2024 NCAA Tournament Bracketology

[Vander Blue Man Group]

So Gonzaga has one Quad 1 win?

Wasn't impressed by the Selection Chair. Seemed pretty clueless and incompetent.

Gonzaga as a 5, FAU as an 8, and Virginia making it didn't make much sense to me.  Michigan St. should have been closer to the bubble as well, IMO. 

[WhiteTrash]

None of the ESPN talking heads picked Marquette to reach the Elite Eight.  They obviously hate Marquette.

No respect for #1 Houston. They are damn good. Felt like for most of the last month they were a popular pick to win it all.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

No respect for #1 Houston. They are damn good. Felt like for most of the last month they were a popular pick to win it all.

Kentucky is not making the final 4 with their awful defense. 

[WhiteTrash]

Kentucky is not making the final 4 with their awful defense.

Don't tell Dookie V. He has them cutting down the nets in AZ.

[Pakuni]

Don't tell Dookie V. He has them cutting down the nets in AZ.

They could. Or they could lose in the first round and it wouldn't surprise me much. Might be the team with the widest variance in the tourney.

[tower912]

Great offense, bad defense.   But they are not losing to Oakland.

[MUEng92]

Or really respect Kentucky

There's a sentence you don't read every day

[MuggsyB]

Wasn't impressed by the Selection Chair. Seemed pretty clueless and incompetent.

Great point. Extremely wooden, laconic, and beyond unimpressive. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

What the Committee  got right and wrong...

https://sports.yahoo.com/march-madness-what-the-ncaa-mens-tournament-selection-committee-got-right-and-wrong-010452975.html

[CountryRoads]

What the Committee  got right and wrong...

https://sports.yahoo.com/march-madness-what-the-ncaa-mens-tournament-selection-committee-got-right-and-wrong-010452975.html

Committee did a terrible job. Lots of unexplainable randomness with regards to seeding.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

How in the world is Gonzaga a #5 seed.

They were actually a 6 seed, but BYU not being able to play on Sunday dropped them from a 5 seed to a 6 seed and Gonzaga was the beneficiary.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

So outside of a ton of seeding differences, the only difference with Bracket Matrix is Virginia is in and Oklahoma is out.

Bracket Matrix was pretty close on seeding for the most part. 58/68 of the teams were within 4 spots of what bracketmatrix predicted. The 10 that weren't:

5 of them were Mountain West teams being seeded too high (NEV/COST 11 spots too high, Boise 9 spots too high, USU 6 spots too high, UNM 5 spots too high)

5 of them were preseason favorites being seeded too low (FAU/MSU/TAMU 7 spots too low, Zags 6 spots too low, Texas 5 spots too low)

Given this, I suspect that San Diego State being in the top 16 reveal caused bracketologists to overestimate the perceived strength of the Mountain West and that there was some level of preseason expectation baked into this committee's criteria.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

One might think that with Marquette being located in Milwaukee (nor the UP) that the Journal Sentinel would have something to say aboot them being a #2 seed. Instead, there were not 1, not 2, but 3 articles on the Badgers in the Top Headlines - compared to 0 mentions about Marquette.

Truly pathetic, if unsurprising.

Were the Badger articles about them playing in the B1G championship game that just happened?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

My instant reaction was that I hated the draw but I didn't realize that Florida's center was done for the year and another one of their top 6 players missed the last two games of the SECT and their fans seem convinced that he is done for the season (no idea if true). Those two nuggets made me relax a bit.

I think Western Kentucky is the best of the 15 seeds and does have a rabid fanbase that will likely have a large presence. Probably the toughest draw of the 15 seeds....but seriously who cares? If we're worried about a 15 seed we deserve an early exit.

Colorado is underseeded as a 10 seed and given the injuries to Florida, I expect that's who we will face. While they are underseeded, I like how we matchup against them and provided Kolek/Stevie are truly good to go, we should win comfortably. Slowing down KJ Simpson will definitely be a challenge.

If we get Boise somehow, we should crush them regardless of Kolek and Stevie's status.

I really love our potential Sweet 16 opponents. Kentucky is the weakest 3 seed IMHO and while Texas Tech is better than Clemson or South Carolina, I think we matchup well there and could handle them. Neither NC State nor Oakland are worth any worry. If we make it to the second weekend, I'm pretty confident we make the Elite Eight.

