Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Full bracket for March 11

Here is Tuesday's full bracket update.  In the Final Four, the West would be matched against the Midwest, and the South against the East.  Florida is the #1 overall seed.


East (New York City)

Games played in Buffalo, Thurs/Sat.
1. Villanova
16. Wofford/Alabama State

8. Oregon
9. Southern Methodist

Games played in San Diego, Fri/Sun.
5. Oklahoma
12. Toledo

4. Michigan State
13. Stephen F. Austin

Games played in San Antonio, Fri/Sun.
6. Ohio State
11. Dayton

3. Iowa State
14. Boston U

Games played in Buffalo, Thurs/Sat
7. New Mexico
10. Colorado

2. Syracuse
15. Robert Morris
West (Anaheim)

Games played in San Diego, Fri/Sun.
1. Arizona
16. Utah Valley

8. Memphis
9. Oklahoma State

Games played in Spokane, Thurs/Sat.
5. Saint Louis
12. Southern Mississippi

4. San Diego State
13. North Dakota State

Games played in San Antonio, Fri/Sun.
6. Connecticut
11. Pittsburgh

3. Creighton
14. Mercer

Games played in Milwaukee, Thurs/Sat.
7. Baylor
10. Stanford

2. Wisconsin
15. UC Irvine


South (Memphis)

Games played in Orlando, Thurs/Sat.
1. Florida
16. Wright St.

8. Iowa
9. George Washington

Games played in Spokane, Thurs/Sat.
5. Texas
12. Harvard

4. Louisville
13. Manhattan

Games played in Raleigh, Fri/Sun.
6. Virginia Commonwealth
11. Arkansas/Saint Joseph's

3. Duke
14. Georgia State

Games played in Milwaukee, Thurs/Sat.
7. UCLA
10. Gonzaga

2. Michigan
15. North Carolina Central

Midwest (Indianapolis)

Games played in St. Louis, Fri/Sun.
1. Wichita State
16. Weber State/Coastal Carolina

8. Kansas State
9. Arizona State

Games played in Orlando, Thurs/Sat
5. North Carolina
12. Tennessee/Brigham Young

4. Cincinnati
13. Delaware

Games played in Raleigh, Fri/Sun.
6. Massachusetts
11. Xavier

3. Virginia
14. Eastern Kentucky

Games played in St. Louis, Fri/Sun.
7. Kentucky
10. Nebraska

2. Kansas
15. Stony Brook


Bracketing notes:

  • There was one seed bump.  There were 5 Big 12 teams in the top halves of regions, so Baylor was swapped with Oregon.
  • Many people have a theory that suggests that the committee looks for "stories" when pairing teams for the tournament.  I disagree; I think that you will automatically find stories when there are 52 games being played by the end of the first weekend.  In this bracket, you have:
    •  Matchups between former conference foes: Massachusetts-Xavier, Connecticut-Pittsburgh, and Saint Louis-Southern Miss (though it has been about ten years since both were in Conference USA), and Villanova and Syracuse are in the East region as the 1-2 seeds.
    • Historical battles: Michigan-Duke has a great history, and Michigan-Florida would be a rematch of last year's Elite 8 battle. A second round matchup between Kansas and Kentucky would be a rematch of the 2012 title game as well (though, is anyone left from Kentucky's 2012 team?).
    • Intrastate battles: Wichita State, Kansas, and Kansas State are all in the Midwest, and Ohio State faces off against Dayton in the East.  Ohio State could also draw Xavier if this is seeded differently; personally, I'd love to see Dayton-Xavier in the First Four, with the winner somehow getting Cincinnati.  Maybe if Cincinnati loses early in their conference tournament and drops to a 5 seed...
  • The Midwest feels loaded, and the East feels weak.  Maybe that's because I think Villanova is a weak #1 and many of the other seeds have been losing (Syracuse, Ohio State, Michigan State, etc).  That would be the region where I would expect a random low seed, like Oregon or New Mexico, to make a deep run.

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