2012 Bracket Busters Projections

[shockerfan]

The Omaha paper had an article in Thursday's paper on the BallBusters and it doesn't sound good for WSU (although they don't discuss our game directly).

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Elgin, one of BracketBusters' founding fathers, said some fans have the misconception that the event will match up the home team with the highest RPI against the highest-ranked visiting team.

"Having a high RPI earns you the right to play your best counterparts, but it doesn't guarantee the top home team will play the top road team," Elgin said Thursday. "ESPN makes that call."

....Elgin said he's hearing that a Creighton-St. Mary's matchup is being considered but that the network is also intrigued by a St. Mary's-Murray State game. If ESPN picks the latter, then Creighton's opponent likely would be Long Beach State....."

*http://www.omaha.com/article/2012012...s-for-bluejays


If CU does get Long Beach and Murry gets St. Mary's, that pretty much leaves us with either Iona or ORU.

Murry still ends up okay in this scenerio but CU and WSU get screwed if this happens.

BTW- No mention of Nevada in the article.

LOL I knew I saw it somewhere, it just happened to be in this thread. That doesn't sound like Elgin has a ton of pull and RPI isn't the sole factor. Basically it is whoever ESPN feels will garner the best ratings. All there is to it.

In other words, it's not truely a Bracket Buster. Otherwise RPI would be the primary basis. That is one of the things wrong with this whole thing. It's not even used as it was truelly intended for. It's all about ratings and $$$....of course.

[shox1989]

Saw an article where Elgin says he no longer has pull. It is completely up to ESPN and who they feel the "sexy" matchups are. Even he said that it appeared ESPN was really intrigued by a St Mary's/Murray St matchup.

I saw the same article. In the early days Elgin and a few other commissioners actually made the decisions on who would play each other in the TV games. Now they only decide the non-TV games and espn decides the TV matches.

So yes espn makes the decisions on the TV games, but I got to believe that Elgin's opinion has to carry some weight with the espn guys. This whole thing is his baby.

Elgin cares so much about this event that he told the Mo State coach that if they pulled out (SWOMO didn't want to participate) of the BB, that they wouldn't get ANY appearances in the Valley's espn2 and espnU TV package.

[AndShock]

Elgin cares so much about this event that he told the Mo State coach that if they pulled out (SWOMO didn't want to participate) of the BB, that they wouldn't get ANY appearances in the Valley's espn2 and espnU TV package.

And this is where Creighton and WSU get together and tell Elgin to go f himself.

[Capitol Shock II]

Man Katz is ticking me off. http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...usters-tonight

[GoShockers89]

Man Katz is ticking me off. http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...usters-tonight

Not to worry, he has the exact same amount of say that the rest of the talking heads have- zero. There is absolutely no way in hell we get sent to George Mason. None. Nada.

At this point I'd give us about a 70% chance of being sent to ORU, 15% to Iona, and 15% to Murray State. Obviously we all want MSU, but I won't be that unhappy with an ORU draw since it's at least a short trip and we can ship busloads of fans down for the game. Anything else and it will be time to bring out the pitchforks.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

1) Its ESPN
2) We lost Saturday
3 Get the lube ready

[Hurley]

re:

I think there is little chance we get Murray St. You have to think like a TV producer, like ESPN will think. They care about the premier game first and foremost, the other games are just window dressing that few people, outside of the respective schools' fan bases, will care about. Murray State is the premier team. The best road matchup for them is St Mary's. That is the "sexiest" matchup from a tv producer's perspective.

They won't really care that much about the rest of the matchups. Just my opinion.

[WuShock Reaper]

AND THE WINNER IS: Murray State!!!

Murray State has led for the last six weeks and finishes ahead of the pack by 16 lengths (RPI points).

Top 5 Finishers
Murray State - #33, Oral Roberts - #49, Cleveland State - #53, Iona - #55, South Dakota State - #63


Don’t forget all rankings are not final until the track steward (Selection Committee) had certified the results. This will happen this evening at 5:30 pm (central time) on ESPNU.

If the pairings are done strictly by RPI rankings (and we all know that they are not), these is what they would look like:


TOP 15 GAMES AND POSSIBLE MVC MATCHUPS

1. Saint Mary's College (RPI #19) - West Coast at Creighton (RPI #15) - Missouri Valley
2. Wichita State (RPI #31) - Missouri Valley at Murray State (RPI #33) - Ohio Valley
3. Long Beach State (RPI #34) - Big West at Oral Roberts (RPI #49) - Summit League
4. Northern Iowa (RPI #57) - Missouri Valley at Cleveland State (RPI #53) -Horizon
5. Nevada (RPI #59) - WAC at Iona (RPI #55) - Metro Atlantic
6. Akron (RPI #60) - Mid-American at South Dakota State (RPI #63) – Summit League
7. Drexel (RPI #87) - Colonial at Davidson (RPI #67) - Southern
8. Drake (RPI #97) - Missouri Valley at Ohio (RPI #69) - Mid-American
9. Buffalo (RPI #98) - Mid-American at Missouri State (RPI #79) - Missouri Valley
10. Valparaiso (RPI #114) – Horizon at Virginia Commonwealth (RPI #82) - Colonial
11. Indiana State (RPI #115) - Missouri Valley at Loyola-Maryland (RPI #85) - Metro Atlantic
12. Lamar (RPI #120) - Southland at New Mexico State (RPI #89) - WAC
13. Old Dominion (RPI #124) – Colonial at Weber State (RPI #90) - Big Sky
14. Oakland (RPI #127) – Summit League at George Mason (RPI #101) - Colonial
15. College of Charleston (RPI #129) – Southern at Kent State (RPI #105) – Mid-America


