Phog Blog » Liveblogging the brackets

Liveblogging the brackets

posted by Jeremy Chrysler on 3/12/2006 -

Minneapolis Bracket

1 ‘Nova
2 Ohio State
3 Florida - a UF/OSU game could be fun
4 Boston College - a little underseeded.
5 Nevada
6 Oklahoma
7 Georgetown
8 Arizona
9 Wisconsin
10 Northern Iowa (4th MVC team)
11 UW-Milwaukee
12 Montana
13 Pacific
14 South Alabama
15 Davidson - This is a tough 15 seed.
16

5:29

Washington Bracket

1 UConn
2 Tennessee - Worst seeding error yet.
3 UNC - About where I thought.
4 Illinois - about right.
5 Washington - They’re pretty hot, or maybe they play in the Pac 10
6 Michigan State - a tough 6 seed.
7 Wichita State - Congrats Turg.
8 Kentucky
9 UAB - Another matchup here? Iwonder if UAB can repeat?
10 Seton Hall - they made it
11 George Mason - could be a good upset pickup
12 Utah State
13 Air Force
14 Murray State
15 Winthrop
16 Albany

5:18

Oakland

1 Memphis
2 UCLA
3 Gonzaga
4 Kansas (Yah. We got a 4 seed, but Pitt will be tough)
5 Pittsburgh (lower than I would have thought)
6 Indiana (What in the heck?)
7 Marquette
8 Arkansas
9 Bucknell
10 Alabama
11 San Diego State
12 Kent sTate
13 Bradley (This is a pretty tough first round matchup, at least according to the RPI
14 Xavier
15 Belmont
16 Oral Roberts

Thoughts: Good to know we got a 4, but bad to know it’s against Pittsburgh. Seth Davis is an idiot. I wish it weren’t true, but the guy spouts nonsense half the time, and the rest is lies.

5:10

Atlanta Bracket

1 Duke
2 Texas
3 Iowa (I guess they watch the championship)
4 LSU
5 Syracuse (What the heck?)
6 West Virginia
7 California (higher than I would have thought
8 George Washington (wow, the 6th ranked tem gets an 8 seed)
9 UNC-Wilmington
10 NC State (this is low)
11 So. Illinois
12 Texas A&M (Syracuse goes down)
13 Iona
14 Northwestern State
15 Penn
16 Southern

Thoughts

GW got punked here. I thought they’d be a 5-6. Syracuse is overseeded. The 7-10 will be a good one.

5:03:

1 Seeds:

Memphis, Duke, UConn, Villanova - No surprises there. I don’t think Duke will make the Final Four. They just depend on JJ too heavily. So all this talk of number 1 overall seed is moot.

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35 Responses to “Liveblogging the brackets”

Quinn Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
4 seed playing Bradley. Looks good to me.
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
Our road to the Final Four would probably be Bradley-Pitt-Memphis-UCLA. Not too hard to do. Essentially KU has been deemed the 13th best team in the country.
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Seth Davis just said “Pitt is a hard matchup for KU”. He follows it up by saying “Gonzaga shouldn’t be a 3 seed.” Clearly he’s a moron.
DavidH Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
I love this. I think Memphis and UCLA are probably gonna be the weakest 1 and 2 seeds. The only problem is that Bradley is a pretty strong 13 seed. Luckily, they’re a similar team to KU, so the Jayhawks should be able to simulate them well in practice. The game with Pitt (assuming KU gets by Bradley, knock on wood) should be a battle. Both of these teams just don’t let people score.
Jeremy Chrysler Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
Seth, Bubby, it can’t be true.

