Paint Touches

February 16 Bracket

Positives Strength of schedule (32) and non conference SOS (104): is better than, or comparable to, Missouri (SOS: 85, NCSS: 261), Kentucky (SOS: 67, NCSS: 96) and Ohio State (SOS: 31, NCSS: 125). Conference SOS (46) is higher than Syracuse (58), Duke (60), North Carolina (64) and Kentucky (79). Non conference RPI (16) is higher […]

February 12 Bracketology

We will now have two brackets per week (Sunday and Thursday) until the end of the conference tournament season.

Conference breakdown

Big East: 8

Big Ten: 8

ACC: 6

SEC: 5

Big 12: 5

Mountain West: 4

Atlantic 10: 3

West Coast: 3

Conference USA: 2

Missouri Valley: 2

Pac 12: 2

Last Four In

Colorado State

Purdue

Xavier

BYU

First Four Out

Seton Hall

Alabama

VCU

Northern Iowa

Next Four Out

Wyoming

Arkansas

UCF

Texas

Additions (case for, case against)

BYU

▪   Non conference SOS: 51

▪   10-2 in last 12 games

▪   8-3 in road/neutral games

▪   Loss at Utah State (RPI: 147), at home against Loyola Marymount (RPI: 111)

Valparaiso new Horizon league representative

Michigan State now the AQ for Big 10 due to head-to-head tiebreaker

Subtractions (case against, case for)

Alabama

▪   Loss at South Carolina (RPI: 171)

▪   6-6 in road/neutral games

▪   Lost five of last eight games

▪   Non conference RPI: 24

▪   SOS: 28

▪   Have only played five games against RPI sub-150

Published by: Michael LoCicero (@michaellocicero) and Michael Wottreng (@MWottreng)

February 9 Bracketology

Let’s hear your thoughts!

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8

Big 10: 8

ACC: 6

SEC: 6

Big 12: 5

Mountain West: 4

Atlantic 10: 3

Missouri Valley: 2

West Coast: 2

Conference USA: 2

Pac 12: 2

Last Four In

Purdue

Arizona

Minnesota

NC State

Last Four Out

BYU

UCF

Seton Hall

VCU

Next Four Out

Wyoming

Northern Iowa

Arkansas

Massachusetts

Teams Added (case for, case against)

Miami

• Win over Duke (RPI: 2)
• Worst loss at Purdue (RPI: 56)
• 9-3 in last 12 games

• 5-5 in road/neutral games
• 3-7 against RPI Top 100
• 11 of 15 wins have come against RPI sub-100

NC State

• Win against Miami
• Non conference SOS: 32
• 9-3 in last 12 games

• 1-5 against RPI Top 50
• Losses at Stanford (RPI:98), Georgia Tech at home (RPI:140)

Arizona

• Non conference SOS: 46
• 6-5 in road/neutral games

• Loss at UCLA (RPI:124)
• 4-7 against RPI Top 100

Teams Subtracted (case against, case for)

Arkansas

• 0-7 in road/neutral games
• Losses at Georgia (RPI:108) by 22, home against Houston (RPI:242)
• Non conference SOS: 202

• Three wins against RPI Top 50
• Non conference RPI: 10
• Seven of eight losses on the road

Washington, La Salle are no longer automatic qualifiers

Marquette used one of its better second halves of basketball of the season to fuel a comeback for an 89-76 win over DePaul Monday night. The Golden Eagles (20-5, 9-3 Big East) outscored the Blue Demons 49-33 in the second half, and shot 53.1 percent from the field while turning the ball over just three […]

A team finally took advantage of Marquette’s deficiency to close out on three-point shooters. Notre Dame (15-8, 7-3 Big East) knocked down 11 3-pointers, including five from freshman guard Pat Connaughton, in a 76-59 win over the Golden Eagles on Saturday. The loss snapped Marquette’s (19-5, 8-3 Big East) seven-game winning streak and dropped it […]