Missouri Valley - 6 teams
Colonial - 4 teams
Mid-American - 4 teams
Summit League - 3 teams
Horizon - 2 teams
Metro Atlantic - 2 teams
Southern - 2 teams
WAC - 2 team
Big Sky - 1 team
Big West - 1 teams
Ohio Valley - 1 team
Southland - 1 team
West Coast - 1 team

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Is there anything in the BB bylaws whatever that says they can't send us to Creighton?

[WstateU]

1) Its ESPN
2) We lost Saturday
3 Get the lube ready

Okey-dokey!

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

I really hope ESPN realizes that no-one gives a damn anout Bracketbusters outside of the teams respective fan base. Put SMC vs MSU all you want its going to pull the same ratings as anything else you put up

[shockar25]

Andy Katz thinks we should go to George Mason.... George Mason? I like GMU, but they have an RPI over 100. How would that help us at all?

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/46536/3-point-shot-bracketbusters-tonight

I sure hope he really doesn't have any influence.

[shox1989]

AND THE WINNER IS: Murray State!!!

Murray State has led for the last six weeks and finishes ahead of the pack by 16 lengths (RPI points).

Top 5 Finishers
Murray State - #33, Oral Roberts - #49, Cleveland State - #53, Iona - #55, South Dakota State - #63


Don’t forget all rankings are not final until the track steward (Selection Committee) had certified the results. This will happen this evening at 5:30 pm (central time) on ESPNU.

If the pairings are done strictly by RPI rankings (and we all know that they are not), these is what they would look like:


TOP 15 GAMES AND POSSIBLE MVC MATCHUPS

1. Saint Mary's College (RPI #19) - West Coast at Creighton (RPI #15) - Missouri Valley
2. Wichita State (RPI #31) - Missouri Valley at Murray State (RPI #33) - Ohio Valley
3. Long Beach State (RPI #34) - Big West at Oral Roberts (RPI #49) - Summit League
4. Northern Iowa (RPI #57) - Missouri Valley at Cleveland State (RPI #53) -Horizon
5. Nevada (RPI #59) - WAC at Iona (RPI #55) - Metro Atlantic
6. Akron (RPI #60) - Mid-American at South Dakota State (RPI #63) – Summit League
7. Drexel (RPI #87) - Colonial at Davidson (RPI #67) - Southern
8. Drake (RPI #97) - Missouri Valley at Ohio (RPI #69) - Mid-American
9. Buffalo (RPI #98) - Mid-American at Missouri State (RPI #79) - Missouri Valley
10. Valparaiso (RPI #114) – Horizon at Virginia Commonwealth (RPI #82) - Colonial
11. Indiana State (RPI #115) - Missouri Valley at Loyola-Maryland (RPI #85) - Metro Atlantic
12. Lamar (RPI #120) - Southland at New Mexico State (RPI #89) - WAC
13. Old Dominion (RPI #124) – Colonial at Weber State (RPI #90) - Big Sky
14. Oakland (RPI #127) – Summit League at George Mason (RPI #101) - Colonial
15. College of Charleston (RPI #129) – Southern at Kent State (RPI #105) – Mid-America


Missouri Valley - 6 teams
Colonial - 4 teams
Mid-American - 4 teams
Summit League - 3 teams
Horizon - 2 teams
Metro Atlantic - 2 teams
Southern - 2 teams
WAC - 2 team
Big Sky - 1 team
Big West - 1 teams
Ohio Valley - 1 team
Southland - 1 team
West Coast - 1 team

Even though the Butler didn't even make the top 30, I bet you espn finds away to include them in the TV games.

It will be interesting to see how close the actual TV games are to the above list.

[SPEShockAlum]

Is there anything in the BB bylaws whatever that says they can't send us to Creighton?

Not sure if it's a written rule, but Kennedy talked about it a little bit before the game on Saturday. The committee will not, as a rule of thumb, pair conference foes or teams that have played one another in recent years. That would be absolutely asinine if we were sent to CU! Luckily, it's not going to happen.

[shockerofandover0943]

Andy Katz thinks we should go to George Mason.... George Mason? I like GMU, but they have an RPI over 100. How would that help us at all?

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/46536/3-point-shot-bracketbusters-tonight

I sure hope he really doesn't have any influence.

Andy Katz is quickly losing any respect that I had for him. Pairing us with George Mason is illogical and unforgivable.