Welcome to the eighth edition of VAVEL Bracketology here in the 2014-15 NCAA Division 1 College Basketball season. This is the fourth 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 Sunday, February 1st)
We will start with a look at the play-in games taking place in Dayton, Ohio on March 17th and 18th.
Tuesday, March 17th
Lafayette (13-8) vs. Texas Southern (10-11) for the Midwest #16 Seed
BYU (17-7) vs. Temple (15-7) for the South #13 Seed
Wednesday, March 18th
New Mexico State (13-10) vs. St. Francis-NY (14-9) for the East #16 Seed
Valparaiso (20-4) vs. Rhode Island (15-5) for the East #13 Seed
Midwest Region (#1; Cleveland, Ohio)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#1 Kentucky (21-0, SEC Champion)
#16 Winner of Lafayette/Texas Southern
#8 Providence (16-6, At-Large)
#9 Texas (14-7, Big 12)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#4 Wichita State (19-3, At-Large)
#13 Buffalo (14-6, Mid-American Champion)
#5 Maryland (18-4, At-Large)
#12 Green Bay (17-5, Horizon League Champion)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#3 Virginia Commonwealth (17-4, Atlantic 10 Champion)
#14 Georgia State (15-7, Sun Belt Champion)
#6 Baylor (16-5, At-Large)
#11 Wyoming (18-4, At-Large)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#2 Duke (18-3, At-Large)
#15 Yale (15-6, Ivy League Champion)
#7 Butler (16-6, At-Large)
#10 Saint Mary’s (17-5, At-Large)
East Region (#2; Syracuse, New York)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#1 Virginia (19-1, ACC Champion)
#16 Winner of New Mexico State/St. Francis-NY
#8 Indiana (16-6, At-Large)
#9 Georgia (14-6, At-Large)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#4 Iowa State (16-4, At-Large)
#13 Winner of Valparaiso/Rhode Island
#5 Utah (17-4, At-Large)
#12 Tulsa (16-5, At-Large)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#3 Northern Iowa (20-2, Missouri Valley Champion)
#14 Eastern Washington (16-5, Big Sky Champion)
#6 Old Dominion (17-4, Conference USA Champion)
#11 Wofford (18-5, Southern Champion)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#2 Villanova (19-2, Big East Champion)
#15 South Dakota State (17-7, Summit League Champion)
#7 San Diego State (17-5, At-Large)
#10 Michigan State (15-7, At-Large)
South Region (#3; Houston, Texas)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#1 Kansas (18-3, Big 12 Champion)
#16 Albany (14-7, America East Champion)
#8 LSU (16-5, At-Large)
#9 Cincinnati (15-6, At-Large)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#4 Notre Dame (20-3, At-Large)
#13 Winner of BYU/Temple
#5 Colorado State (19-3, Mountain West Champion)
#12 Xavier (14-8, At-Large)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#3 Louisville (18-3, At-Large)
#14 High Point (17-5, Big South Champion)
#6 Arkansas (16-5, At-Large)
#11 Stanford (15-6, At-Large)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#2 Wisconsin (19-2, Big Ten Champion)
#15 William & Mary (14-7, Colonial Champion)
#7 Georgetown (15-6, At-Large)
#10 Oklahoma (14-7, At-Large)
West Region (#4; Los Angeles, California)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#1 Gonzaga (22-1, West Coast Champion)
#16 Florida Gulf Coast (16-7, Atlantic Sun Champion)
#8 Dayton (17-4, At-Large)
#9 Murray State (19-4, Ohio Valley Champion)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#4 North Carolina (17-5, At-Large)
#13 UC Davis (16-4, Big West Champion)
#5 SMU (18-4, American Champion)
#12 Ole Miss (14-7, At-Large)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#3 West Virginia (18-3, At-Large)
#14 Iona (16-6, Metro Atlantic Champion)
#6 Ohio State (17-5, At-Large)
#11 Seton Hall (15-6, At-Large)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#2 Arizona (20-2, Pac-12 Champion)
#15 North Carolina Central (16-6, Mid-Eastern Champion)
#7 Texas A&M (15-5, At-Large)
#10 Stephen F. Austin (18-3, Southland Champion)
LAST FOUR IN:
BYU
Valparaiso
Rhode Island
Temple
FIRST FOUR OUT:
NC State
Davidson
Miami-Florida
Oklahoma State
NEXT FOUR OUT:
St. John’s
Iowa
Washington
Boise State
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN:
Big 12 (6)
Big East (6)
SEC (6)
ACC (5)
Big Ten (5)
American (4)
Atlantic 10 (3)
Mountain West (3)
Pac-12 (3)
West Coast (3)
Horizon League (2)
Missouri Valley (2)
BRACKET CHANGES:
At-Large Out:
Davidson
Evansville
Miami-Florida
Oklahoma State
Washington
At-Large In:
BYU
Ole Miss
Rhode Island
Temple
Valparaiso
Conference Champions Out:
Stony Brook (America East)
Kent State (Mid-American)
Army (Patriot League)
Conference Champions In:
Albany (America East)
Buffalo (Mid-American)
Lafayette (Patriot League)