2017-2018 Bracketology

[WstateU]

It is easy to forget, as we root for Cincy, that they are competing with WSU on the S-Curve. As long as they are ahead of WSU, as they are currently, I'm rooting against them.

I've given up rooting that WSU will pass folks like Villanova, Virginia , or Purdue, but I'm rooting against pretty much anyone currently ranked between 10-30. These teams are the true competition for the Shox.

(Yes, I know Cincy is #8 in the polls, but most bracketologists don't have them quite that high, and also, WSU has a unique opportunity to catch them since they have 2-3 games head to head.)

[Stickboy46]

It is easy to forget, as we root for Cincy, that they are competing with WSU on the S-Curve. As long as they are ahead of WSU, as they are currently, I'm rooting against them.

I've given up rooting that WSU will pass folks like Villanova, Virginia , or Purdue, but I'm rooting against pretty much anyone currently ranked between 10-30. These teams are the true competition for the Shox.

(Yes, I know Cincy is #8 in the polls, but most bracketologists don't have them quite that high, and also, WSU has a unique opportunity to catch them since they have 2-3 games head to head.)

Something I looked up today.

Cincy's defense is good, don't get me wrong, but from what I have watched. They have benefited from the other team missing LOTS of open looks. Maybe they weren't the looks they were hoping for, but they still were open.

In Cincy's first 8 conference games, only 1 of those games have come against a team that currently ranks in the top half of the AAC in AdjO (SMU). They obviously won that game, but they now have 7 of 10 against teams in the top half (WSU x2, Houston x2, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane) of AdjO. Will be interesting to see how their defense holds up. So far, the only 2 teams they have played that have anywhere near the AdjO of WSU (15) were Xavier (9) and Florida (19). Both of those were losses.

[Cdizzle]

Their schedule definitely gets tougher. So does ours. I think it's a mistake to play the "missed a bunch of shots" card. Teams have played that card after losses to WSU for 7+ years. Sometimes it's a coincidence, and teams really do just miss shots. But not when it's every game, as is the case with Cincy this year. They are for real.

They have also applied their defense to 2 teams twice already, Temple and Memphis, likely helping to destroy their AdjO numbers.

[Stickboy46]

Like i said, their defense is good. But take the Memphis game for example. That was a very close game up until the last few minutes. If Memphis doesn't shoot 50% from the line on nearly 30 attempts ... it's a different game. Can't credit the defense for that. 3-17 from 3 didn't help and a lot were wide open.

[Cdizzle]

You can choose not to credit the defense. I will choose to credit the defense. Getting crushed by a defense all game becomes mental. Your few open shots become extremely important, and often rushed. Your free throws come on tired legs after you haven't seen the ball go through the hoop in 4 minutes. It adds up. If it didn't, WSU wouldn't have won 80%+ of its games the last 8 years, and I don't think that was on luck either.

[WuShock Reaper]

"Early February Projection of the Field of 68" - Bleacher Report

BY KERRY MILLER
FEBRUARY 5, 2018

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2757610-2018-ncaa-tournament-bracket-early-february-projection-of-the-field-of-68

On the Horizon

SMU Mustangs: SMU has a couple of great wins over Arizona and Wichita State, but the bad losses to Tulsa, Tulane, Temple and Northern Iowa are the overpowering smell coming from this resume.

Last 5 In

2nd-to-Last: Temple Owls
13-10, RPI: 42, KP: 88, SOS: 2

Remember, the bar for sneaking into the field has been lowered. If you find that hard to believe, just wait until we get to the First 5 Out slide.

Temple has several dreadful losses: George Washington, La Salle, Memphis and Tulane. Temple also has three extremely impressive wins: neutral-court games against Clemson and Auburn and a home game against Wichita State. Yes, 10 losses is a lot, but the Owls played one of the toughest schedules in the country, and Vanderbilt got in as a No. 9 seed with 15 losses in the same scenario last year. A 6-2 record the rest of the way should be more than enough for Temple.

5th-to-Last: Houston Cougars
17-5, RPI: 41, KP: 35, SOS: 104

Houston missed out on a huge opportunity against Cincinnati Wednesday, but the Cougars did win a road game against UCF. Compared to every other team that was within a few spots of the previous edition's cut line, that's one heck of a good week. They still play SMU twice, host Cincinnati and play at Temple, so there are a few opportunities remaining to improve this resume.


Midwest Region: Dallas

No. 3 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara

No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 11 Arkansas


South Region: Charlotte, North Carolina

No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 16 UNC-Asheville

No. 8 Wichita State vs. No. 9 Texas A&M

[asiseeit]

I would NOT want that. Hope we go west or Dallas

[ShockerPrez]

Im hopeful we can get back to the 6 seed line. Gonna have to beat Cincy, obviously.

[WuShock Reaper]

ESPN Bracketology

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...l/bracketology

Posted: 02/015/18

SOUTH REGION
#5 - Wichita State vs #12 - Louisiana in Boise, Idaho

#3 - Cincinnati vs #14 - Belmont in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

EAST REGION
#11 Houston vs #6 - Seton Hall in Dallas, Texas

FIRST FOUR OUT
SMU

[WuShock Reaper]

CBS Bracketology

By Jerry Palm
UPDATED: Feb 05, 6:20am

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/

WEST REGION
#8 - Wichita State vs #9 - New Mexico State in Detroit, Michigan

MIDWEST REGION
#3 - Cincinnati vs #14 - Montana in Dallas, Texas

EAST REGION
#11 Houston vs #6 - Michigan in Nashville, Tennessee

LAST TEAM IN
#11 SMU Play-in game in Dayton, Ohio

[AndShock]

Boise and Detroit. Gross.

