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Polls are silly. All it takes is one joker with a pen and a ballot and suddenly you end up with Yale receiving votes and Butler as the #15 team in the nation. The KenPom rankings, on the other hand, are the infallible grasp of cold reason, choking the life out of those who would make false claims to being worthy of inclusion in the tournament.
Unless, of course, you disagree with Pomeroy's formula or think his preseason assumptions are skewed or something strange and unexpected happens. Either way, I can almost promise you that this version of the bracket differs from what you'll see on Selection Sunday, but that barely mars the fun of looking into the future.
First the s-curve...
The | KenPom s-curve | 12/10 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | KENTUCKY | DUKE | Virginia | Louisville |
2 | ARIZONA | WICHITA ST. | VILLANOVA | WISCONSIN |
3 | KANSAS | GONZAGA | Texas | Baylor |
4 | Florida | Ohio St. | Michigan St. | North Carolina |
5 | Oklahoma | Iowa | SAN DIEGO ST. | Georgetown |
6 | West Virginia | Utah | Miami FL | Iowa St. |
7 | Minnesota | St. John's | Oklahoma St. | Butler |
8 | Syracuse | Maryland | Illinois | HARVARD |
9 | CONNECTICUT | Washington | VCU | UCLA |
10 | Notre Dame | Arkansas | Xavier | Northern Iowa |
11 | South Carolina | BYU | SMU | Michigan |
12 | Seton Hall | Pittsburgh | GREEN BAY | Georgia |
12 | Stanford | STEPHEN F. AUSTIN | ||
13 | GEORGIA ST. | LOUISIANA TECH | UC SANTA BARBARA | IONA |
14 | BELMONT | FLORIDA GULF COAST | NEW MEXICO ST. | WOFFORD |
15 | NORTHEASTERN | BUFFALO | EASTERN WASHINGTON | NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL |
16 | COASTAL CAROLINA | DENVER | AMERICAN | VERMONT |
16 | ST. FRANCIS NY | ALABAMA ST. | ||
First 4 out | Purdue | Cincinnati | North Carolina St. | George Washington |
Next 4 out | Creighton | Indiana | California | Wyoming |
...and the big reveal:
I had to do some procedural rearranging to keep conference opponents apart, but I think I just about got everything ironed out. Realignment does me no favors here; the teams aren't in the conferences I familiarized myself with during my formative years.
Xavier pulled a ten seed and is playing for a potential second round matchup with Arizona. I probably don't have to tell you why that's intriguing to me. Other news of note includes SMU's charge to semi-respectability giving the American a second team in the projected bracket.
The ACC continues to dominate, with three of the top four teams. Their eight total teams in the tournament ties them with the Big Ten for the most; the Big East still has six in and one (Creighton this week) right on the bubble. Forty-five of the bids come from nine leagues (ACC, Big Ten, Big Twelve, Big East, Pac-12, SEC, AAC, MVC, and WCC) with the 23 others coming from single-bid leagues.