My mock bracket

[Chi-Boiler]

A couple of things still to be determined on Sunday, but for this I'm assuming Yale, UAB and VCU win. I just realized I put 10-seeded NC State in Charlotte, which probably isn't fair but isn't against the rules. I could probably swap them with James Madison.

EAST REGION (Top Left)
1 UConn vs 16 Grambling/Stetson
(Brooklyn)
8 Texas vs 9 New Mexico

5 Wisconsin vs 12 Oregon
(Salt Lake City)
4 Kansas vs 13 Vermont

6 Gonzaga vs 11 Mich St/Miss St
(Memphis)
3 Baylor vs 14 Morehead St

7 Utah St vs 10 NC State
(Charlotte)
2 Tennessee vs 15 St. Peter's

MIDWEST REGION (Top Right)
1 Purdue vs 16 Howard/Wagner
(Indy)
8 Florida Atlantic vs 9 TCU

5 Texas Tech vs 12 VCU
(Spokane)
4 Duke vs 13 Akron

6 Nevada vs 11 Drake
(Brooklyn)
3 Creighton vs 14 Colgate

7 Dayton vs 10 South Carolina
(Omaha)
2 Iowa State vs 15 Long Beach St

SOUTH REGION (Bottom right)
1 Houston vs 16 Longwood
(Memphis)
8 Clemson vs 9 Northwestern

5 San Diego St vs 12 Samford
(Spokane)
4 Alabama vs 13 Charleston

6 Florida vs 11 St John's/Colorado St
(Pittsburgh)
3 Illinois vs 14 Western Kentucky

7 Washington St vs 10 James Madison
(Indy)
2 Marquette vs 15 S. Dakota St

WEST REGION (bottom left)
1 North Carolina vs 16 Montanta St
(Charlotte)
8 Boise St vs 9 Colorado

5 BYU vs 12 UAB
(Pitt)
4 Kentucky vs 13 Yale

6 St. Mary's vs 11 McNeese St
(Memphis)
3 Auburn vs 14 Oakland

7 Nebraska vs 10 Texas A&M
(Salt Lake City)
2 Arizona vs 15 Grand Canyon

 

[Chi-Boiler]

I am prepared to be way off on South Carolina's seed. I admittedly forgot about them because their NET ranking is so bad compared to the others in the 7-10 seed range. Then I was too lazy and tired to fix it. I was too concerned with putting BYU in a spot to avoid playing on Sundays.

 

[Heads up BOILER]

Do you personally feel that their is an easier bracket out of the 4 to have a path to go farther for a 1 seed?

 

[Chi-Boiler]

Do you personally feel that their is an easier bracket out of the 4 to have a path to go farther for a 1 seed?

Honestly don't know. You're splitting hairs to come up with any theories like that. And also, the name on the front of the jersey plays into people's thinking on that. If you had, for example, Duke, Indiana, UCLA and Kansas all in the same region, even if they were absolutely properly seeded, the media would come out that night and say that that region was the hardest. But these teams are so close, and bracketing isn't necessarily dependent on relative strength anyway, regardless of how close it is.

 

[ChoiceBeef]

I like Delphi’s bracket for us.

1. Purdue v 16 Montana St/Howard

8 Dayton
9 New Mexico

5 San Diego State
12 McNeese State

4 Kentucky
13 Vermont

6 Gonzaga
11 Drake

3 Creighton
14 Morehead State

7 Washington State
10 Northwestern

2 Iowa State
15 Longwood

That is a tough path for Kentucky to the S16. Wouldn’t be surprised to see McNeese State.

Lower half with Northwestern and Washington State will be tough beats for Iowa State.

 

[RDUBoiler]

I am prepared to be way off on South Carolina's seed. I admittedly forgot about them because their NET ranking is so bad compared to the others in the 7-10 seed range. Then I was too lazy and tired to fix it. I was too concerned with putting BYU in a spot to avoid playing on Sundays.

BYU won't play on Sundays? I didn't know that.

In terms of putting NC State in Charlotte, it's not quite a home game, given that Raleigh is three hours away, but it would definitely be an advantage. I thought at first you could trade them out with South Carolina, but Columbia is probably closer to Charlotte than Raleigh.

 

[Chi-Boiler]

BYU won't play on Sundays? I didn't know that.

In terms of putting NC State in Charlotte, it's not quite a home game, given that Raleigh is three hours away, but it would definitely be an advantage. I thought at first you could trade them out with South Carolina, but Columbia is probably closer to Charlotte than Raleigh.

For religious reasons, BYU cannot play on sundays. The committee screwed that up one of the first years that we went to pods, in 2003. The bracket would have had to have been changed if they had made the regionals. So it's a real thing. I did some switching around and bumped South Carolina up to a 6 in the same region and in turn took NC State out of Charlotte in the same switch.

 

[RDUBoiler]

For religious reasons, BYU cannot play on sundays. The committee screwed that up one of the first years that we went to pods, in 2003. The bracket would have had to have been changed if they had made the regionals. So it's a real thing. I did some switching around and bumped South Carolina up to a 6 in the same region and in turn took NC State out of Charlotte in the same switch.

I may have been confused about BYU because a number of devout professional Mormon athletes have obviously made the choice to play on Sundays, but it's certainly different for the school to endorse that.

FWIW, Lunardi has Tennessee as a 2 seed, Creighton as 3, and Kansas as 4, and South Carolina as 5 in our bracket. 8/9 would be Texas vs. Dayton. I wouldn't mind that at all.

