Official Bracketology Thread

[Beachcat97]

And they beat USC so two down.

USC could become a not great win if they lose half their conference games. (Aka: pull a Hurley)

My bad, forgot that Stanford already beat USC. Have a feeling the Trojans are gonna finish outside the top 3 in conference. Lots of room for Oregon and/or Stanford to sneak in.

[Olsondogg]

The PAC sucks and will get 3 teams, with one being the play in game.

[dmjcat]

The PAC sucks and will get 3 teams, with one being the play in game.

I say 4......UA/UCLA/USC/UO, unless UO's turnaround is a mirage and they collapse again.

[Olsondogg]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

[dmjcat]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

No argument that their record up until recently stinks. But they just beat two top ten teams.........and virtually every bracket that has come out in the last week now has UO in. I personally don't expect UO to fade. Altmans teams almost always close out strong.

[Beachcat97]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

It's true, but we've seen this many times with Altman's teams. They take a while to get going, but when they do, they're capable of big things. I wouldn't bet against Oregon right now. They beat USC pretty easily.

I think the Pac will end up getting 4 or 5 in, depending on Stanford's performance down the stretch.

[Olsondogg]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

No argument that their record up until recently stinks. But they just beat two top ten teams.........and virtually every bracket that has come out in the last week now has UO in. I personally don't expect UO to fade. Altmans teams almost always close out strong.

Usc was a paper tiger, the fact they were ranked that high was laughable. UCLA pulled what they always do, in a vacant pauley.

I’m not sold on Oregon and the Altman narrative. I’ve watched a lot of them and when Richardson is your alpha, you aren’t great.

[Beachcat97]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

No argument that their record up until recently stinks. But they just beat two top ten teams.........and virtually every bracket that has come out in the last week now has UO in. I personally don't expect UO to fade. Altmans teams almost always close out strong.

Usc was a paper tiger, the fact they were ranked that high was laughable. UCLA pulled what they always do, in a vacant pauley.

I’m not sold on Oregon and the Altman narrative. I’ve watched a lot of them and when Richardson is your alpha, you aren’t great.

They got an L.A. sweep. Come on, man. That's incredibly rare. Oregon is doing something right.

[UAEebs86]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

No argument that their record up until recently stinks. But they just beat two top ten teams.........and virtually every bracket that has come out in the last week now has UO in. I personally don't expect UO to fade. Altmans teams almost always close out strong.

Usc was a paper tiger, the fact they were ranked that high was laughable. UCLA pulled what they always do, in a vacant pauley.

I’m not sold on Oregon and the Altman narrative. I’ve watched a lot of them and when Richardson is your alpha, you aren’t great.

They got an L.A. sweep. Come on, man. That's incredibly rare. Oregon is doing something right.

In empty arenas...

[Beachcat97]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

No argument that their record up until recently stinks. But they just beat two top ten teams.........and virtually every bracket that has come out in the last week now has UO in. I personally don't expect UO to fade. Altmans teams almost always close out strong.

Usc was a paper tiger, the fact they were ranked that high was laughable. UCLA pulled what they always do, in a vacant pauley.

I’m not sold on Oregon and the Altman narrative. I’ve watched a lot of them and when Richardson is your alpha, you aren’t great.

They got an L.A. sweep. Come on, man. That's incredibly rare. Oregon is doing something right.

In empty arenas...

Does that mean Baylor's national title last year doesn't count? Or is somehow a lesser achievement?

[YoDeFoe]

They got an L.A. sweep. Come on, man. That's incredibly rare. Oregon is doing something right.

In empty arenas...

Does that mean Baylor's national title last year doesn't count? Or is somehow a lesser achievement?

There were fans for the NCAA tournament. But also, way different to have a home game that all of a sudden no one shows up for after having fans all season so far.

I think Oregon was very very lucky to catch USC and UCLA in those conditions. We'll have a far different experience playing UCLA at Pauley with a packed house (been there for the last half dozen or so, it's a tough environment when Arizona comes to town).

[Alieberman]

Oregon is trending in the right direction... but they are going to need to be almost perfect for the remainder of the season if they want to sniff the NCAA tourney.

