Welcome to the tenth edition of VAVEL Bracketology here in the 2014-15 NCAA Division 1 College Basketball season. This is the sixth 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 8th)
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)
Tuesday, March 17th
Midwest #16 Seed
Lafayette (14-8, Patriot League Champion)
Texas Southern (11-12, SWAC Champion)
West #13 Seed
Wyoming (19-5, At-Large)
Tulsa (17-6, At-Large)
Wednesday, March 18th
East #16 Seed
New Mexico State (15-10, WAC Champion)
St. Francis-NY (16-9, Northeast Champion)
Midwest #13 Seed
Sam Houston State (18-5, At-Large)
Oregon (17-7, At-Large)
Midwest Region (#1; Cleveland, Ohio)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky
#1 Kentucky (23-0, SEC Champion)
#16 Winner of Lafayette/Texas Southern
#8 Dayton (17-5, At-Large)
#9 Saint Mary’s (18-5, At-Large)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#4 Notre Dame (21-4, At-Large)
#13 Winner of Sam Houston State/Oregon
#5 Iowa State (17-5, At-Large)
#12 Boise State (17-6, At-Large)
March 20th in Columbus, Ohio
#3 Louisville (19-4, At-Large)
#14 Georgia Southern (16-5, Sun Belt Champion)
#6 Old Dominion (18-4, At-Large)
#11 Texas (15-8, At-Large)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#2 Arizona (20-3, Pac-12 Champion)
#15 High Point (17-7, Big South Champion)
#7 Ohio State (18-6, At-Large)
#10 Georgetown (15-8, At-Large)
East Region (#2; Syracuse, New York)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#1 Virginia (21-1, ACC Champion)
#16 Winner of New Mexico State/St. Francis-NY
#8 San Diego State (18-6, At-Large)
#9 Texas A&M (16-6, At-Large)
March 19th in Portland, Oregon
#4 Utah (18-4, At-Large)
#13 UC Davis (18-4, Big West Champion)
#5 Maryland (19-5, At-Large)
#12 Oklahoma State (16-7, At-Large)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#3 Northern Iowa (22-2, Missouri Valley Champion)
#14 Harvard (15-5, Ivy League Champion)
#6 Butler (18-6, At-Large)
#11 Green Bay (19-5, Horizon League Champion)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#2 Kansas (19-4, Big 12 Champion)
#15 North Carolina Central (18-6, Mid-Eastern Champion)
#7 Cincinnati (17-6, At-Large)
#10 Wofford (20-5, Southern Champion)
South Region (#3; Houston, Texas)
March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska
#1 Wisconsin (21-2, Big Ten Champion)
#16 Albany (16-7, America East Champion)
#8 Providence (17-7, At-Large)
#9 Ole Miss (16-7, At-Large)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#4 Baylor (18-5, At-Large)
#13 Iona (18-6, Metro Atlantic Champion)
#5 Colorado State (20-4, Mountain West Champion)
#12 Temple (17-7, At-Large)
March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida
#3 Virginia Commonwealth (18-5, Atlantic 10 Champion)
#14 Buffalo (15-7, Mid-American Champion)
#6 SMU (19-5, American Champion)
#11 Iowa (15-8, At-Large)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#2 Villanova (21-2, Big East Champion)
#15 South Dakota State (18-8, Summit League Champion)
#7 Oklahoma (16-7, At-Large)
#10 Georgia (15-7, At-Large)
West Region (#4; Los Angeles, California)
March 20th in Seattle, Washington
#1 Gonzaga (24-1, West Coast Champion)
#16 William & Mary (15-8, Colonial Champion)
#8 Murray State (21-4, Ohio Valley Champion)
#9 Stephen F. Austin (19-3, Southland Champion)
March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#4 North Carolina (18-6, At-Large)
#13 Winner of Wyoming/Tulsa
#5 Arkansas (18-5, At-Large)
#12 Rhode Island (16-5, At-Large)
March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky)
#3 Wichita State (21-3, At-Large)
#14 Eastern Washington (18-5, Big Sky Champion)
#6 West Virginia (18-5, At-Large)
#11 Valparaiso (22-4, At-Large)
March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina
#2 Duke (20-3, At-Large)
#15 Florida Gulf Coast (17-7, Atlantic Sun Champion)
#7 Indiana (17-7, At-Large)
#10 LSU (17-6, At-Large)
LAST FOUR IN:
Wyoming (19-5)
Sam Houston State (18-5)
Oregon (17-7)
Tulsa (17-6)
FIRST FOUR OUT:
Michigan State (15-8)
Stanford (16-7)
George Washington (17-6)
Illinois (16-8)
NEXT FOUR OUT:
Miami-Florida (15-8)
Xavier (15-9)
Louisiana Tech (18-6)
BYU (18-8)
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN:
Big 12 (7)
SEC (6)
ACC (5)
Big Ten (5)
American (4)
Big East (4)
Mountain West (4)
Atlantic 10 (3)
Pac-12 (3)
Horizon League (2)
Missouri Valley (2)
Southland (2)
West Coast (2)
BRACKET CHANGES:
At-Large Out:
Michigan State
Stanford
At-Large In:
Boise State
Sam Houston State
Conference Champions Out:
Northeastern (Colonial)
Yale (Ivy League)
Conference Champions In:
William & Mary (Colonial)
Harvard (Ivy League)