Check back on Mondays for a full analysis and blog post on the Bracket. Feel free to check last Monday’s post for a good feel on where teams started this week.
Quick Recap of the Mid-Week
Purdue getting demolished in Ann Arbor really shifted a number of things during the selection and seeding process.
Purdue would have remained a One-seed today and had the chance to move above Auburn with a win last night. Clearly, that was not in the cards.
The loss and subsequent drops in several metrics, caused the Boilers to slip down to seventh overall on the seed-list and a clear two-seed.
Michigan launched themselves above the cutline, as you may have noticed on the Big Board
Highlights:
It’s not very often, that one game in February can impact both the top of the board and the cutline all in one. But last night was a perfect storm.
Also, take a look at Saint Louis. They did nothing wrong by blowing out La Salle this week and the Billikens were fourth out on Monday. So what happened?
We lost one of the bids, due to Northern Iowa being in the position to win the MVC. Also, this is a good practice regardless, because chances are high we will have a bid stolen during actual Championship Week.
Next, SLU witnessed Michigan, SMU, and Virginia capture landmark victories that completely upgraded their profiles.
Lastly, West Virginia beat Iowa State which gave the Mountaineers an additional win above the field.
All and all, the Bills did nothing wrong - yet slipped from the fourth team out to the ninth team out. A true microcosm for how well the bubble has performed lately.
The 16th and final protected seed (last of the four-seeds) was a difficult choice between Marquette, Tennessee, or Texas. Marquette has the best wins but also has some dicey metrics by comparison. The Vols are shining with a Top 10 quality metric and Strength of Record rating. For today, the Vols get the nod but have to travel to Buffalo.
Bracket projections are based on the 2021-22 NCAA Committee Principles and Selection Process. Projected Conference Champions are based on projected Auto-Bid winners.
Forecasted At-Large Bids Stolen: 1 (MVC, Northern Iowa)
FIRST FOUR OUT: North Carolina, Belmont, San Diego State, West Virginia
NEXT TEAMS OUT: SMU, Florida, UAB, Virginia
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