[97cats]

East Region
No. 1 Arizona* vs. No. 16 Winthrop*
No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Colorado State
No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 12 Boise State*
No. 4 Illinois* vs. No. 13 New Mexico State*
No. 6 USC vs. No. 11 Iona*
No. 3 LSU vs. No. 14 Vermont*
No. 7 Loyola Chicago* vs. No. 10 North Carolina
No. 2 Kansas* vs. No. 15 Cal State Fullerton*

Perhaps the most appetizing part of how this region plays out is that it would set up a potential Mark Few–vs.–Tommy Lloyd Final Four matchup if both No. 1 seeds win their respective regionals. Arizona is right there for a No. 1, buoyed significantly by its No. 2 NET ranking. Can it hold onto that with a weaker conference slate? The Wildcats are overwhelmingly more talented than the bottom half of the Pac-12, but avoiding a letdown performance and a bad loss can be challenging in a long conference season.

Midwest Region
No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 16 Troy*
No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 San Diego State
No. 5 Providence vs. No. 12 Florida/Belmont
No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13 Chattanooga*
No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 11 Oregon
No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Liberty*
No. 7 BYU vs. No. 10 Davidson*
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Weber State*

* denotes automatic bib

https://www.si.com/college/2022/01/19/m ... ament-2022

[Beachcat97]

They got an L.A. sweep. Come on, man. That's incredibly rare. Oregon is doing something right.

In empty arenas...

Does that mean Baylor's national title last year doesn't count? Or is somehow a lesser achievement?

There were fans for the NCAA tournament. But also, way different to have a home game that all of a sudden no one shows up for after having fans all season so far.

I think Oregon was very very lucky to catch USC and UCLA in those conditions. We'll have a far different experience playing UCLA at Pauley with a packed house (been there for the last half dozen or so, it's a tough environment when Arizona comes to town).

Wait, did they already let fans back into Pauley? First I’ve heard of that.

[97cats]

i do believe fans will be allowed to attend

[azgreg]

CTL in the Final Four his first season would be something.

[Beachcat97]

i do believe fans will be allowed to attend

Okay. I figured they'd time the return of fans to perfectly coincide with 1/25, but I'm also very cynical.

We are their Super Bowl.

[TheCat]

When I look at potential player matchups it is very close and I would say favors UCLA. As Tommy would say let's FOCUS ON TOMORROW.

[SCCats]

CTL in the Final Four his first season would be something.

I haven’t mentioned it yet (perhaps others have), but I already think there’s a decent chance of a first year coaching poach attempt before CTL gets fully settled in for the long term.

[Alieberman]

I believe I have heard that AZ was the only school that CTL was ever going to leave Gonzaga for.

I'm not worried about him jumping

[97cats]

Lloyd is a pretty strong basketball mind so it seems, no doubt about it so far its oozing

if i was forced to speculate only - his sideline feel and temperament (podium too) is very "NBA like" and his style of play is of professional grade, wide open and fast (share oriented) the players in control.

in the pros there is no recruiting (if Lloyd has good players so far he has proven he will win) i could very well see the NBA exploring especially if he has Final Four success at Arizona this season.

[Olsondogg]

i do believe fans will be allowed to attend

I read they will be revisiting their fan decision on 1/21, just in time.

[FreeSpiritCat]

CTL in the Final Four his first season would be something.

I haven’t mentioned it yet (perhaps others have), but I already think there’s a decent chance of a first year coaching poach attempt before CTL gets fully settled in for the long term.

I do not believe that will happen. Arizona is a destination school for basketball and fully capable of making CTL happy. I believe the bigger threat is the NBA, like others have stated. If CTL gets to the final four and recruiting is good this year, he will have the keys to the city. Tucson is a good place to live for celebrities. We tend to leave them alone in their private life. I believe that is one reason Lute Olson loved it here, and Sean Miller isn't in a hurry to leave. Weather and beautiful surroundings is a big plus for Tucson.

[Olsondogg]

I don’t believe Tommy has any appetite for the NBA. What a stupid discussion, especially in a bracketology thread.

[YoDeFoe]

i do believe fans will be allowed to attend

I've got lower level tickets so they'd better

[YoDeFoe]

I don’t believe Tommy has any appetite for the NBA. What a stupid discussion, especially in a bracketology thread.

