IdaGriz01
Well-known member
With the Griz out of the Big Dance picture, interest is obviously diminished. And that’s totally understandable. Still, this has turned out to be one of the most interesting conference tournament years … in many ways. To start, only 11 of the #1 seeds made it through to their conference championship … 21 did not (essentially two-thirds). To my knowledge, there has never been a blood bath like that before. We’ve had a few cases where maybe just under a half don’t make it, but around a third is more common. Of course, the top seeds from the power conferences will still get bids. My projection currently has six of those as “locks” to get at-large bids.
I also have a “maybe” from the non-power Missouri Valley (Indiana State) They won 26 games in the regular season, plus 2 in the conference tournament. With a NET rank of 29 (as of my last recording), I think they have a pretty good chance … but I won’t be terribly shocked if they don’t.
Another interesting point is the number of lesser seeds that have won tournament championships. As of now, seven #5 seeds or higher have won … with one more possible from the Big Ten. I wonder when was the last time a #10 won … with North Carolina State making the run in the ACC.
I had most of my 68 seed predictions picked out this morning, with no real surprises since then. In past tries, I’ve done really well with my picks … with maybe all correct or only one miss. (The most I’ve missed has been two.) However, this year has been so crazy, my string of successes may go down the drain.
I doesn’t matter who wins in the Big Ten, since both playing in the final are sure to get bids. And, as expected, UAB is thumping Temple in the American ... and it went final while I was typing this.
The prognosticators have been talking up the Mountain West a lot, so I feel comfortable projecting maybe six bids for them … in the past, I’d hesitate to guess more than four. On the flip side, I’m projecting four possible from the Pac-12 … but that could easily go down to two.
Should be real interesting here in awhile.
I also have a “maybe” from the non-power Missouri Valley (Indiana State) They won 26 games in the regular season, plus 2 in the conference tournament. With a NET rank of 29 (as of my last recording), I think they have a pretty good chance … but I won’t be terribly shocked if they don’t.
Another interesting point is the number of lesser seeds that have won tournament championships. As of now, seven #5 seeds or higher have won … with one more possible from the Big Ten. I wonder when was the last time a #10 won … with North Carolina State making the run in the ACC.
I had most of my 68 seed predictions picked out this morning, with no real surprises since then. In past tries, I’ve done really well with my picks … with maybe all correct or only one miss. (The most I’ve missed has been two.) However, this year has been so crazy, my string of successes may go down the drain.
I doesn’t matter who wins in the Big Ten, since both playing in the final are sure to get bids. And, as expected, UAB is thumping Temple in the American ... and it went final while I was typing this.
The prognosticators have been talking up the Mountain West a lot, so I feel comfortable projecting maybe six bids for them … in the past, I’d hesitate to guess more than four. On the flip side, I’m projecting four possible from the Pac-12 … but that could easily go down to two.
Should be real interesting here in awhile.
