Welcome to the sixth edition of VAVEL Bracketology here in the 2014-15 NCAA Division 1 College Basketball season. This is the second of our bi-weekly posts now that we are into conference play. It will eventually turn into a daily post once the conference tournaments start in late February all the way through Selection Sunday.
Our bracket will be a little different than most of the others that you will see around the internet. This one will not be a projection of what the bracket will look like in March but will be a look at what the tournament would look like if it were to start tomorrow. We rate our teams using a formula that rewards them for quality wins and punishes them for bad losses.
The biggest difference from our college football formula is that we do not take the total rating given to a team, we break it down to a “per-game” number. We also factor in a team’s winning percentage as well as the average “per-game” mark from that school’s conference.
If you have any questions about how the formula works or would like some clarification from the creator feel free to e-mail [email protected]. You can follow along with the calculation of the numbers at our VAVEL Bracketology page right here.
(Records updated through Monday, January 27th)
We will start with a look at the play-in games taking place in Dayton, Ohio on March 17th and 18th.
March 17th
Army (13-6) vs. Texas Southern (9-11) for the Midwest #16 Seed
Seton Hall (13-6) vs. Ole Miss (12-7) for the South #12 Seed
March 18th
St. Francis-NY (12-9) vs. New Mexico State (12-10) for the East #16 Seed
NC State (13-8) vs. Xavier (13-7) for the West #12 Seed
Midwest Regional (#1; Cleveland, Ohio)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#1 Kentucky (19-0, SEC Champion)
#16 Winner of Army/Texas Southern
#8 Butler (15-6, At-Large)
#9 Miami-Florida (14-5, At-Large)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#4 Wichita State (18-2, Missouri Valley Champion)
#13 Murray State (17-4, Ohio Valley Champion)
#5 Colorado State (18-2, Mountain West Champion)
#12 Stephen F. Austin (17-3, Southland Champion)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#3 North Carolina (17-4, At-Large)
#14 North Carolina Central (16-5, Mid-Eastern Champion)
#6 Baylor (15-4, At-Large)
#11 Davidson (14-4, At-Large)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#2 Villanova (18-2, Big East Champion)
#15 Yale (13-6, Ivy League Champion)
#7 Indiana (15-5, At-Large)
#10 Washington (14-5, At-Large)
East Regional (#2; Syracuse, New York)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#1 Virginia (19-0, ACC Champion)
#16 Winner of St. Francis-NY/New Mexico State
#8 Georgia (13-5, At-Large)
#9 Saint Mary’s (16-4, At-Large)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#4 West Virginia (16-3, At-Large)
#13 Wofford (16-5, Southern Champion)
#5 Northern Iowa (18-2, At-Large)
#12 Michigan State (13-7, At-Large)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#3 Virginia Commonwealth (16-3, Atlantic 10 Champion)
#14 UC Davis (14-4, Big West Champion)
#6 Georgetown (14-5, At-Large)
#11 Green Bay (17-4, Horizon League Champion)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#2 Wisconsin (18-2, Big Ten Champion)
#15 Georgia State (13-7, Sun Belt Champion)
#7 LSU (15-4, At-Large)
#10 Stanford (14-5, At-Large)
South Regional (#3; Houston, Texas)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#1 Duke (17-2, At-Large)
#16 Florida Gulf Coast (14-7, Atlantic Sun Champion)
#8 Cincinnati (14-5, At-Large)
#9 Old Dominion (15-4, Conference USA Champion)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#4 Maryland (18-3, At-Large)
#13 Central Michigan (14-3, Mid-American Champion)
#5 Iowa State (15-4, At-Large)
#12 Winner of Seton Hall/Ole Miss
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#3 Louisville (16-3, At-Large)
#14 Iona (15-6, Metro Atlantic Champion)
#6 SMU (16-4, American Champion)
#11 George Washington (16-4, At-Large)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#2 Arizona (18-2, Pac-12 Champion)
#15 Northeastern (14-7, Colonial Champion)
#7 Providence (15-5, At-Large)
#10 Wyoming (17-3, At-Large)
West Regional (#4; Los Angeles, California)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#1 Gonzaga (20-1, West Coast Champion)
#16 Stony Brook (14-8, America East Champion)
#8 Texas (14-6, At-Large)
#9 San Diego State (15-5, Mountain West)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#4 Notre Dame (19-2, At-Large)
#13 High Point (16-5, Big South Champion)
#5 Arkansas (15-4, At-Large)
#12 Winner of NC State/Xavier
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#3 Utah (16-3, At-Large)
#14 Eastern Washington (15-5, Big Sky Champion)
#6 Dayton (16-3, At-Large)
#11 Evansville (15-5, At-Large)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#2 Kansas (16-3, Big 12 Champion)
#15 South Dakota State (15-7, Summit League Champion)
#7 Ohio State (16-5, At-Large)
#10 Texas A&M (13-5, At-Large)
LAST FOUR IN:
NC State (13-8)
Seton Hall (13-6)
Xavier (13-7)
Ole Miss (12-7)
FIRST FOUR OUT:
St. John’s (13-6)
Oklahoma (12-7)
Iowa (13-7)
Oklahoma State (13-6)
NEXT FOUR OUT:
Valparaiso (19-4)
Alabama (13-6)
Tulsa (14-5)
TCU (14-5)
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN:
ACC (7)
Big East (6)
SEC (6)
Big 12 (5)
Big Ten (5)
Atlantic 10 (4)
Pac-12 (4)
Missouri Valley (3)
Mountain West (3)
American (2)
West Coast (2)
INS AND OUTS (Comparing to 1/22 Bracketology)
At-Large OUT
Iowa
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
St. John’s
At-Large IN
Evansville
Ole Miss
Xavier
Wyoming
Champions OUT
Valparaiso (Horizon League)
Harvard (Ivy League)
Buffalo (Mid-American Conference)
Lafayette (Patriot League)
Champions IN
Green Bay (Horizon League)
Yale (Ivy League)
Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference)
Army (Patriot League)