Monday, February 06, 2006

BRACKETOLOGY: Somebody throw them some rope.

There are some teams that were expected to do big things this season really struggling right now. Maryland, Washington, Arizona, Syracuse, Cincinnati and Wisconsin are all either on the wrong side of the bubble or are heading that way. Maryland, Syracuse, Cincinnati and Wisconsin all play in the top 3 leagues in the country...so they're are going to be some bumps along the way. Washington and Arizona, on the other hand, play in the Pac-10 (No disresepect to my west coast folks) and are losing games they honestly shouldn't be losing. The Pac-10 is not the conference it usually is and to see them struggling like this makes you wonder what kind of performance they'd put forth in the tournament should they make it.

How good is George Washington? No one knows. They play in the A-10 which is having a down year and they're breezing through the competition easily. They didn't challenge themselves with a tough out-of-conference schedule either. They're only tough road game was at NC State and the Wolfpack dealt with GW pretty handily. that's still GW's only loss though. It'll be interesting to see how the committee handles their seeding on Selection Sunday.

On to the bracket. I really don't like to do this but I have to admit that I had to move Bucknell up a seed line because of seeding rules. They are a true 8 seed. I've had to do that more this year than in years past because of the number of teams coming out of the Big Ten and the Big East (15 teams from just 2 conferences). Colorado fans would probably be mad if they saw this but I need them to take a look at the schedule and how they've performed against good teams. Of Course, the Final Four would be Washington vs Oakland and Minneapolis vs Atlanta. This is good for games through February 5.

Last Four In: Maryland, Stanford, Miami(FL), Alabama
Last Four Out: Missouri St, Bradley, Colorado, Cincinnati

Washington, DC
1.UCONN16.Lipscomb/Grambling Philadelphia, PA
8.Wisconsin9.Wichita St
5.UCLA12.Utah St San Diego, CA
4.George Washington13.Northwestern St
6.North Carolina11.George Mason Jacksonville, FL
3.Tennesee14.Penn
7.Oklahoma10.Syracuse Auburn Hills, MI
2.Michigan St15.Delaware St
Oakland
1.Texas16.Elon Dallas, TX
8.Seton Hall9.Southern Illinois
5.LSU12.Stanford Greensboro, NC
4.NC State13.Manhattan
6.Creighton11.Alabama Auburn Hills, MI
3.Iowa14.Murray St
7.Bucknell10.Arizona Philadelphia, PA
2.Villanova15.IUPUI
Minneapolis
1.Memphis16.Fairleigh Dickinson Dallas, TX
8.Kentucky9.California
5.Georgetown12.Maryland Salt Lake City, UT
4.Ohio St13.San Diego St
6.Boston College11.Nevada Dayton, OH
3.West Virginia14.Kent St
7.Indiana10.Iowa St Salt Lake City, UT
2.Gonzaga15.Northern Arizona
Atlanta
1.Duke16.Birmingham Southern Greensboro, NC
8.UAB9.Washington
5.Michigan12.Western Kentucky San Diego, CA
4.Pittsburgh13.Wisconsin-Milwaukee
6.Northern Iowa11.Miami(FL) Dayton, OH
3.Illinois14.UC-Irvine
7.Kansas10.Marquette Jacksonville, FL
2.Florida15.Albany