Bracketology

[Windyplayer]

#4 seed against Louisiana Tech (a team that was just in the Top 25, but were bumped out yesterday despite winning both of their games last week by 25+ points). No thanks.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

[Norm]

#4 seed against Louisiana Tech (a team that was just in the Top 25, but were bumped out yesterday despite winning both of their games last week by 25+ points). No thanks.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

And being played in Austin, TX - another game where MU would play a lower seed in a venue much closer to the lower seed's school than MU. If we beat La Tech we'd then take on St. Louis/Akron winner, with the possibility of a lot more St. Louis fans in the crowd. Good thing is the Regional would be in Washington, DC if we got that far.

[ChicosBailBonds]

KU against Illinois or Memphis in the second round?  No thanks.  Some tough 2nd round games for the top seeds in that bracket.  G'Town against NC State.  IU vs Missouri or Creighton.  The 1's should win those games, but they will not be easy.  Gonzaga, in that bracket, has the easiest path to the Sweet 16 of the top seeds.

MU playing SLU in the second round...big no thanks

[jesmu84]

#4 seed against Louisiana Tech (a team that was just in the Top 25, but were bumped out yesterday despite winning both of their games last week by 25+ points). No thanks.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

I don't want to offend and LaTech fans.. but it sounds an awful lot like Murray St. last year. And they didn't fare too well in the tourney...

[jficke13]

I look to Bracketology more for the seed/S-curve #s than I do for the bracket pairings. There are so many variables that it's hard to put much stock in much beyond the seed.

[MerrittsMustache]

I don't want to offend and LaTech fans.. but it sounds an awful lot like Murray St. last year. And they didn't fare too well in the tourney...

Murray State won their first game by 17 and played MU tough (Racers led by 5 with under 8 to play) in their next game. Not too shabby for an OVC school.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I don't want to offend and LaTech fans.. but it sounds an awful lot like Murray St. last year. And they didn't fare too well in the tourney...

I don't know Jesmu, but Murray State gave us ALL we could handle.  That was a scary game.  We were losing at the half and I think it was a tied game with about 5 minutes to go in the game. 

It's all a crapshoot, a few shots here and there and the better team can go down.  Not a 5 game series.

[MUMountin]

I look to Bracketology more for the seed/S-curve #s than I do for the bracket pairings. There are so many variables that it's hard to put much stock in much beyond the seed.

Agreed--and, right now, it looks like we're still the top 4-seed/#13 on the s-curve (based on the other 4-seeds being shipped out west).  Looks like we still need to pass up Florida, Michigan St., or K-State in order to get a decent pod location.

[jficke13]

I especially don't use the projections for their pod assignment.

[wardle2wade]

I especially don't use the projections for their pod assignment.

Agreed on both your points.  S-Curve is the most worthwhile part.  The pods and seeding make it interesting... Too much can happen and I can tell Joey Brackets doesn't spend a lot of time on pods/opponents. 

[Coleman]

So what do we have to do to get a 3?

[bilsu]

I wonder what the over/under would be on 1 seed Georgetwon vs 5 seed Wisconsin?

[ChicosBailBonds]

So what do we have to do to get a 3?

Have an RPI 12 or better at the end of the year.     We are forecasted to have a 16 at the end of the year.

[wardle2wade]

Have an RPI 12 or better at the end of the year.     We are forecasted to have a 16 at the end of the year.

If MU can win these roadies, I think we'll jump a few spots simply due to attrition this week.  We shall see.  I'm not convinced on KState yet although McGruder is a helluva player.

[Coleman]

Have an RPI 12 or better at the end of the year.     We are forecasted to have a 16 at the end of the year.

I was looking for something more concrete in terms of what the team needs to do...

i.e...does winning these two road games and making the big east championship get us there?

[MUMountin]

I was looking for something more concrete in terms of what the team needs to do...

i.e...does winning these two road games and making the big east championship get us there?

I think the point is that you can't really predict any of this in a vacuum--regardless of what MU does, it also matters what everyone else around them does as well.  In that sense, we probably have to hope that one of the teams ahead of us stumbles down the stretch.  We can take some of that in our own hands by beating, for example, Louisville and Georgetown en route to a BE Championship.  But, otherwise...we have to keep taking care of business and hope that someone else currently projected ahead of us (and likely in the 3 seed range) drops a game or two.

That said, we have an easier schedule than most around us this week, and I think chances are good that some of the current projected 3s drop a game.  So, my personal feeling is that 3 wins--either this week or in the BE tourney--puts us in pretty good position for a 3, but may not guarantee it.  4 wins probably guarantees it, and 5 wins gives us a good shot at a 2.