On and on and on goes. It’s insanity. Make it stop. We don’t have to play through UConn to get to the Final Four. Maybe I’m delusional, but this team will be playing with a lot of fury.
Quinn Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I’m with you Chalmersfan…Weird comment to make Jeremy after he made two pretty good observations.
Danny Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
Am I the only one who LOVES this draw? Nothing is easy in the NCAA tournament, but this just feels like a manageable bracket to me.
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
UCLA is #1 in Pomeroy’s last5 category, FWIW. It’s hard to imagine, but they are a Pac10 team that plays great defense.
Quinn Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
I love that we have ucla and memphis above us. If we can can take care of business against some pretty tough early matchups, the later rounds are managable.
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
I love it too… some problems though:

Bradley and Pitt both have competent 7-footers
Pitt never gets blown out… KU might blow the game down the stretch if they have a lead.

But really, it’s a great draw.
Quinn Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Tennessee a 2 Gonzaga a 3?
Seton Hall a 10?
Air Force?
DavidH Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I just love that I am seriously considering KU’s chances of making the Final Four, after wondering if they would even make the tournament back when the season started.
Jeremy Chrysler Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
Gonzaga isn’t 3 seed good. Seth should know that. He had 6 MVC teams in it earlier today.

He thought KSU had a chance 3 weeks ago. I just don’t think he’s paying attention for the money he’s making.
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
No respect… yesterday Doug Gottlieb predicted a Texas blowout win and now Seth Davis. Friggin A… find some way to get Pomeroy on TV.
Quinn Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
no missouri state?
no michigan?
Air Force???????
michiganJayHawk Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Woot I get to see the BabyJay’s 1st & 2nd round. I had tix no matter who wnet, but nnow playing hooky is justified
DavidH Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
I wish they would shut up about the MVC having only 1 win over the past hoever many years. You know how many they were supposed to get according to the seeds? I’m guessing 1, but maybe 2.

Also, why all the hand wringing over Utah St, but not over Utah St?

Team … ranking in Pomeroy/Sagarin/Greenfield
Air Force … 49/50/60
Utah St … 66/69/73

Other at larges rated lower…
Seton Hall 56/58/57
Alabama 71/57/64
DavidH Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
er, over Air Force, but not over Utah St
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
I was going to pick Nova to win it all, but UConn has the easier bracket. Any but Duke, UNC, or Illinois and I’ll be fine.
NorCalHawk Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
No one is talking about the potential Pitt/Howland collision. The Pitt nation will be focused on the man who jilted them…maybe a distraction maybe a motivator.

Also�shout out to former KU assit. Ben Miller and Mo St. HC Hinson � I was really hoping to see them in the mix as well. AF…get real.
nychawk Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
did jay bilas just pick us to go to the final four???
Jhawk320 Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
Yes, Bilas just picked us for the Final Four…but getting there by beating Marquette…so take that at face value. Id much rather fly under the radar and have people think we will lose to Pitt
Chalmersfan Says:
March 12th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
I’ve got an early scouting report on Bradley based on Pomeroy’s site… Just until Hoopinion does his thing.

A. Bradley plays fast- the 36th fastest tempo in the nation. By comparison Bucknell last year played about the 290th fastest tempo… I don’t think KU will get trapped in a halfcourt game.

B. Their center, Patrick O’Bryant, is an NBA prospect. His average game is 13 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks, but also 3 fouls. In 9 of his 22 games this year he has had 4 or 5 fouls.

C. They don’t rely on the 3’s… only 5.5 3’s per game on average.

D. They are good at free throw shooting, passing/getting assists, offensive rebounds, and defense in most areas.

E. They are bad at shooting of all kinds and getting to the line.

F. They get killed from the line- I would expect KU to be +10 or +15 from the free throw line based on the stats.
Stew Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 4:17 am
Other than KU, I’m rooting for Bucknell and Gonzaga: that would create some interesting story lines for the second week.

