Bracketology

[Mr. Nielsen]

MU moved up one line without playing. 8 seed

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

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

A couple of interesting Big East/NCAA tournament blurbs from Seth Davis

• By far the most interesting bubble team is going to be St. John's. As of now, a lot of bracket projections have the Red Storm in the tournament. They have four wins over teams ranked in the Top 25, including the big one over Duke. However, they also have a couple of bad losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham (although the loss to St. Bonaventure isn't looking as bad now as it did then). More problematic is the fact that the Johnnies have four of their last seven games on the road, and two of the home games are against UConn and Pitt. They're .500 now in the Big East, but they're going to have a hard time staying there over the next five weeks.

• I've been saying for a while that Cincinnati's NCAA tourney prospects are a lot worse than their 18-5 record would indicate. The Bearcats do have two wins over teams in the top 25 of the RPI (St. John's and Xavier), but their nonconference strength of schedule is ranked 284th nationally, and they have lost four of their last six to fall to 5-5 in the Big East. Further trouble now looms because Mick Cronin has indefinitely suspended his leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, 6-9 junior Yancy Gates, for showing a bad attitude. The Bearcats' hopes are far from dead, but the trend lines aren't good.

[Shanunu]

I'd rather be a 10 seed and play in Chicago vs. UNLV.

[marquette09]

Not a fan of the potential 2nd round game against Ohio State.  Would rather play any of the other 1 seeds

[MU B2002]

Which #1 would everyone most like to play?  I want to go put a grand on them to win it all based on how easy of a matchup we thought Duke would be last season.

[Niv Berkowitz]

At least they finally got Michigan State out. My fear is that they'll steal a spot from someone just based on their history. That team is in free fall.*

* - there is still time to turn the ship around, but not much.

[Mr. Nielsen]

The thing that is helping Michigan State is a tough non-league schedule.

[BrewCity83]

Let's finish strong and work our way into a 6 seed.

[brewcity77]

Which #1 would everyone most like to play?  I want to go put a grand on them to win it all based on how easy of a matchup we thought Duke would be last season.

Then put your money on Pitt. I'm not saying at all that they're the weakest team of the four, but we played them tough on their court and they shot the lights out. My guess is they wouldn't get that lucky again and it'd come down to a one-possession game. We're just too familiar with each other. No way they run away from us, and I'd say we'd probably have about 40-45% odds of winning on a neutral court.

[Friends call me Shaka]

I went to the MU-UW game last year and UW having that home court advantage (San Jose/Pac 10 game) was huge. I would take being a 16th seed in Chicago vs. flying to the West coast again.

Though any bid this year would be a huge success right now.....

[brewcity77]

Though any bid this year would be a huge success right now.....

We're projected as an 8 seed, we only play 2 more ranked teams in conference play, and even if we lose one of the games Pomeroy projects as a win, we still get double digit Big East victories. With an incredibly soft bubble and an expanded field, I think that it'd be a huge failure if we didn't get a bid.

[NavinRJohnson]

We're projected as an 8 seed, we only play 2 more ranked teams in conference play, and even if we lose one of the games Pomeroy projects as a win, we still get double digit Big East victories. With an incredibly soft bubble and an expanded field, I think that it'd be a huge failure if we didn't get a bid.

I agree. Its go time. They have had a week off, have the toughest part of their schedule behind them, and have reached the point in the season where they should have improved and matured enough to play more consistently. I expect them to get the wins necessary to finish in the upper half of the league, and only have to wonder about what line and site,  when the selections are announced.