Welcome to the ninth edition of VAVEL Bracketology here in the 2014-15 NCAA Division 1 College Basketball season. This is the fifth 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 Thursday, February 5th)
We will start with a look at the play-in games taking place in Dayton, Ohio on March 17th and 18th.
Team (Record, How They Made The Tournament, Next Game)
Tuesday, March 17th
Midwest #16 Seed
Lafayette (14-8, Patriot League Champion, Home - Boston University on Monday)
Texas Southern (11-11, SWAC Champion, Home - Prairie View A&M on Saturday)
South #13 Seed
Iowa (14-8, At-Large, Home - Maryland on Sunday)
Oregon (16-7, At-Large, Home - Washington State on Sunday)
Wednesday, March 18th
East #16 Seed
New Mexico State (14-10, WAC Champion, Away to UMKC on Saturday)
St. Francis-NY (15-9, Northeast Champion, Away to Wagner on Saturday)
East #13 Seed
Rhode Island (15-5, At-Large, Away to Richmond on Sunday)
Stanford (15-7, At-Large, Home - USC on Sunday)
Midwest Region (#1; Cleveland, Ohio)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#1 Kentucky (22-0, SEC Champion, Away to Florida on Saturday)
#16 Winner of Lafayette/Texas Southern
#8 Indiana (16-7, At-Large, Home - Michigan on Sunday)
#9 Murray State (20-4, Ohio Valley Champion, Away to Austin Peay on Saturday)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#4 Utah (17-4, At-Large, Away to Colorado on Saturday)
#13 Buffalo (15-6, Mid-American Champion, Away to Akron on Saturday)
#5 West Virginia (18-4, At-Large, Home - Baylor on Saturday)
#12 Temple (16-7, At-Large, Away to Memphis on Saturday)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#3 Virginia Commonwealth (18-4, Atlantic 10 Champion, Away to St. Bonaventure on Saturday)
#14 Yale (15-6, Ivy League Champion, Home - Dartmouth on Friday)
#6 SMU (18-5, American Champion, Away to Tulsa on Saturday)
#11 Texas (14-8, At-Large, Away to Kansas State on Saturday)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#2 Duke (19-3, At-Large, Home - Notre Dame on Saturday)
#15 High Point (17-6, Big South Champion, Away to Coastal Carolina on Saturday)
#7 Providence (17-6, At-Large, Away to Xavier on Saturday)
#10 Ole Miss (15-7, At-Large, Away to Auburn on Saturday)
East Region (#2; Syracuse, New York)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#1 Virginia (20-1, ACC Champion, Home - Louisville on Saturday)
#16 Winner of New Mexico State/St. Francis-NY
#8 Dayton (17-4, At-Large, Away to George Washington on Friday)
#9 Texas A&M (15-6, At-Large, Away to Missouri on Saturday)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#4 Maryland (19-4, At-Large, Away to Iowa on Sunday)
#13 Winner of Rhode Island/Stanford
#5 Iowa State (16-5, At-Large, Home - Texas Tech on Saturday)
#12 Valparaiso (21-4, At-Large, Home - Oakland on Sunday)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#3 Northern Iowa (21-2, Missouri Valley Champion, Home - Drake on Saturday)
#14 Georgia Southern (16-4, Sun Belt Champion, Home - Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday)
#6 Old Dominion (17-4, Conference USA Champion, Home - Charlotte on Saturday)
#11 LSU (16-6, At-Large, Home - Alabama on Saturday)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#2 Villanova (20-2, Big East Champion, Home - Georgetown on Saturday)
#15 Northeastern (16-8, Colonial Champion, Home - Delaware on Saturday)
#7 San Diego State (18-5, At-Large, Away to Boise State on Sunday)
#10 Wofford (19-5, Southern Champion, Away to Virginia Military Institute on Saturday)
South Region (#3; Houston, Texas)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#1 Kansas (19-3, Big 12 Champion, Away to Oklahoma State on Saturday)
#16 Albany (15-7, America East Champion, Home - UMass Lowell on Saturday)
#8 Georgetown (15-7, At-Large, Away to Villanova on Saturday)
#9 Michigan State (15-7, At-Large, Home - Illinois on Saturday)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#4 North Carolina (17-6, At-Large, Away to Boston College on Saturday)
#13 Winner of Iowa/Oregon
#5 Colorado State (19-4, Mountain West Champion, Home - UNLV on Saturday)
#12 Green Bay (19-5, Horizon League Champion, Away to Youngstown State on Wednesday)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#3 Louisville (19-3, At-Large, Away to Virginia on Saturday)
#14 Iona (16-6, Metro Atlantic Champion, Home - Siena on Friday)
#6 Butler (17-6, At-Large, Home - DePaul on Saturday)
#11 Oklahoma State (15-7, At-Large, Home - Kansas on Saturday)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#2 Wisconsin (20-2, Big Ten Champion, Home - Northwestern on Saturday)
#15 North Carolina Central (17-6, MEAC Champion, Away to North Carolina A&T on Saturday)
#7 Cincinnati (16-6, At-Large, Home - South Florida on Saturday)
#10 Saint Mary’s (17-5, At-Large, Home - Pacific on Saturday)
West Region (#4; Los Angeles, California)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#1 Arizona (20-2, Pac-12 Champion, Away to Arizona State on Saturday)
#16 Florida Gulf Coast (16-7, Atlantic Sun Champion, Away to Stetson on Saturday)
#8 Ohio State (17-6, At-Large, Away to Rutgers on Sunday)
#9 Wyoming (19-4, At-Large, Away to Air Force on Saturday)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#4 Notre Dame (21-3, At-Large, Away to Duke on Saturday)
#13 UC Davis (17-4, Big West Champion, Away to Cal State Northridge on Saturday)
#5 Baylor (17-5, At-Large, Away to West Virginia on Saturday)
#12 Georgia (14-7, At-Large, Home - Tennessee on Saturday)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#3 Wichita State (20-3, At-Large, Home - Missouri State on Saturday)
#14 Eastern Washington (17-5, Big Sky Champion, Away to Montana State on Saturday)
#6 Arkansas (17-5, At-Large, Home - Mississippi State on Saturday)
#11 Tulsa (17-5, At-Large, Home - SMU on Saturday)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#2 Gonzaga (23-1, West Coast Champion, Away to San Francisco on Saturday)
#15 South Dakota State (17-8, Summit League Champion, Away to IUPUI on Saturday)
#7 Oklahoma (15-7, At-Large, Away to TCU on Saturday)
#10 Stephen F. Austin (18-3, Southland Champion, Home to Houston Baptist on Saturday)
LAST FOUR IN:
Rhode Island (15-5)
Iowa (14-8)
Oregon (16-7)
Stanford (15-7)
FIRST FOUR OUT:
Seton Hall (15-7)
Boise State (16-6)
Sam Houston State (17-5)
Purdue (15-8)
NEXT FOUR OUT:
BYU (17-8)
Western Kentucky (16-6)
George Washington (16-6)
Memphis (14-8)
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN:
Big 12 (7)
Big Ten (6)
SEC (6)
ACC (5)
American (4)
Big East (4)
Pac-12 (4)
Atlantic 10 (3)
Mountain West (3)
Horizon League (2)
Missouri Valley (2)
BRACKET CHANGES:
At-Large Out:
BYU
Seton Hall
Xavier
At-Large In:
Iowa
Oklahoma State
Oregon
Conference Champions Out:
William & Mary (Colonial)
Georgia State (Sun Belt)
Conference Champions In:
Northeastern (Colonial)
Georgia Southern (Sun Belt)