0% chance Tommy wants anything to do with the NBA. "Small town guy" who loves to recruit and mold players... all of a sudden turns into Rick Pitino? I think not.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I don’t believe Tommy has any appetite for the NBA. What a stupid discussion, especially in a bracketology thread.

0% chance Tommy wants anything to do with the NBA. "Small town guy" who loves to recruit and mold players... all of a sudden turns into Rick Pitino? I think not.

Does he though? Pretty much all the materials about him from Zaga and what we've seen at Arizona, his ability lies more in player development and X's and O's than recruiting.

I'm not saying it means I have any knowledge or am estimating odds, but as a coach he's closer to Brad Stevens than he is your typical flashy recruiter.

[TheCat]

I don’t believe Tommy has any appetite for the NBA. What a stupid discussion, especially in a bracketology thread.

Especially with a whole 15 games as a head coach. Some of you guys are weird.

[Olsondogg]

Oregon had a good weekend, but take a look at the big picture with that record. Ooomph

No argument that their record up until recently stinks. But they just beat two top ten teams.........and virtually every bracket that has come out in the last week now has UO in. I personally don't expect UO to fade. Altmans teams almost always close out strong.

Usc was a paper tiger, the fact they were ranked that high was laughable. UCLA pulled what they always do, in a vacant pauley.

I’m not sold on Oregon and the Altman narrative. I’ve watched a lot of them and when Richardson is your alpha, you aren’t great.

I’ll say it again, usc is a paper tiger.

[Alieberman]

I just don't want USC to shit the bed too much... want our win(s) over them to appear as quality wins

[Beachcat97]

I don’t have a lot of faith in USC. I think 3rd place in the Pac is entirely up for grabs. Really, the top 3 are still up for grabs, considering we haven’t played the top of the league yet. But the Trojans are probably a top 20ish team at best. Oregon beat them pretty easily last week.

[Olsondogg]

I just don't want USC to shit the bed too much... want our win(s) over them to appear as quality wins

It matters not, fuck em.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I just don't want USC to shit the bed too much... want our win(s) over them to appear as quality wins

It matters not, fuck em.

No! I always root for a strong Pac except for ASU. If you want a high seed and location advantage, you get that from a strong Pac.

If no one respects your competition, any loss hurts much more and wins don't help. I don't want to be shipped to the East as a 2 seed because 3 losses included 2 L's to Pac teams the committee doesn't respect.

[Olsondogg]

I just don't want USC to shit the bed too much... want our win(s) over them to appear as quality wins

It matters not, fuck em.

No! I always root for a strong Pac except for ASU. If you want a high seed and location advantage, you get that from a strong Pac.

If no one respects your competition, any loss hurts much more and wins don't help. I don't want to be shipped to the East as a 2 seed because 3 losses included 2 L's to Pac teams the committee doesn't respect.

Nobody respects the PAC anyway.

For christs sake, they should just add the first 4 game as part of the pac tourney.

[dmjcat]

I just don't want USC to shit the bed too much... want our win(s) over them to appear as quality wins

It matters not, fuck em.

No! I always root for a strong Pac except for ASU. If you want a high seed and location advantage, you get that from a strong Pac.

If no one respects your competition, any loss hurts much more and wins don't help. I don't want to be shipped to the East as a 2 seed because 3 losses included 2 L's to Pac teams the committee doesn't respect.

Screw the rest of the PAC12.

I would rather Arizona be the Gonzaga of the PAC12, crush the conference every year and become the destination of choice for every high level recruit on the west coast. Any issues with seeding can be dealt with by scheduling an appropriately difficult non-conference schedule. Playing in a relatively weak conference has certainly not hurt Gonzagas seeding.

[97cats]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... t-bracket/

*shakes head*

[Spaceman Spiff]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... t-bracket/

*shakes head*

See, that's why I root for the Pac except for ASU.

[Alieberman]

It is amazing how much work some of these guys put in to convince themselves that AZ is equal to Providence

[gronk4heisman]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... t-bracket/

*shakes head*

See, that's why I root for the Pac except for ASU.

You should root for a commissioner that does something to promote their product. The only reason Wisconsin is even being discussed is because of the Johnny Davis hype train (and them being in the major medias favorite conference next to the ACC) who I am not convinced is even better then Ben Mathurin. The casual fan outside of Tucson has no idea who Ben Mathurin even is.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I just don't want USC to shit the bed too much... want our win(s) over them to appear as quality wins

It matters not, fuck em.