Can’t meet UNC before the title game.
Markkuok Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 6:35 am
Seth Davis has no credentials for his job. He’s just some guy who gets paid to spout nonsense. Kind of like Vitale, except that Vitale has credentials for analyzing basketball–even though he never does it.
nychawk Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
news from nyc:

watching mike and chris “mad dog” russo on the yest network discussing the brackets. absolutely trashing the selection committee re airforce, george mason, utah st., etc. also suggested that kansas-texas seeding incorrect based on the fact that kansas went 1-1 against texas, tied them for the regular season title, and dismantled them on selection sunday on national tv for the big-12 tourney title.

not sure if i agree given the total body of work for the season, but at least it’s nice to see us getting some press out east — which literally NEVER happens.

is that the perfect storm i see on the horizon?
DavidH Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
I don’t think I like the fact that KU is getting talked about nationally as a contender for the FF. The last time everyone was talking up KU, what happened? They went into Texas and lost by 25.
Jeremy Chrysler Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
They’re not getting a ton of love, and I think they’ll be prepared.

The bottom line is that it’s much easier to prepare against a superior offensive team than it is against a superior defensive team.
DavidH Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Why is it easier?

Not trying to be an ass, I just haven’t heard that before.
Jeremy Chrysler Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
No offense taken, as my statement begged a further explanation.

A good coach can help his team disrupt the way the other team runs its offense, particularly said other team relies a lot on half court offense and set plays.

Last year, we were not a great defensive team (with Moody, Simien, injured-Langford and laterally challenged Giddens how could we be?) so we had to rely on the half court offense a lot. If teams followed the gameplan that other teams used to beat us - pack it in the lane and make Wayne work for everything - more often than not a team could keep it close.

This year we depend less upon the half court offense (and I’ll leave alone the fact that Bill’s offense this year, while not amazing, is still not a formulaic shut down), and much more upon the defense.

You can have your B team simulate another team’s offense (or defense if they play a gimmicky zone or press), but you can’t simulate the kind of mad athleticism that KU brings to the court. Unless a team has great athletes at the 1,2 and 3, they’re going to be frustrated by our speed and quickness.

Our defense doesn’t rely on set plays - it’s typically just tough man to man coverage.

I guess what I’m trying to say here (and doing so badly) is that if a team has experience against a similar squad, or if they’re able to simulate what an opponent will do, they can typically do a better job preparing for them.

I don’t think most teams will have faced defensive pressure anything like what KU can deliver, and I think that stands us in good stead.
nychawk Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
more from nyc:

mike francesa just now: kansas is loaded; top 5 talent but real young team; likes them to have a big tournament; possible final four team; pitt tough, hard nosed, play hard; krauser is 8000 years old and has been there forever; pitt doesn’t have a great history in the tourney; lots of early exits, but usually to good teams; problem is that pitt can never score in a big spot…

on a related note, didn’t texas — by all accounts a very good offensive team — go about 10 minutes without a basket in the second half yesterday?
Peter Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Yes, they did. But every Texas fan will tell you it was just because they were tired due to playing 3 in 3. Aldridge had plenty of rest on the bench from what I saw.
Chalmersfan Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
I’m glad that KU is getting pub, because they deserve it as much as UNC and LSU, other young teams. Those who write off KU as young but say that UNC has a legit chance to defend their title are hypocrites.

Jeremy’s points about the defense are correct, and don’t underestimate how hard it is to shoot over KU’s beef in the post, especially for opposing forwards. Johnson and Boggan of OSU, who rarely shoot outside of 10 feet, went 5 for 17 after going 16 for 19 against ISU. Against Texas, KU challenged PJ Tucker to shoot over their forwards when he drove the lane rather than letting him dish it off; as a result he still tried to pass and failed (6 TO’s and 4 Assists) and when he did shoot he often missed, going 5 for 13.

The only forward who excel against KU are those with fadeaways (Aldridge and Fazekas), and the 7 footers KU will see in their draw are big plodders. I’m sure that Chalmers and Robinson will come up with many weakside steals when these players actually get the ball in the post.
DavidH Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Funny that the Kansas defenders weren’t tired from 3 in 3…
Peter Says:
March 13th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Julian certainly wasn’t tired on his 360 lefty whammer