NCAA: Bracket, Schedule, and Non-Big East Games

[kayako]

FSU looks so good one moment then so bad the next. Very strange team with a lot of skill and a lot of bodies

Hate the ACC with passion, but I have to admit it's gotta be tough having to play monster teams like FSU and Louisville every game.

The lone B1G team to look good today is the underseeded Wisconsin. Thanks committee!

[Westbrook#36]

FSU looks so good one moment then so bad the next. Very strange team with a lot of skill and a lot of bodies

Hate the ACC with passion, but I have to admit it's gotta be tough having to play monster teams like FSU and Louisville every game.

The lone B1G team to look good today is the underseeded Wisconsin. Thanks committee!

I'm not so sure, I think the Badgers looked good because VT is a horrible defensive team. They are experienced and efficient, but they're not the most proficient offensive team to be generous. Yet they put up 84 on VT, because the Hokies are a sieve on defense. Yeah they should probably be a 5 or 6 seed, but if we want to make a run we'll have to beat better teams than Wisconsin.

[billyjack]

Like last year, the ACC dodged some bullets with close wins in the first round against 12-seeds or worse. Virginia struggled vs UNCW, FSU vs FGCU, and Notre Dame vs Princeton. Nice to see Wake and Va Tech fall.

[Bill Marsh]

According to The Dagger article linked above, Vandy was a threat to knock of Gonzaga . . . But they couldn't even handle Northwester.

To be fair, though, Gonzaga looked terribad today. Their outside shooting has completely abandoned them since that BYU game.

First game of the tournament. Villanova looked pretty bad too, but I have every confidence in them - as I do in Gonzaga.

[H.U.S.T.L.E.]

FSU looks so good one moment then so bad the next. Very strange team with a lot of skill and a lot of bodies

Hate the ACC with passion, but I have to admit it's gotta be tough having to play monster teams like FSU and Louisville every game.

The lone B1G team to look good today is the underseeded Wisconsin. Thanks committee!

I'm not so sure, I think the Badgers looked good because VT is a horrible defensive team. They are experienced and efficient, but they're not the most proficient offensive team to be generous. Yet they put up 84 on VT, because the Hokies are a sieve on defense. Yeah they should probably be a 5 or 6 seed, but if we want to make a run we'll have to beat better teams than Wisconsin.

Lack of size killed my Hokies - it's been a recurring problem this year and bit us again tonight. Thought we mostly contained Happ though, which was good but Hayes just killed us inside.

Statistically it was a strange game though. Hayes is normally a 60% free throw shooter and he went 8-9 from the stripe. Koenig needed 17 3-point attempts to set a school-record 8 makes. His previous season high for attempts was 13.

Loved this VT team's heart though and I'm really excited at what Buzz is building. He's got a two Top 100 recruits coming in next season in Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Wabissa Bede and both of those guys will get opportunities to contribute early. We'll also be a much deeper team, get guys back from injuries and shouldn't have to rely on a 7-man rotation. Future is bright in Blacksburg!

I know basketball people bag on VT for being a football school, but the sport of basketball was my first love and I'm glad that the VT program looks to be on the rise.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

First Round - March 17th

Friday Afternoon Window

12:15, CBS: No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson)
12:40, truTV: No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 New Mexico State (Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner, Dana Jacobson)
1:30, TNT: No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Seton Hall (Anderson/Webber/Johnson)
2:00, TBS: No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 14 Iona (Dedes/Smith/Elmore/Gold-Onwude)
Approx. 2:45, CBS: No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 15 Jacksonville State (Nantz/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson)
Approx. 3:10, truTV: No. 6 SMU vs. No. 11 USC (Harlan/Miller/Bonner/Jacobson)
Approx. 4:00, TNT: No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 16 Texas Southern (Anderson/Webber/Johnson)
Approx. 4:30, TBS: No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 Rhode Island (Dedes/Smith/Elmore/Gold-Onwude)

Friday Evening Window

6:50, TNT, No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 UC Davis (Harlan/Miller/Bonner/Jacobson)
7:10, CBS: No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 10 Wichita State (Nantz/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson)
7:20, TBS: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Troy (Anderson/Webber/Johnson)
7:27, truTV: No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Kansas State (Dedes/Smith/Elmore/Gold-Onwude)
Approx. 9:20, TNT: No. 8 Miami vs. No. 9 Michigan State (Harlan/Miller/Bonner/Jacobson)
Approx. 9:40, CBS: No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 15 Northern Kentucky (Nantz/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson)
Approx. 9:50, TBS: No. 7 South Carolina vs. No. 10 Marquette (Anderson/Webber/Johnson)
Approx. 9:57, truTV: No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 14 Kent State (Dedes/Smith/Elmore/Gold-Onwude)
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Apparently, the Selection Committee was concerned that Wichita State or Dayton (or both) might make a run in the Tournament, as the Shockers and Flyers have the two highest-paid basketball coaches outside of college basketball’s six major conferences. But not to worry - they fixed it.