No! I always root for a strong Pac except for ASU. If you want a high seed and location advantage, you get that from a strong Pac.

If no one respects your competition, any loss hurts much more and wins don't help. I don't want to be shipped to the East as a 2 seed because 3 losses included 2 L's to Pac teams the committee doesn't respect.

Screw the rest of the PAC12.

I would rather Arizona be the Gonzaga of the PAC12, crush the conference every year and become the destination of choice for every high level recruit on the west coast. Any issues with seeding can be dealt with by scheduling an appropriately difficult non-conference schedule. Playing in a relatively weak conference has certainly not hurt Gonzagas seeding.

I'd argue it has. In 2014-15, they went 32-2 and 17-1 in conference and only got a 2 seed. Their only OOC loss was to Arizona, a #1 seed, so their one and only in conference loss killed a #1 seed.

In 2016-17, there was real debate about us being a 1 seed over them, and they had one loss to our four plus a head to head win (albeit over a shorthanded team with 7 active players).

They've gotten high seeds, but they basically have half the margin for losses. Plus, I mean, I'd rather prep for the tourney with good opponents.

[Spaceman Spiff]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... t-bracket/

*shakes head*

See, that's why I root for the Pac except for ASU.

You should root for a commissioner that does something to promote their product. The only reason Wisconsin is even being discussed is because of the Johnny Davis hype train (and them being in the major medias favorite conference next to the ACC) who I am not convinced is even better then Ben Mathurin. The casual fan outside of Tucson has no idea who Ben Mathurin even is.

I'm willing to give the current guy, whose name I can't spell off the top of my head, some time. Larry Scott spent over a decade running the Pac into obscurity and that can't be fixed overnight, especially with locked in crappy TV deals.

[gronk4heisman]

I'm willing to give the current guy, whose name I can't spell off the top of my head, some time. Larry Scott spent over a decade running the Pac into obscurity and that can't be fixed overnight, especially with locked in crappy TV deals.

Agree, he deserves time. Him sitting silent with the whole UCLA rescheduling fiasco did leave a sour taste in my mouth though.

[97cats]

You should root for a commissioner that does something to promote their product. The only reason Wisconsin is even being discussed is because of the Johnny Davis hype train (and them being in the major medias favorite conference next to the ACC) who I am not convinced is even better then Ben Mathurin. The casual fan outside of Tucson has no idea who Ben Mathurin even is.

he did bank in a wild out of control try to draw-the-foul like Fletch three to seal the game the other night against a shitty Northwestern team that they barely beat so there is that.

[dmjcat]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... t-bracket/

*shakes head*

See, that's why I root for the Pac except for ASU.

Hogwash, the UA could be playing in the NBA Western Division and it wouldn't affect how the Eastern sportswriters rank teams. The East coast bias has ALWAYS been present, regardless of how good/tough the PAC12 is that year.

[Beachcat97]

Guys, AZ is #1 in NET now, so CBS, ESPN, whoever...they can't change what's actually happened on the court and how dominant we've been all season.

I'm not too concerned about these bullshit tourney seed projections. We just need to keep quietly going about our business. Rest will take care of itself. 1/25 is huge.

[Olsondogg]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... t-bracket/

*shakes head*

See, that's why I root for the Pac except for ASU.

Hogwash, the UA could be playing in the NBA Western Division and it wouldn't affect how the Eastern sportswriters rank teams. The East coast bias has ALWAYS been present, regardless of how good/tough the PAC12 is that year.

You posted the thoughts right from my head

[RondaeShimmy]

[Irish27]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... -men-field

[Beachcat97]

It's gonna be an interesting conversation about whether it's better to be a 2/3 in the west or a 1 elsewhere. Is it really that much different to face the 8/9 winner (as a 1) vs. either a 6 or 7 seed as a 2/3? It's worth keeping in mind that as a 1 outside the west, we're obviously more likely to encounter a crowd rooting vociferously for our opponent.

[PennZona20]

I want the #1 in the Midwest. I’d rather avoid the Zags until the FF is possible.

Don’t know if my heart can take another Wisconsin situation.