 

[BoilerAndy]

Honestly don't know. You're splitting hairs to come up with any theories like that. And also, the name on the front of the jersey plays into people's thinking on that. If you had, for example, Duke, Indiana, UCLA and Kansas all in the same region, even if they were absolutely properly seeded, the media would come out that night and say that that region was the hardest. But these teams are so close, and bracketing isn't necessarily dependent on relative strength anyway, regardless of how close it is.

I agree with how close it can be. Once you get into the tournament, it depends on matchups, who is hot, who is healthy, who is refereeing, and a hundred other variables.

 

[BoilerAndy]

BYU won't play on Sundays? I didn't know that.

In terms of putting NC State in Charlotte, it's not quite a home game, given that Raleigh is three hours away, but it would definitely be an advantage. I thought at first you could trade them out with South Carolina, but Columbia is probably closer to Charlotte than Raleigh.

Indinia won't play on Sunday, either. Must be for religious reasons.

 

[Chi-Boiler]

I may have been confused about BYU because a number of devout professional Mormon athletes have obviously made the choice to play on Sundays, but it's certainly different for the school to endorse that.

FWIW, Lunardi has Tennessee as a 2 seed, Creighton as 3, and Kansas as 4, and South Carolina as 5 in our bracket. 8/9 would be Texas vs. Dayton. I wouldn't mind that at all.

Lunardi must still have Tennessee ahead of Iowa State, which I don't. If Iowa State is the best 2, they will go to Detroit.

My shift basically was in our region, sliding South Carolina up to 6, Nevada to 7, Dayton to 8, FAU to 9, and TCU to where NC State was, then NC State back to the 10 in MW to get out of Charlotte. I think it works with all the rules.

 

[RDUBoiler]

Lunardi must still have Tennessee ahead of Iowa State, which I don't. If Iowa State is the best 2, they will go to Detroit.

My shift basically was in our region, sliding South Carolina up to 6, Nevada to 7, Dayton to 8, FAU to 9, and TCU to where NC State was, then NC State back to the 10 in MW to get out of Charlotte. I think it works with all the rules.

Yeah, I know Lunardi isn't always very accurate. Just offering it as a point of comparison. I'd probably prefer ISU since we've already played Tennessee. It's definitely a complex set of challenges.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

BYU won't play on Sundays? I didn't know that.

In terms of putting NC State in Charlotte, it's not quite a home game, given that Raleigh is three hours away, but it would definitely be an advantage. I thought at first you could trade them out with South Carolina, but Columbia is probably closer to Charlotte than Raleigh.

Yep - Columbia is a little over 90 miles, and Raleigh is about 170 miles.

I think the only principle/rule is that a top 4 seed in a region won't be put at a "home crowd" disadvantage (a school within 200 miles of its campus) in the first round. Houston had to play in Birmingham against Auburn last tournament, but it was a second round game. Fairly raw deal for a top seed, though.

Purdue needed that in '84 and '86 (not a top 4 seed, though), but I digress.....haha.

 

[Chi-Boiler]

Yep - Columbia is a little over 90 miles, and Raleigh is about 170 miles.

I think the only principle/rule is that a top 4 seed in a region won't be put at a "home crowd" disadvantage (a school within 200 miles of its campus) in the first round. Houston had to play in Birmingham against Auburn last tournament, but it was a second round game. Fairly raw deal for a top seed, though.

Purdue needed that in '84 and '86 (not a top 4 seed, though), but I digress.....haha.

Yeah, you're right about that rule, although I think it extends to Top 5 seeds. Second round is up for grabs because the committee isn't going to project who is going to win games. But I think they will still avoid both of them being in Charlotte in the end.

 

[PaBoiler78]

A couple of things still to be determined on Sunday, but for this I'm assuming Yale, UAB and VCU win. I just realized I put 10-seeded NC State in Charlotte, which probably isn't fair but isn't against the rules. I could probably swap them with James Madison.

EAST REGION (Top Left)
1 UConn vs 16 Grambling/Stetson
(Brooklyn)
8 Texas vs 9 New Mexico

5 Wisconsin vs 12 Oregon
(Salt Lake City)
4 Kansas vs 13 Vermont

6 Gonzaga vs 11 Mich St/Miss St
(Memphis)
3 Baylor vs 14 Morehead St

7 Utah St vs 10 NC State
(Charlotte)
2 Tennessee vs 15 St. Peter's

MIDWEST REGION (Top Right)
1 Purdue vs 16 Howard/Wagner
(Indy)
8 Florida Atlantic vs 9 TCU

5 Texas Tech vs 12 VCU
(Spokane)
4 Duke vs 13 Akron

6 Nevada vs 11 Drake
(Brooklyn)
3 Creighton vs 14 Colgate

7 Dayton vs 10 South Carolina
(Omaha)
2 Iowa State vs 15 Long Beach St

SOUTH REGION (Bottom right)
1 Houston vs 16 Longwood
(Memphis)
8 Clemson vs 9 Northwestern

5 San Diego St vs 12 Samford
(Spokane)
4 Alabama vs 13 Charleston

6 Florida vs 11 St John's/Colorado St
(Pittsburgh)
3 Illinois vs 14 Western Kentucky

7 Washington St vs 10 James Madison
(Indy)
2 Marquette vs 15 S. Dakota St

WEST REGION (bottom left)
1 North Carolina vs 16 Montanta St
(Charlotte)
8 Boise St vs 9 Colorado

5 BYU vs 12 UAB
(Pitt)
4 Kentucky vs 13 Yale

6 St. Mary's vs 11 McNeese St
(Memphis)
3 Auburn vs 14 Oakland

7 Nebraska vs 10 Texas A&M
(Salt Lake City)
2 Arizona vs 15 Grand Canyon

could see us vs Wagner, it's close to Jersey