Wichita State’s Marshall: Bracket gets rid of the little guys early – The Wichita Eagle – March 12, 2017

Tenth-seeded Wichita State (30-4) plays seventh-seeded Dayton (24-7) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to tip off their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance. Next to those teams on the South Region bracket is second-seeded Kentucky. The third seed is UCLA and the top seed is North Carolina.

“They’ve got to get rid of as many non-power five (conference) teams as possible,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “They pit us against Dayton. They had VCU against St. Mary’s. I’m just glad we’re in.” WSU’s seeding — again — will provide a talking point. And not just in Wichita.

Gregg Marshall was right.

MARCH MADNESS 2017: WHO GOT SCREWED IN THE NCAA BRACKET? – Bleacher Report – March 13, 2013

The only at-large teams from schools outside the six major conferences are Cincinnati (AAC), Dayton and VCU (A-10), and Saint Mary's (WCC). That's it.

Wichita State was No. 8 on KenPom, No. 11 on Sagarin, No. 15 in ESPN’s BPI, and No. 32 in RPI. In literally none of those metrics should the Shockers have been seeded lower than a No. 8. If you take the average of all four, they should have been right on the cut line between a No. 4 and No. 5 seed.

No matter how you slice it, a No. 10 seed is ludicrous, and it's downright unfair that Dayton is probably going to be a significant underdog in this game.

Selection Sunday winners and losers: Which teams got favorable March Madness draws? – The Dagger – March 13, 2017

SELECTION SUNDAY LOSERS

Dayton | Seed: 7 | Region: South

The Flyers, a No. 7 seed, are 6.5-point underdogs against 10th-seeded Wichita State. And that is by no means a slight on Dayton; it’s a tribute to Wichita State, which is surely the first team outside the top five to receive a seed (10) lower than its KenPom ranking (8). The Atlantic 10 regular season champs have made a Sweet 16 and Elite Eight run under Archie Miller, but would have to go through Wichita State, Kentucky, and possibly UCLA to repeat the feat this year.

2017 NCAA Tournament: 68 reasons this bracket sets up as a beauty – Gary Parrish, CBS Sports – March 14, 2017

Selection committee got the 68 teams right but seeded Wichita State way wrong

3. Wichita State got a 10-seed

The Shockers are eighth at KenPom, 11th in Sagarin and 31st in the flawed RPI that doesn’t value them properly. But even if you value the RPI over KenPom and Sagarin, which you shouldn’t, there’s no way to reasonably go any lower than an 8-seed for Wichita State. And yet the selection committee made the Shockers a 10-seed. Ridiculous. And do you realize which team this hurts the most? Answer: Dayton. Because the Flyers are the 7-seed opposite Wichita State. And they’re 6.5-point underdogs to Wichita State. Yes, the lower-seeded team is a significant favorite over the higher-seeded team. That’s how wrong the committee got Wichita State.

Last year, Dayton was also a No. 7 seed and was an underdog to No. 10 seed Syracuse, who beat Dayton, Middle Tennessee, Gonzaga, and No. 1 seed Virginia before losing to North Carolina in the Final Four.

No one can accuse the Flyers of getting lucky draws on the last two Selection Sundays.

[Toronto Rapture]

Down goes SMU! Maybe if Providence had found a away to win against USC, they could have had a good chance against SMU.

[kayako]

Down goes SMU! Maybe if Providence had found a away to win against USC, they could have had a good chance against SMU.

Not surprising. Kenpom #12 had beaten nobodies.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Dayton got beat by a better team tonight.

Wichita State scoots past Dayton in NCAA opener - Associated Press / ESPN - March 17, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS -- Wichita State's high-flying offense didn't get off the ground until the closing minutes, when the Shockers played like the more tournament-experienced team and pulled away to a 64-58 victory over Dayton on Friday night.

The 10th-seeded Shockers (31-4) won their 16th in a row -- the second-longest streak in school history -- by clamping down on defense and swatting away shots down the stretch. Wichita State blocked eight shots and held the seventh-seeded Flyers (24-8) to a season-low 31 percent from the field.

[Toronto Rapture]

This Purdue/I-State game is crazy. Respect to the Cyclones for even making it a game after being down 19. It almost sounds like an I-State home game at times in Milwaukee.