The 1st Bracketology is Here

 
1 seed vs 16 seed
Purdue(B1G) vs NC-Central(MEAC)/Wagner(NEC)
Virginia(ACC) vs NW St(Sland)/SIUE(OVC)
Connecticut vs High Point(Bsouth)
Alabama vs Grambling(SWAC)
2 seed vs 15 seed
Houston(AAC) vs FGCU(Asun)
Tennessee(SEC) vs American(Pat)
Kansas(Big12) vs Montana St(Bsky)
Duke vs Chattanooga(SoCon)
3 seed vs 14 seed
Arizona St vs Milwaukee(Hor)
Texas vs Umass-Lowell(Aeast)
UCLA(Pac12) vs Oral Roberts(Summit)
Gonzaga vs MiddTenn St(CUSA)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Miss St vs Fordham(A10)
Maryland vs Charleston(Col)
Indiana vs UC-Irvine(Bwest)
Kentucky vs Bradley(Mvalley)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Baylor vs St. John's(Beast)
Arkansas vs So Miss(Sbelt)
Illinois vs Yale(Ivy)
West Virginia vs UNLV/Oklahoma
6 seed vs 11 seed
VaTech vs New Mexico/Kansas St
Ohio State vs Sam Houston(WAC)
Memphis vs Kent St(MAC)
Utah St(Mwest) vs Iona(MAAC)
7 seed vs 10 seed
Iowa vs Creighton
Arizona St vs Michigan State
Marquette vs Fla Atlantic
Iowa State vs Boise St
8 seed vs 9 seed
St. Mary's(WCC) vs Auburn
N.Carolina vs Xavier
San Diego St vs Wisconsin
Utah vs Miami
First Four Out
NC State
Rutgers
Penn State
Mississppi
Next Four Out
Texas Tech
TCU
Nevada
Michigan
Also Considered
Marshall
Colorado
LSU
Butler
James Madison
Oklahoma st
UAB
Oregon
North Texas
Mizzouri
Northwestern
Charolotte
UCF
Indiana State
Drake

One Month In

 Just over a month into the season and nothing looks like it did in early December.  Multiple teams have been #1 and expect that to continue.

Gonzaga, North Carolina, UCLA, and Indiana haven't been as good as advertised while the Virginia teams are a combined 18-1.  Uconn is still undefeated and Alabama just beat the last #1 seed, Houston.

In addition we have the Chris Beard situation that just happened.  What will be the fallout on that one.

As for a bracket, I am hopeful to get my first one out this week.  I like to let things settle a little bit before starting my spreadsheet otherwise the swings are too big from week to week.  Hopefully later this week I can find some time to pound one out.

On the naughty list.

ACC Wins the Big Ten Challenge....

 Well, the last ACC-Big Ten Challenge comes to an end with the ACC winning 8-6.  Kind of shocking if you ask me as the ACC has looked lost to start the season.

Louisville is still looking for their first win and my 0-30 prediction may be spot on.  Florida State's only win is against Mercer and North Carolina has lost 3 in a row.  The ACC is down with only 2 teams in the top 20 of the KenPom Rankings.

In other news Texas looks great as does Houston, UConn, and Arizona.  I refuse to acknowledge Virginia even if they are averaging about 75 points a game this year.

Lastly I will leave you with this note.  The Big Ten played two games last week that ended 43-42.  Gross.

It's Official

Louisville is going 0-30 this year.  Texas Tech is good but they should not be almost doubling them up.

Texas Tech 70, Louisville 38....not good.

In other ACC action, Florida State got their first win, barely pulling away from Mercer.

Even North Carolina has struggled in all 4 games.  They are 4-0 but it's an ugly 4-0.

Please don't make this year be a Big 10 year.....

One Week In

 Well, we are one week into the season and I can say I've watched more College Basketball this year already than the past couple years in the entire month of November.  Not having a coaching gig has freed up a bunch of time.

It seems to me there are more upsets this year than most but it could be I'm just paying more attention to the games than usual.  TCU loses at home to Northwestern State, Tennessee loses to Colorado who already lost to Grambling?  Louisville is 0-2 with both losses coming by 1 point apiece (and lets not forget the exhibition loss to Lenoir-Rhyne).

Things seem topsy-turvy at the moment but perhaps it's just week 1 jitters.  Looking forward to Duke-Kansas tonight and to a lesser extent Kentucky-Michigan State before it.

4 months to March....

Final Four

I think this year is wide open as I've got 15 teams on my list of potential Final Four teams.  Normally I always put Duke in the Final Four but with the coahcing change I can't do it this year.  I would not be surprised but I can't pick them today.  That being said, here's my November 4 guesses...

Final Four:

Kentucky vs North Carolina
Houston vs Tennessee

Championship:

Houston over Kentucky

Conference Previews

One week until the season kicks off; here's my predictions for the top 12 conference.  Final Four picks coming later.

Missouri Valley:
Conference Winner – Drake
Overrated – Northern Iowa
Underrated – Belmont (yes they are here now)
 
Conference USA:
Conference Winner – UAB
Overrated – Western Kentucky
Underrated – North Texas
 
West Coast:
Conference Winner – Gonzaga
Overrated – St. Mary’s
Underrated – Santa Clara
 
Mountain West:
Conference Winner – San Diego St
Overrated – New Mexico
Underrated – Wyoming
 
American:
Conference Winner – Houston
Overrated – Memphis
Underrated - Tulane
 
Atlantic 10:
Conference Winner – Dayton
Overrated – VCU
Underrated – St. Louis
 
Pac 12:
Conference Winner –  UCLA
Overrated – USC
Underrated – Stanford
 
Big East:
Conference Winner – Creighton
Overrated – Villanova
Underrated – Connecticut
 
Big 10:
Conference Winner – Indiana
Overrated – Michigan State
Underrated – Michigan
 
ACC:
Conference Winner – North Carolina
Overrated – Virginia
Underrated – Duke
 
SEC:
Conference Winner – Kentucky
Overrated –  Arkansas
Underrated – Tennessee
 
Big 12:
Conference Winner – Texas
Overrated – Kansas

Underrated –  Oklahoma