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
Texas Tech continues to win at a high level and I felt good enough to put the Red Raiders on the 2-seed line today. The six Quad 1A wins compared to Duke’s two is a healthy advantage. The comparison remains close due to the Committee’s love for Duke last weekend and Duke’s excellent top-end wins (Zags, Kentucky) and road/neutral record of 9-2. Duke’s three losses in Quad 2B or worse demonstrate some instability at the end of the H2H comparison.
Ohio State’s win at Illinois last night was an impressive performance. A cluster of teams is now mixed into a group for the final two spots in the Top 16: UCLA, Ohio State, Arkansas, Houston, Texas, and UConn. Today, the Bruins and Buckeyes have the edge due to the three Q1A wins apiece. UConn also has collected three but is a bit weighed down slightly due to the Huskies’ sub-.500 record in Quad 1 (5-6). The Razorbacks can claim three as well, however, two of those were at Bud Walton Arena and the overall wins against the projected field number remains just those three wins in totality. Texas (2) and Houston (0) have beautiful predictive metrics but less substance to offer.
Oregon’s sweep of UCLA launched themselves barely above the cutline, as you may have noticed on the Big Board
Highlights from the pivotal Buckeye road win in Champaign:
BRACKET
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: 0 (Highly Unlikely)
FIRST FOUR OUT: VCU, North Carolina, Indiana, BYU
NEXT TEAMS OUT: Dayton, Florida, Virginia, St. Bonaventure
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: @RoccoMiller8