oklahoma City - Friday evening session
3) Texas A&M vs. 14) Green Bay - I don't get this 3 seed
6) Texas vs. 11) Northern Iowa - I guess I was aggressive on Texas' seed after all
@Oklahoma City - Friday afternoon session
2) Oklahoma vs. 15) Cal St-Bakersfield
7) Oregon St vs. 10) VCU - what a pair of ridiculous seeds.  VCU barely made my field and are a few spots above where they should be.  Oregon St is a ridiculous seed, plain and simple.  Defend it.  I dare you

MIDWEST 35
@Raleigh - Thursday afternoon session
1) Virginia vs. 16) Hampton
8) Texas Tech vs. 9) Butler
@Denver - Thursday afternoon session
4) Iowa St vs. 13) Iona
5) Purdue vs. 12) Arkansas-Little Rock - not much to complain about in these quadrants so far
@Denver - Thursday evening session
3) Utah vs. 14) Fresno St
6) Seton Hall vs. 11) Gonzaga - Seton Hall probably should be a 5, seems like not enough credit for their run.  But it's not a major sin
@St Louis - Friday afternoon session
2) Michigan St vs. 15) Middle Tennessee - I thought injuries were supposed to be considered...
7) Dayton vs. 10) Syracuse - too high for Syracuse, plain and simple

EAST 34
@Raleigh - Thursday evening session
1) North Carolina vs. 16) FGCU/Fairleigh Dickinson
8) USC vs. 9) Providence - so I went the wrong way on USC late.  Dammit
@Des Moines - Thursday evening session
4) Kentucky vs. 13) Stony Brook - 4 seed is fine for UK, but not compared to A&M's 3
5) Indiana vs. 12) Chattanooga - apparently the committee doesn't care about conference titles after all.  I'm confused
@Brooklyn - Friday evening session
3) West Virginia vs. 14) Stephen F Austin
6) Notre Dame vs. 11) Michigan/Tulsa - Tulsa is a stupid pick.  Not as catastrophic as, say, Air Force 2006, but it's pretty bad
@St Louis - Friday evening session
2) Xavier vs. 15) Weber St
7) Wisconsin vs. 10) Pittsburgh

East 32, South 34, Midwest 35, West 35.  Balance!  You know what's even better?  Swapping Nova and X, which would give you a 33-33-35-35 configuration.  By the way, that's the only error I see among the top 16 overall teams in terms of placement - everything else checks out to me.

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