(Photo Credit – David Jablonski)
Evidenced by three Top 5 teams losing TWICE this week, this season is incredibly intoxicated. We’ll take an early stab at a bracket, with regular updates coming in February.
Some takeaways:
*Duke West (Gonzaga) may end up having the worst SOS for a 1 seed ever. I have no data to back that up, but 237 overall and 286 non-conference is just laughable. They are a 2 on this initial projection. And they are going to get to play their first two games in Spokane…
*Dayton and San Diego State are very good at basketball. The Flyers particularly have the other half of this handle excited.
*WHERE THE HELL DID RUTGERS COME FROM?
*Myles Powell is a flat out stud. Imagine holding tickets on the Hall at 75-1 and Dayton at 100-1. Could be a profitable March.
To the bracket!
SOUTH (Houston)
| Omaha | 1 Baylor | 16 Prairie View/Norfolk St |
| 8 Arkansas | 9 Illinois | |
| Albany | 5 Arizona | 12 Alabama/Washington |
| 4 Maryland | 13 Yale | |
| Greensboro | 3 Duke | 14 William & Mary |
| 6 Rutgers | 11 No. Iowa | |
| Cleveland | 7 Marquette | 10 Indiana |
| 2 Dayton | 15 Wright St |
MIDWEST (Indy)
| Omaha | 1 Kansas | 16 St Francis PA/Monmouth |
| 8 Michigan | 9 USC | |
| Tampa | 5 Auburn | 12 DePaul/Va Tech |
| 4 Villanova | 13 Akron | |
| Cleveland | 3 Michigan St | 14 New Mexico St |
| 6 Colorado | 11 Purdue | |
| St. Louis | 7 Houston | 10 Oklahoma |
| 2 Louisville | 15 Winthrop |
WEST (LA)
| Sacramento | 1 San Diego St | 16 Montana |
| 8 Texas Tech | 9 Wichita St | |
| Sacramento | 5 LSU | 12 SF Austin |
| 4 Iowa | 13 UC Irvine | |
| Spokane | 3 Oregon | 14 UALR |
| 6 Ohio State | 11 BYU | |
| Spokane | 7 Creighton | 10 Stanford |
| 2 Gonzaga | 15 South Dakota St |
EAST (New York)
| Tampa | 1 Florida St | 16 Murray St |
| 8 Memphis | 9 Florida | |
| St. Louis | 5 Kentucky | 12 ETSU |
| 4 Butler | 13 Vermont | |
| Albany | 3 Seton Hall | 14 W. Kentucky |
| 6 Wisconsin | 11 Liberty | |
| Greensboro | 7 Penn St | 10 NC State |
| 2 West Virginia | 15 Colgate |
HEAD VS GUT 