I suppose it’s time we put pen to paper, huh?
The 2022-23 college basketball season has been in full swing for nearly a month, and I still haven’t posted anything to the Bauertology blog since last March… blame it on me being busy with work, or being sick the last week, or just general laziness… but college hoops madness stops for no man!
And through the first 21 days of the new season, we’ve already had our fair share of madness. No. 1 North Carolina has gone down twice, and No. 2 Houston nearly did as well. Typical world-beater Gonzaga has looked great, but not unstoppable. The entire Big 12 conference is ranked in the KenPom top 50. Villanova has fallen flat on its face with Jay Wright retired. Mid-majors like Sam Houston State and Charleston have put the world on alert as potentially dangerous teams from smaller conferences. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
So let’s put the madness to use and sort through these early-season results with the first edition of Bauertology! Remember that this projection is anything but close to final—we’ve still got three-and-a-half more months to play before tournament time, folks.
Also remember that the criteria we’re working with is limited (the NET rankings don’t come out until next month), so for now, eye test, who you’ve beaten, how well you’ve played, and predictive numbers like KenPom’s adjusted efficiency are our dominant ranking factors. Those will begin to become more scientific as more data becomes available.
But enough blab—here’s the first Bauertology projection for the 2022-23 season. (And let me know if you catch any errors; it’s the first one, so I could be a little rusty!)
It’s good to be back.
THE BRACKET
THE TRUE SEED LIST, BUBBLE, AND BIDS BY CONFERENCE
