Saturday, November 26, 2005

Format

Sorry about the font and color format issues below. My team is working on it.

It’s been a while since the last update, but typing up this blog has taken longer than I anticipated. But, time aside, I figure that this entry is more indicative of who I am and what I do.

If you know me, you know I enjoy college basketball. I bristle at the term obsessed, but I am close to obsessed with NCAA Hoops. March is the best month; Christmas comes the night of the NCAA Tourney Selection Show. For about a month and a half prior to the pairings being released, I have a notebook used for tracking teams and their performance over the course of the season. Each week, I make a new tourney bracket and play it out, crowning a champion each week. The concept is similar to Joe Lunardi’s BRACKETOLOGY on ESPN.com, but I do things my way. Sometimes these pairings are quite accurate; others turn out to be more than slightly off target. Either way, it is fun and has kept me awake in many a college class.

That being said, to start off the season, I have pre-season rankings, picks for ten major conferences, and a full NCAA tournament. These things excite me, so take it and like it. Without further adieu:

ACC

A-10

Big East

Big Ten

Duke

G. Washington

UCONN

Michigan St

Wake Forest

Xavier

Syracuse

Illinois

Maryland

Charlotte

Villinova

Indiana

NC State

Dayton

Louisville

Iowa

Boston College

St. Joseph's

West Virginia

Wisconsin

N. Carolina

UMASS

Pittsburgh

Michigan

Miami

Temple

Cincinnati

Ohio St

Georgia Tech

LaSalle

Notre Dame

Minnesota

Virginia Tech

Rhode Island

Georgetown

Northwestern

Florida St

Richmond

DePaul

Penn St

Virginia

Fordham

Marquette

Purdue

Clemson

St. Louis

St. John's

Duquesne

Rutgers

St. Bonaventure

Providence

Seton Hall

South Florida

Big 12

Conference USA

Mountain West

Pac-10

Texas

Memphis

New Mexico

Stanford

Oklahoma

UAB

Utah

Arizona

Oklahoma St

UTEP

San Diego St

Washington

Iowa St

Houston

UNLV

UCLA

Kansas

Central Florida

Air Force

Oregon

Texas Tech

Tulane

BYU

California

Nebraska

Tulsa

TCU

So. California

Texas A&M

Rice

Wyoming

Oregon St

Colorado

SMU

Colorado St

Washington St

Missouri

So Mississippi

Arizona St

Kansas St

E. Carolina

Baylor

Marshall


SEC

WAC

Others to Watch

East:

Nevada

Ohio U

Kentucky

Hawaii

Akron

Florida

Utah St

Kent St

S. Carolina

New Mexico St

No Iowa

Vanderbilt

La. Tech

Creighton

Tennessee

Boise St

So Illinois

Georgia

Fresno St

Gonzaga

West:

San Jose St

Wisc-Milwaukee

Alabama

Idaho

CS Fullerton

LSU

Pacific

Arkansas

Auburn

Mississippi St

Ole Miss

Above are conference predictions. Next, let’s look at a projected NCAA tournament with how things might play out.

Seed

East (Washington DC)

South (Atlanta)

Midwest (Minneapolis)

West (Oakland)

1

Duke

Texas

UCONN

Stanford

2

Oklahoma

Kentucky

Michigan St

Gonzaga

3

Louisville

Arizona

Memphis

Villinova

4

Florida

Syracuse

Wake Forest

Illinois

5

West Virginia

Alabama

Indiana

Maryland

6

UCLA

NC State

Washington

Oklahoma St

7

Nevada

Iowa St

N. Iowa

Iowa

8

Wisconsin

Boston College

LSU

Pittsburgh

9

George Washington

Wisc-Milwaukee

Kansas

Creighton

10

Miami (Fla)

Michigan

N. Carolina

Texas Tech

11

Ohio U

Cincinnati

W. Kentucky

Akron

12

Hawaii

Xavier

Cal St Fullerton

S. Carolina

13

George Mason

Alabama-Birmingham

New Mexico

Iona

14

Davidson

Gardner Webb

Pennsylvania

Winthrop

15

Holy Cross

E. Kentucky

Oral Roberts

Boston U

16

Monmouth

Northwestern St

Delaware St/Alabama St

Montana St

Just Missed: Oregon, Arkansas, So. Illinois, Ohio St, Vanderbilt, UTEP, Utah

(Teams in Italics are automatic bids from winning their conference championships)

First Round

1 Duke over 16 Monmouth

1 UCONN over 16 Delaware St

8 Wisconsin over 9 GWU

9 Kansas over 8 LSU

5 West VA over 12 Hawaii

5 Indiana over 12 Fullerton

4 Florida over 13 George Mason

4 Wake Forest over 13 New Mexico

6 UCLA over 11 Ohio U

6 Washington over 11 W. Kentucky

3 Louisville over 14 Davidson

3 Memphis over 14 Penn

7 Nevada over 10 Miami (Fla)

10 N Carolina over 7 No Iowa

2 Oklahoma over 15 Holy Cross

2 Michigan St over 15 Oral Roberts

1 Texas over 16 Northwestern St

1 Stanford over 16 Montana St

9 Wisc-Milwaukee over 8 BC

8 Pittsburgh over 9 Creighton

5 Alabama over 12 Xavier

5 Maryland over 12 S Carolina

4 Syracuse over 13 UAB

4 Illinois over 13 Iona

6 NCSU over 11 Cincy

6 Oklahoma St over 11 Akron

3 Arizona over 14 G Webb

3 Villinova over 14 Winthrop

7 Iowa St over 10 Michigan

10 Texas Tech over 7 Iowa

2 Kentucky over 15 E Kentucky

2 Gonzaga over 15 Boston U

Second Round

1 Duke over 8 Wisconsin

1 UCONN over 9 Kansas

4 Florida over 5 West VA

5 Indiana over 4 Wake Forest

3 Louisville over 6 UCLA

3 Memphis over 6 Washington

2 Oklahoma over 7 Nevada

2 Michigan St over 10 N Carolina

1 Texas over 9 Wisc-Mil

1 Stanford over 8 Pittsburgh

4 Syracuse over 5 Alabama

4 Illinois over 5 Maryland

3 Arizona over 6 NC State

3 Villinova over 6 Oklahoma St

2 Kentucky over 7 Iowa St

2 Gonzaga over 10 Texas Tech

Sweet 16

1 Duke over 4 Florida

1 UCONN over 5 Indiana

3 Louisville over 2 Oklahoma

2 Michigan St over 3 Memphis

1 Texas over 4 Syracuse

4 Illinois over 1 Stanford

2 Kentucky over 3 Arizona

2 Gonzaga over 3 Villinova

Elite 8

1 Duke over 3 Louisville

1 UCONN over 2 Michigan St

1 Texas over 2 Kentucky

2 Gonzaga over 4 Illinois

Final Four

Duke over Gonzaga

UCONN over Texas

National Title Game

Duke over UCONN

For the sake of having something else to write about soon, I’ll leave thoughts and comments on the season and teams for another post. Just absorb the data for now.

With that, I love you I love you I love you I looooove you

These words were indeed my own.