For a longer explanation of this in Part I, click here. This is the short version.
Many years ago when I went to the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Tournament I thought it would be fun to figure out which eight teams were going to be placed there. I did a whole series on a previous website and it was fun to speculate on the teams, since there were no obvious choices. So I decided to do that again this year for the games that’ll be played in Sacramento in March at the Golden 1 Center, which I will also be attending. And I did part one, and that was neat, and now it’s part two and I’m already bored.
Well, kind of. But not really. Because UCLA is obviously going to be one of the top teams seeded there (it’s the Locky McLockerson Lock of the Year), and I have been certain that Gonzaga would be the other, over Arizona. But now I’m wavering.
Last week in part one, nearly all the Bracketologists I chose to follow were putting Gonzaga in Denver for the first and second rounds and Arizona in Sacramento, even though Denver is much closer to Tucson than it is to Sacramento. And this week there is a new reason that could happen. You see, one of the directives of the tournament committee is to keep the top 4 seeds in each region “close to home, if possible.” And if the Big 12 has a lot of teams in the top four lines, Denver is closer to Big 12 country than Sacramento is. So if you put two Big 12 teams in Denver, it would then make more sense to push Arizona to Sacramento. Although in my thinking, if Arizona is a one-seed, why wouldn’t you put them in Denver regardless and ship the Big 12 teams somewhere else?
The eight first and second round sites are Sacramento, Denver, Des Moines, Orlando, Greensboro, Columbus, Albany, and Birmingham. Des Moines is already a lock to host two Big 12 schools, probably Kansas and Kansas State. In that case, better to send, say, Texas and Baylor to Denver and Arizona to Sacramento than the other way around. It would screw Gonzaga- sending them to Greensboro is not exactly keeping them “closer to home,” but there will be a 3-seed in Greensboro or Orlando that is not based within a thousand miles of there. To me, it makes more sense to put Texas or Baylor in a southern location than sending them to Denver and forcing Gonzaga three thousand miles away. But that’s for somebody else to decide.
Let’s get to it. Brackets as of January 27th.
South: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Siena and (7) Saint Mary’s vs. (10) Boise State
West: (2) Arizona vs. (15) Eastern Washington and (7) San Diego State vs. (10) Memphis
We begin with the standard Joey Brackets caveat: good at seed-picking, really bad at location picking. It’s just his thing. That said, this isn’t bad at all. What I do not understand is that he has UCLA as the AQ from the Pac-12, (aka the conference tournament winner) yet Arizona is bracketed in the West and UCLA in the South. The West Regional is in Vegas which means the Bruins will be eligible (“host teams” can’t play in their regional). And yes, he has Gonzaga as a 3-seed in Denver. Since Saint Mary’s finally got ranked this week, I assume this is a fudged-downward line to keep them local.
Midwest: (4) UCLA vs. (13) Southern Miss and (5) Saint Mary’s vs. (12) Seattle
Midwest: (3) Gonzaga vs. (14) UC-Santa Barbara and (6) North Carolina vs. (11) Play-In-Winner
What in the heck is going on here? He still has UCLA as a 4! His seeds are an absolute mess. What a disaster. Nobody else, and I really mean nobody, has UCLA any lower than a 3 right now. (For the record, his 1-seeds as a of today are Purdue, Alabama, Arizona and Kansas State. The twos are Tennessee, Texas, Kansas and Houston. And the threes, since this is so dumb, are Iowa State, Virginia, TCU and Gonzaga. UCLA is not worse than all these teams. And K-State is not a one, I’m sorry. No I’m not, this is dumb as hell.) (Yes, Arizona in Denver).
South: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Samford and (7) Duke vs. (10) Charleston
Midwest: (2) Arizona vs. (15) Eastern Washington and (7) Iowa vs. (10) Kentucky
Hmm, two votes for UCLA in the South. Arizona again, with Gonzaga being shipped all the way to Albany as a 4-seed (he has the Big 12 taking over Denver). Interesting in that he has two big-time blue-bloods heading here in Iowa and Charleston… ha, just making sure you were paying attention. After Palm’s mess this seems very blah, but that’s a good thing.
South: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Northern Kentucky and (7) North Carolina vs. (10) Arkansas
West: (1) Arizona vs. (16) Tennessee-Martin (8) Missouri vs. (9) Maryland
A little different but justifiable. Three South votes for UCLA. Arizona to Sacramento doesn’t make sense as a one-seed, as I mentioned above, with the Big 12 taking over Denver. But he’s got it that way, which means in this scenario Gonzaga gets shipped to Greensboro as a 3-seed. Doesn’t compute.
Delphibracketology (group effort)
Midwest: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Milwaukee and (7) Michigan State vs. (10) West Virginia
West: (2) Arizona vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) San Diego State vs. (10) Wisconsin
A reminder this is a high school club in Indiana that has been doing this for many years, and despite being teenagers they are just as good as any of these other alleged “experts.” I don’t know their formulas but this doesn’t seem out of place at all, and it is certainly better than anything Jerry Palm has done recently. They have Gonzaga dropped to a 4 and in Greensboro, with the Big 12 in Denver.
West: (2) UCLA vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) San Diego State vs. (10) Missouri
East: (1) Arizona vs. (16) Play-In-Winner and (8) NC State vs. (9) Memphis
Arizona as a one-seed in Sacramento with Gonzaga as a three in Denver, which is much closer to Tucson, still doesn’t make sense to me. But that’s why we’re here, to point out the differences. He has the Big 12 seeded overall a little lower than the others, with TCU as a five (as opposed to SOMEBODY who has them as a three). I don’t understand how he has UCLA as the Pac-12 conference tournament winner and Arizona getting the one-seed, but this has been a common thread.
Overall, mostly justifiable selections. Even the extreme outlier on the seedings at least has the right teams. It seems like the Big 12 will decide whether Arizona or Gonzaga gets to Sacramento. I continue to maintain that if Arizona is a one- or two-seed they will be placed in Denver, with Gonzaga in Sacramento and the Big 12 sent to southern climes.
We shall see. It’s only boring in the details. The reality is very intriguing.