2016-17 Bracketology

[WSUwatcher]

The top 16 shows will really just be the basketball version of what happens in football starting every November when the CFP committee rankings come out. No biggie, and it may increase interest a bit, although I agree with WuShock's sentiment that the real story is at the bottom end of the bracket -- the who's in, who's out stuff.

Really, that's the key with football, too. No one much cares who's 10th or 12th in the CFP rankings, unless a ranking is accompanied by a significant uptrend (or potential uptrend based on schedule) that might make a team a playoff possibility if it's on the rise and keeps going. What's interesting is who's in the #4-6 slots, which because of the size of the playoff are the football equivalent of roughly the 11th-12th seeds in basketball.

[AZ Shocker]

Top-16???? Ahhh this is just all fluff. Duke, Kentucky, Carolina...yada yada yada. Now the Bottom-16...that I'm interested in. Probably a lot like another 30-40 or so universities would be interested in hearing/talking about. All fluff.

[shocks02]

WSU has moved up to "First Four Out" in today's update of Bracketology. http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...l/bracketology

37 of 82 over on the Bracket Matrix have WSU in. 76 of 82 have ISUr in. http://bracketmatrix.com/

[Stickboy46]

WSU has moved up to "First Four Out" in today's update of Bracketology. http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...l/bracketology

37 of 82 over on the Bracket Matrix have WSU in. 76 of 82 have ISUr in. http://bracketmatrix.com/

Clemson .. Losers of 6 straight and tied for dead last in the ACC is in the Last 4 in ....

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

Clemson .. Losers of 6 straight and tied for dead last in the ACC is in the Last 4 in ....

I agree that they should be out, but their 7 top 100 wins (4 of which were away from home) and their KenPom of 33 make them far from a crazy selection for the last 4 in.

[Stickboy46]

I agree that they should be out, but their 7 top 100 wins (4 of which were away from home) and their KenPom of 33 make them far from a crazy selection for the last 4 in.

Dead last in conference should be an immediate elimination. I don't care what wins you had.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

Dead last in conference should be an immediate elimination. I don't care what wins you had.

They've had the toughest conference schedule of any ACC team through 7 games. They are favored in 3 of their next 4. They could easily start pulling back toward .500 in conference in a hurry.

[Cdizzle]

They've had the toughest conference schedule of any ACC team through 7 games. They are favored in 3 of their next 4. They could easily start pulling back toward .500 in conference in a hurry.

So project them 'in' after they win their next 4. Or, you know, don't, because they'd still be sub-.500 in league.

If Creighton is still #7 because of a number next to their name, then Clemson is still 11-8 because of those numbers next to their name.

[Stickboy46]

They've had the toughest conference schedule of any ACC team through 7 games. They are favored in 3 of their next 4. They could easily start pulling back toward .500 in conference in a hurry.

Do not care ... You are DEAD last in your conference. You are eliminated until you prove that you are at least .500 in league. IMO .500 in your league should be a cut off. Don't go .500 in league .. you don't get in unless you win your tourney. If we are going to award a team for getting hot for a weekend, lets at least eliminate putting in teams that can't win half their conference games.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

If Creighton is still #7 because of a number next to their name, then Clemson is still 11-8 because of those numbers next to their name.

And Clemson is still top 35 in KenPom and top 50 in RPI RIGHT NOW. Like I said, I wouldn't personally include them right now, but when you need approx. the top 45 teams + weak auto bid teams, it starts becoming hard to find enough teams to put in front of them for Clemson to be too far off the bubble.

[Cdizzle]

It's not that hard to find teams that aren't last in their conference.

[Stickboy46]

And still top 35 in KenPom and top 50 in RPI. Like I said, I wouldn't personally include them right now, but when you need approx. the top 45 teams + weak auto bid teams, it starts becoming hard to find enough teams to put in front of them for Clemson to be too far off the bubble.

I'd much rather give the 2nd place team in a weaker conference the chance than a team that is dead last. That's my problem. >=.500 in league or you need to get the auto bid.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

To the ">=.500 or else crowd"...

What about a team that plays in a weaker conference and goes 7-9 vs the top 100, wins almost all their other games, and wins a weak league? Why do they get in when they can't win half their games vs quality competition?

Virtually the entire ACC is top 75. The only difference between these 2 example teams is how many of the quality opponents shared the same conference membership. The performance on the court is basically the same.

[ShockerFever]

Clemson .. Losers of 6 straight and tied for dead last in the ACC is in the Last 4 in ....

If your big, bad conference is too tough for you, then come to the Valley. We'll take you. Otherwise, get your asses to the NIT. What a horrible selection.

[Cdizzle]

To the ">=.500 or else crowd"...

What about a team that plays in a weaker conference and goes 7-9 vs the top 100, wins almost all their other games, and wins a weak league? Why do they get in when they can't win half their games vs quality competition?

Virtually the entire ACC is top 75. The only difference between these 2 example teams is how many of the quality opponents shared the same conference membership. The performance on the court is basically the same.

Then change conferences. It's not difficult. Said 7-9 team probably played 75% of those games away from home because they are in a weaker conference. They don't get a billion chances to luck into beating an Allen-less, Coach K-less Duke and automatically stamp their ticket.

If it's fair to punish a team for being way better than their crappy league, then it's equally fair to punish a team for being way worse than their good league.