2016-17 Bracketology

[Dave Stalwart]

Not sure how Zags fans would react but as a Shocker fan I'd rather be in the KU bracket than Gonzaga. KU is a three man team. We have some pretty talented defenders. I'd love to see the matchups and I like our chances.

And who knows if they will still even have a team by that time. Who am I kidding? If there is any discipline for whatever went down, it will come after the season, right after the games are over.

[CBB_Fan]

I think KU would be a tough out this year. I feel we've struggled against good guardplay, and even though KU doesn't have the bigs to neutralize us inside I think the bigger trend in our losses is getting rattled and making a bunch of mistakes at the guard spot.

But I would much rather play KU than Gonzaga. In my opinion Gonzaga IS the best team in college basketball. I don't think this is the same sort of team that they had in 2013; even though both were 1 seeds this team backs up its seed with a perfect record and the top spot in KenPom. They have a more rounded team than KU, with their fantastic junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss coming back from injury and the Mountain-That-Balls in the center (Przemek Karnowski). They are good shooters and do an exceptional job pushing opponents into bad, unassisted shots.

Of all the 1 and 2 seeds, the one I'd want the most is Oregon. I think they are WAY overrated. Yeah, they get a lot of blocks but nothing else really puts them above the crowd to the point that they should be ranked this high. They have good guards and defensive bigs, which is similar to how we lost to Louisville, but for a matchup against a 1 or 2 they are the one I'd pick.

[ShockingButTrue]

From what I've seen the chickens perimeter D is exploitable.

[Cdizzle]

From what I've seen the chickens perimeter D is exploitable.

All Big12 teams have highly exploitable "defenses."

[Keyser Soze]

All Big12 teams have highly exploitable "defenses."

How do you reconcile this with 9 of the 10 Big 12 teams having a defensive efficiency ratin in the top 65 in the country? ...and the one outside of that is one we unfortunately know well - Oklahoma State.

[Stickboy46]

I think KU would be a tough out this year. I feel we've struggled against good guardplay, and even though KU doesn't have the bigs to neutralize us inside I think the bigger trend in our losses is getting rattled and making a bunch of mistakes at the guard spot.

But I would much rather play KU than Gonzaga. In my opinion Gonzaga IS the best team in college basketball. I don't think this is the same sort of team that they had in 2013; even though both were 1 seeds this team backs up its seed with a perfect record and the top spot in KenPom. They have a more rounded team than KU, with their fantastic junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss coming back from injury and the Mountain-That-Balls in the center (Przemek Karnowski). They are good shooters and do an exceptional job pushing opponents into bad, unassisted shots.

Of all the 1 and 2 seeds, the one I'd want the most is Oregon. I think they are WAY overrated. Yeah, they get a lot of blocks but nothing else really puts them above the crowd to the point that they should be ranked this high. They have good guards and defensive bigs, which is similar to how we lost to Louisville, but for a matchup against a 1 or 2 they are the one I'd pick.

I agree with this. Mason is a really good guard. He gets a lot of calls that he shouldn't but he's still really good. We would have trouble with him, especially since they still have several players that were there for the beat down in 2015.

[Cdizzle]

How do you reconcile this with 9 of the 10 Big 12 teams having a defensive efficiency ratin in the top 65 in the country? ...and the one outside of that is one we unfortunately know well - Oklahoma State.

I watch basketball.

Like. A lot of basketball.

[newshock1234]

Mark Adams would hate us playing Dayton lol

[shocks02]

Up to First Four Out with Palm. Guess all the whining worked. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

[SHOCKvalue]

Up to First Four Out with Palm. Guess all the whining worked. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

Well, he has to make incremental baby steps between now and Selection Sunday, so he doesn't have to eat his words all in one sitting.

See also: 12 months ago.

[ShockerFever]

Up to First Four Out with Palm. Guess all the whining worked. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

In a matter of 5 days, the hack has gone from stating that there was no way WSU was getting an at-large on the Lutz' show to now up to the first four out.

What a toolbag and a half.

[RoyalShock]

In a matter of 5 days, the hack has gone from stating that there was no way WSU was getting an at-large on the Lutz' show to now up to the first four out.

What a toolbag and a half.

Not to defend Palm or even imply he's not a hack (I've been critical of him for a long time and believe he puts way more stock in the RPI than the committee does), but these "bracketologists" practice their craft in the context of "if the committee met today" to make their predictions. The landscape changes over the course of a month, a week, or even a few days.

Pile on the guy, I don't care. But any serious bracketologist should be changing his predictions over time.

[ShockerFever]

Not to defend Palm or even imply he's not a hack (I've been critical of him for a long time and believe he puts way more stock in the RPI than the committee does), but these "bracketologists" practice their craft in the context of "if the committee met today" to make their predictions. The landscape changes over the course of a month, a week, or even a few days.

Pile on the guy, I don't care. But any serious bracketologist should be changing his predictions over time.

That's fine and I agree. But then don't go saying in matter-of-fact fashion that a team has no chance of getting in and then 5 days later have them magically appear 3 spots away from the tournament.

[WheatShock]

Or at the very least he should say "they have no chance as it stands right now".

[SHOCKvalue]

CBS has its silly little "NCAA Bracket Preview Show" going on. Guest "analyst" is (not surprisingly) Palm. Had a little sidebar highlighting Michigan State as one of his play-in teams, and the graphic lists "Good Wins" of Minnesota (kenpom #39) and Northwestern (kenpom #31), completely ignoring WSU (kenpom #17).

I truely think it is safe to say - no exaggeration - that Palm has it out for WSU for some reason. Be it WSU pesterers on Twitter, P5 biases, or whatever, the guy is not balanced towards the Shocks.

As an aside, Palm's unwavering and simpleton use of RPI as the gold standard is really going to lead to some confusing times for him in the years moving forward, what with the new advanced metric the NCAA is developing with actual analysts not named Palm.