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It's December, the month that I have arbitrarily selected as the one that will be graced with the first recurring weekly KenPom Bracketology posts. January felt like waiting too long, but November still has too much weight put on preseason assumptions in the Pomeroy rankings. There are still some assumptions being factored in, which is why you see a 2-4 Wichita State team lingering in the pool. It will all come out in the wash come March, as indeed it does every season. In the meantime, bask in a bracket populated solely by the unimpeachable authority of the KenPom numbers.
First the s-curve, with the current automatic bids in all caps...
| The | KenPom s-curve | 12/2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VILLANOVA | KENTUCKY | KANSAS | VIRGINIA |
| 2 | North Carolina | Michigan St. | PURDUE | Duke |
| 3 | GONZAGA | Oklahoma | Louisville | Baylor |
| 4 | CINCINNATI | Iowa St. | Vanderbilt | Xavier |
| 5 | Miami FL | West Virginia | ARIZONA | Maryland |
| 6 | Texas A&M | Florida | Connecticut | Iowa |
| 7 | Oregon | Indiana | Syracuse | VALPARAISO |
| 8 | Utah | Michigan | Georgetown | Notre Dame |
| 9 | Butler | South Carolina | Oregon St. | Wisconsin |
| 10 | Rhode Island | VCU | Pittsburgh | Florida St. |
| 11 | Texas | WICHITA ST. | SAN DIEGO ST. | Northern Iowa |
| 12 | UCLA | George Washington | Providence | Dayton |
| 12 | AKRON | SOUTH DAKOTA ST. | ||
| 13 | PRINCETON | STONY BROOK | WILLIAM & MARY | BELMONT |
| 14 | OLD DOMINION | CAL POLY | STEPHEN F. AUSTIN | IONA |
| 15 | CHATTANOOGA | NORTH FLORIDA | LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE | BOSTON UNIVERSITY |
| 16 | MOUNT ST. MARY'S | NEW MEXICO ST. | HIGH POINT | WEBER ST. |
| 16 | JACKSON ST. | HOWARD | ||
| First 4 out | Evansville | USC | California | Davidson |
| Next 4 out | Creighton | Clemson | Colorado | Tulsa |
...and the bracket itself:
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Pomeroy sure likes Louisville a lot more than the poll voters do. I guess computers aren't phased by scandalous sexual practices, which is probably good considering the nature of the internet. Xavier is currently sitting at a four seed, which is higher than we've seen the Muskies in a long time. They've had no trouble advancing to the second weekend from worse positions, but the potential matchup with Maryland in the second round would be a tough one.
The ACC and Big Ten remain dominant, pulling in nearly a quarter of the bracket between them. The A10 leads the mid-major conferences with four bids, up from 1 in the preseason iteration of this bracket. The PAC12 has five teams in and another three on the bubble, while the Big East has five in and Creighton lingering in the next four out. These things will sort themselves as the season rolls on, but it's nice to see another strong year brewing for the Big East.