[WSUwatcher]

Facepalm knows you're reading -- that's why he called it as he did.

[WuShock Reaper]

NBC Sports Bracketology

UPDATED: February 5, 2018

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2018/02/05/bracketology-villanova-leads-march-to-selection-sunday/

FIRST FOUR PAIRINGS – Dayton (First Round)
11) Houston vs. 11) Kansas State | Midwest Region

EAST REGION
3) CINCINNATI vs. 14) VERMONT in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SOUTH REGION
8) Wichita State vs. 9) TCU in Detroit, Michigan

[ShockerFever]

Boise and Detroit. Gross.

You can't get much worse than that.

[JayPak]

Brad Evans, college sports expert at a Yahoo Sports, was interviewed on Omaha sports radio today and commented about the Shockers. Said if tournament was today they are 6-9 seed and probably 6-7. Said he thought the bones of the resume’ are good and the brand-name could help them with seeding. Said it would help them if committee uses metrics other than RPI such as Sagarin, Kenpom, etc.

[ShockerPrez]

I may be bucking for a promotion to Captain obvious, but I will rest easier once we take our first game against Cincy.

[Dan]

I just want to win tonight. How we play tonight may go a long ways about what this team is made of.

[WuShock Reaper]

The 2018 Bracket Matrix

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/

Bracketmatrix	12/1	1/1	1/15	1/20	1/30	2/7
Seed 1	1		2	1
Seed 2	10	8	19	12
Seed 3	10	8	26	24	2
Seed 4	2	13	18	20	8	4
Seed 5	1	10	12	14	32	10
Seed 6		4	2	12	42	20
Seed 7	1	1	1	5	13	26
Seed 8				1	6	21
Seed 9		2		1	1	12
Seed 10						5
Seed 11					1	2
Not Rated						1
Totals	25	46	80	90	105	101
Seed 1	4%		3%	1%
Seed 2	40%	17%	24%	13%
Seed 3	40%	17%	33%	27%	2%
Seed 4	8%	28%	23%	22%	8%	4%
Seed 5	4%	22%	15%	16%	30%	10%
Seed 6		9%	3%	13%	40%	20%
Seed 7	4%	2%	1%	6%	12%	26%
Seed 8				1%	6%	21%
Seed 9		4%		1%	1%	12%
Seed 10						5%
Seed 11					1%	2%
Not Rated						1%
Totals	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Overall	2 Seed	4-Seed	3-Seed	4-Seed	6-Seed	7-seed
Average	2.84	4.15	3.36	4.12	5.80	7.18

[WuShock Reaper]

"NCAA tournament bracketology" - USA TODAY

By Shelby Mast and Scott Gleeson Sports
Published 9:50 a.m. ET Feb. 7, 2018 | Updated 11:39 a.m. ET

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2018/02/07/ncaa-tournament-bracketology-how-auburn-no-1-seed-tennessee-no-2-seed/314344002/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomcollegemensbasketball-topstories?src=rss

#4 Cincinnati vs #13 Vermont in San Diego, California

#8 Wichita State vs. #9 TCU in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


First Four Out
Houston

[shocks02]

Cincinnati as a 4? Yep, this bracket is invalid.

[WuShock Reaper]

"NCAA Tournament bracket projection" - Sporting News

By Ryan Fagan
Posted: 02/07/18, Updated at 3:34 p.m. ET

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-bas...v1nxnp91dbyb8j

No. 3 seeds
Cincinnati (22-2): Pom/RPI/KPI: 4/11/9. vs. Q1: 4-2. vs. Q2: 8-0. vs. Q3/4: 10–0

No. 5 seeds
Oklahoma (16-7): Pom/RPI/KPI: 26/19/14. vs. Q1: 5-6. vs. Q2: 3-1. vs. Q3/4: 8-0

No. 7 seeds
Wichita State (18-5): Pom/RPI/KPI: 19/24/25. vs. Q1: 1-3. vs. Q2: 9-2. vs. Q3/4: 8-0 - Wichita State has a nice collection of good, not great, wins, but nothing resembling a bad loss. Still, if the Shockers want to avoid that 8/9 game, they should avoid getting swept by Cincinnati (both games are still ahead).

No. 10 seeds
Houston (17-5): Pom/RPI/KPI: 35/37/45. vs. Q1: 3-2. vs. Q2: 2-2. vs. Q3/4: 12-1

No. 12 seeds
New Mexico State (WAC)

No. 14 seeds
Loyola-Chicago (Missouri Valley), South Dakota State (Summit)

No. 15 seeds
Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun), Charleston (Colonial)

First four out
SMU (15-8): Pom/RPI/KPI: 49/71/59. vs. Q1: 2-3. vs. Q2: 3-4. vs. Q3/4: 10-1

On Life Support (SN's pretty generous bubble (in alphabetical order):
Baylor (14-10): Pom/RPI/KPI: 40/72/78. vs. Q1: 1-7. vs. Q2: 2-3. vs. Q3/4: 10-0
Marquette (13-10): Pom/RPI/KPI: 50/61/55. vs. Q1: 2-8. vs. Q2: 2-2. vs. Q3/4: 9-0
Notre Dame (13-10): Pom/RPI/KPI: 42/76/73. vs. Q1: 2-5. vs. Q2: 2-3. vs. Q3/4: 9-2
Oklahoma State (14-10): Pom/RPI/KPI: 69/105/56. vs. Q1: 3-8. vs. Q2: 1-2. vs. Q3/4: 10-0
Temple (13-10): Pom/RPI/KPI: 86/34/38. vs. Q1: 4-6. vs. Q2: 3-0. vs. Q3/4: 6-4