Re: Bracketology '17
![Post Post](./styles/prosilver/imageset/icon_post_target.gif)
billyjack wrote:The BE has 8 teams with an RPI of 64 or better.
Just talking out loud, cuz a lot of hoops is left...
Georgetown with 3 excellent wins plus 2 other solid OOC wins, and i think they're in better shape than people think. Plus the loss to Arkansas State (RPI 88) isn't the disaster that we thought it would be.
Seton Hall has wins over Cal (50) and South Carolina (still at 19), plus Iowa is climbing. No bad losses (at Providence (64) is not a bad loss).
If Marquette had taken care of Pitt, they'd be golden. But they're still in a great position.
Providence has some work to do, but has W's over Memphis (16-6, RPI of 84 and improving), Rhody (still at 47), and solid W's over Vermont (17-5, RPI 56) and of course 2 road wins in BE play. UMass is killing us because they've been sucky. Be nice to steal a home W vs Butler or Xavier (or Villanova, which would be a game changer). But if PC is sitting on the bubble with Memphis and/or URI, we'd have the inside track (same with Seton Hall and Cal)...
There is still a path to 7 bids, and mathematically though unlikely, 8 bids (but only if PC bumps off Villanova this Wednesday).
I see what you're saying and there is a path to a large number of bids, especially with injuries to Creighton and Xavier giving other teams paths to RPI-friendly wins at their expense. The other side of that coin, however, is that it could be setting the league up for an embarrassing amount of 1st weekend exists. Especially considering those extra bids are going to come at the expense of seeding for the teams considered locks. Plus, the last 2 or 3 will likely be double digit seeds. As things stand now, the only Big East teams that would likely to be favored to reach the sweet 16 would be Villanova and Butler.
However, you've gotta be in it to win it - a couple lower seeded BE teams reaching the sweet 16 would be huge for conference perception.