Bracketology – February 2, 2015

Quick post incoming. I’m hoping to have a write-up later tonight diving into the bracket a little bit deeper. Bur for now, here are the links to today’s bracket, as well as the usual seed list, bubble teams, and conference breakdown.

Bracket – February 2, 2015 (PDF Link – CLICK HERE)

Bracket – February 2, 2015 (PNG Image Link – CLICK HERE)

• 1 – Kentucky, Virginia, Gonzaga, Kansas
• 2 – Duke, Wisconsin, Arizona, Villanova
• 3 – Louisville, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Utah
• 4 – West Virginia, North Carolina, VCU, Baylor
• 5 – Maryland, Ohio State, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma
• 6 – Wichita State, Butler, Georgetown, SMU
• 7 – San Diego State, Providence, Arkansas, Texas
• 8 – Indiana, Michigan State, Dayton, Stanford
• 9 – Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, Texas A&M, LSU
• 10 – Cincinnati, Colorado State, Xavier, Georgia
• 11 – Old Dominion, Miami (FL), Iowa, Davidson
• 12 – NC State, St. John’s, Tulsa, George Washington, Green Bay, Harvard
• 13 – Buffalo, Stephen F. Austin, Murray State, Wofford
• 14 – Eastern Washington, Iona, UC Davis, Georgia State
• 15 – William & Mary, North Carolina Central, South Dakota State, Florida Gulf Coast
• 16 – High Point, Albany, New Mexico State, Bucknell, St. Francis NY, Texas Southern

• Last 4 IN: NC State, St. John’s, Tulsa, George Washington
• First 4 OUT: St. Mary’s, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Wyoming
• Next 4 OUT: BYU, UCLA, Kansas State, Alabama

Breakdown by Conference:

• Big 12: 7
• ACC: 7
• Big East: 7
• Big Ten: 6
• SEC: 5
• Atlantic 10: 4
• Pac-12: 3
• American: 3
• Missouri Valley: 2
• Mountain West: 2

And as always, check out The Bracket Matrix.

Bracketology – January 31, 2015

Quick post incoming. Here is today’s bracket heading into this weekend’s games. I’m going to have a write-up later today on a couple things that I noticed while building this bracket, as well as some interesting tidbits if this was actually the bracket on Selection Sunday. I will also preview a handful of the biggest games this weekend that will have a major impact on the next bracket release.

For now, here are the links to today’s bracket, as well as the usual seed list, bubble teams, and conference breakdown.

Stock Up/Stock Down Report: February 24, 2014

Here’s this week’s Stock Up/Stock Down report, which, as a reminder, you’ll notice is no longer found in the Monday Bracketology post.

Before we get into the stock outlook, let’s talk a little bit about conference tournaments. As we’re sitting here on February 24th, checking out projected brackets from around the web daily, if not hourly, I think we tend to forget the importance of conference tournaments. Not only do we forget the importance of bubble teams picking up big wins in these tournaments, which helps solidify their selection into The Big Dance. But even more importantly, we forget about the bids that get stolen. Bid aren’t just stolen from “mid-major” leagues, but also if a team outside of the bubble looking in picks up a few wins to find their way into the dance, a “power” conference tournament can have a major impact as well.

Take a look at the last three seasons to see bids that were stolen before Selection Sunday.

• 2013: Oregon and Ole Miss ended up stealing bids by winning their conference tournaments.
• 2012: St. Bonaventure’s stole a bid and based on where they ended up seeded as an 11-seed, it’s possible/likely that Colorado did as well.
• 2011: Memphis and Richmond were both given 12-seeds after winning their conference tournaments. It’s very likely these were two bid stealers as well.

That’s only the last three seasons, but just remember those teams when you’re checking out projected brackets in these last few weeks before Selection Sunday. This year, the Missouri Valley and Mountain West conference tournaments are flashing a “POTENTIAL BID STEALER” light in bright red right now. And