I don't like being in Houston's region. That defense is real and I think they could give us fits. I would have much rather had Purdue or UNC.

[1SE]

My instant reaction was that I hated the draw but I didn't realize that Florida's center was done for the year and another one of their top 6 players missed the last two games of the SECT and their fans seem convinced that he is done for the season (no idea if true). Those two nuggets made me relax a bit.

I think Western Kentucky is the best of the 15 seeds and does have a rabid fanbase that will likely have a large presence. Probably the toughest draw of the 15 seeds....but seriously who cares? If we're worried about a 15 seed we deserve an early exit.

Colorado is underseeded as a 10 seed and given the injuries to Florida, I expect that's who we will face. While they are underseeded, I like how we matchup against them and provided Kolek/Stevie are truly good to go, we should win comfortably. Slowing down KJ Simpson will definitely be a challenge.

If we get Boise somehow, we should crush them regardless of Kolek and Stevie's status.

I really love our potential Sweet 16 opponents. Kentucky is the weakest 3 seed IMHO and while Texas Tech is better than Clemson or South Carolina, I think we matchup well there and could handle them. Neither NC State nor Oakland are worth any worry. If we make it to the second weekend, I'm pretty confident we make the Elite Eight.

I don't like being in Houston's region. That defense is real and I think they could give us fits. I would have much rather had Purdue or UNC.

Root for the Badgers? Making the FF at their expense would be oh so sweet

[4everwarriors]

Sew, an old, white dude, den, hey?

[MUEng92]

I think Western Kentucky is the best of the 15 seeds and does have a rabid fanbase that will likely have a large presence.

I hope their large group of rabid fans don't find out that when they heckle Kolek specifically, he tends to crumble and isn't able to motivate himself by their jeering at all

[Mu8891]

WKU " fan base " ??

I watched part of their Champ game, and they had prob 150 fans.  Max

MU should crush them.  Period.

[MU82]

WKU " fan base " ??

I watched part of their Champ game, and they had prob 150 fans.  Max

MU should crush them.  Period.

Now if only Oso, TK, Kam, Stevie and Jop could play the top 5 from WKU's fan base.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

WKU " fan base " ??

I watched part of their Champ game, and they had prob 150 fans.  Max

MU should crush them.  Period.

Yes MU should crush them period.

But using the CUSA champ game as a measure for the WKU fan base isnt an apples to apples.

1. The NCAAT is infinitely bigger than the CUSA tourney
2. WKY was a mid seed in the cusa tourney so making the finals was unexpected.  No one's planning a last minute trip to the CUSA tourney final

They will probably have a decent showing and  fans of other teams will likely cheer for them as the underdog. It won't matter,  we should crush them.

I think we should be the second largest fan base there (behind Purdue). Maybe Florida brings a decent crowd. I don't expect large showings from Colorado, Boise, Utah St, or TCU

[JakeBarnes]

WKU " fan base " ??

I watched part of their Champ game, and they had prob 150 fans.  Max

MU should crush them.  Period.

Their fanbase always dwindles when Big Red gets hungry.

[Pakuni]

WKU averaged about 4,100 attendance in a 7,300-seat arena.

[muwarrior69]

Yes MU should crush them period.

But using the CUSA champ game as a measure for the WKU fan base isnt an apples to apples.

1. The NCAAT is infinitely bigger than the CUSA tourney
2. WKY was a mid seed in the cusa tourney so making the finals was unexpected.  No one's planning a last minute trip to the CUSA tourney final

They will probably have a decent showing and  fans of other teams will likely cheer for them as the underdog. It won't matter,  we should crush them.

I think we should be the second largest fan base there (behind Purdue). Maybe Florida brings a decent crowd. I don't expect large showings from Colorado, Boise, Utah St, or TCU

Don't ever underestimate your opponent.

[Pakuni]

Don't ever underestimate your opponent.

Can we properly estimate them?

[Viper]

One might think that with Marquette being located in Milwaukee (nor the UP) that the Journal Sentinel would have something to say aboot them being a #2 seed. Instead, there were not 1, not 2, but 3 articles on the Badgers in the Top Headlines - compared to 0 mentions about Marquette.

Truly pathetic, if unsurprising.

despite Milwaukee being MU's home town, unless UW athletics descends back to the days of Steve Yoder in hoops, or those winless late '80's football teams and the veer offense, UW will always be king. Walmart Badgers really is fitting.