Bracketology – January 27, 2014

Here’s the updated bracket for January 27th following this weekend’s slate of games. Let’s take a quick look at some stock up/stock down since last Monday before the bracket is revealed.

• Stock Up:
  • Michigan – The Wolverines had themselves another week. Wow. They beat Iowa at home on Wednesday and then went into East Lansing on Saturday night in primetime to hand Michigan State their first Big Ten loss of the season. I know Branden Dawson and Adreian Payne were both out for Sparty, but that’s still a huge road win for Michigan to put them atop the Big Ten all alone. They climb up to a 3-seed this week.
  • Creighton – The Bluejays climb from a 6-seed up to the 4-line in this week’s bracket after their wildly impressive win last Monday at Villanova followed up by a solid home win against Georgetown. The computers love Creighton, so a 4-seed might actually end up being a bit low for them.
  • Wichita State – I no longer see a reasonable reason for keeping the Shockers off of the 1-line.

Updated Bracket – January 25

Here’s the updated projected seed list for The Nickel Dimer heading into Saturday’s game. I think this will be the format we use from here on out. We’ll release an actual projected bracket on Sunday night or Monday morning. Then, on Friday or Saturday morning, we’ll post the current seed list without actually placing the teams in the bracket (since that’s the time-consuming part).

Alright, here’s the projected seed lines. Look below for Last 4 In, First 4 Out, and list of multi-bids conferences.

• 1 – Arizona, Syracuse, Michigan State, Kansas

Whirling Dervish – Power Rankings January 22nd

Here’s the Whirling Dervish, the Bill Raftery inspired nickname for this site’s Power Rankings. I’ll rank the Top 25 and go a little in-depth on the Top 10, with what I deem interesting information, statistics, and/or trends about each team in that group. Most, if not all of the data, will come from the great site, Kenpom.com. Get a subscription if you don’t have one. Seriously, it’s so worth it.

Without further adieu, let’s serve the Dervish.

1. Arizona – As of writing this, it’s interesting to note that Arizona is the only team in the nation with two players in the Top 10 of Kenpom Player of the Year Standings, with Nick Johnson at 3^rd and Aaron Gordon at 9^th. Now, this will likely change as Pomeroy has said that the back-end of the Top 10 will constantly be in flux. But, this is one of the many reasons as to why Arizona is #1 in the country and undefeated. Not only do they play absolutely ridiculous defense, have an outstanding coach in Sean Miller, and have great balance among their top seven guys, but two of those guys are really f’in good. Sometimes we forget how important raw talent is, especially when that talent is playing as effectively and efficiently as Johnson and Gordon.

2. Syracuse –

January 20, 2014 – Bracket

Here’s our second bracket here on The Nickel Dimer. The plan for these brackets is going to change a bit. Originally, I planned on just doing one a week. That’ll change to two, I’ll stick to releasing one on Sunday night/Monday, but I’m going to add a second update on Thursday night/Friday as well.

Let’s take a look at a few teams from a stock up/stock down perspective since last week before the bracket reveal.

Send It In: Wednesday Preview

Wednesday, January 15 Preview

Let’s take a look at what I deem 3 of the more interesting games on the slate for tonight. It’s not a great night of hoops, so if you want to pay attention to your wife or significant other at least once this week, maybe pick tonight. Or don’t, basketball is probably still better anyways. (All statistics in preview via Kenpom.com)

1. Georgetown at Xavier (7:00 PM EST):
   • This is an interesting one in the Big East,