Oh, boy. We’ve already reached the contentious time of year where bubble team résumés look absolutely disgusting.
It’s almost a fact of life at this point that the bracketology process of selecting which teams that reside right near the at-large cut line get to play in March Madness—and which ones get to watch from home—is the kind of decision that makes you feel like you need to take two to three showers afterward. It’s for this same reason that I’ve been staunchly against any kind of proposals to expand the NCAA Tournament; why put in more mediocre when the mediocre we’re putting in currently already makes us feel icky?
Last year’s bracket reveal was a much-needed reprieve from this sensation, as it felt like multiple quality teams (Seton Hall, Indiana State, and Pitt, to name a few) were left out. Crack that up to there being five total bid thieves, by far the largest number in all my years of bracket-building. But back here in January, we don’t get the pleasure of seeing these thieves steal spots away from the at-large pool of mundanity. So, we’ve got to take it as it comes and trudge through the mud for now.
I’m sure you’ll be rolling your eyes out of your skull when you see that North Carolina has claimed the final at-large spot in today’s bracket—the same North Carolina whose last three games have been a buzzer-beater home loss to Stanford, a 1-point loss in Winston-Salem, and an overtime escape against a dreadful Boston College team. And you know what? I don’t blame you! The Tar Heels are 1-7 in Quad 1 and 0-6 in Quad 1A, meaning that they get beat just about every time they take the floor against a superior foe. It’s a team that really does not deserve a tournament bid! But we run into a massive problem: We need to fill out this bracket with 68 teams somehow. Who on the outside are you taking over Carolina? Arizona State, who has similar Q1 woes and a much worse efficiency? Wake Forest, who may have just beaten UNC, but also has just a single Q1 victory and four of their six metrics ranking 50th or worse? Indiana, who apparently can’t draw up an inbound play that most high school teams would be able to figure out?
You see the problem? Filling out a 68-team bracket with 68 teams deserving of playing in said bracket is often akin to pulling teeth. I really, really don’t love that I settled on UNC as my final at-large team, but I don’t see anyone else on the outside that I’d rather have in instead, so I’ve got to sit and stew with my choice. Bleh. (If someone like North Texas or Bradley could step up and snag a bid to help our bubble shrink, the gesture would be much appreciated.)
Well, that just brings us to the bracket and seed list. Remember: All automatic bids are chosen by which team ranks highest in BRCT, my own hand-crafted résumé metric, in their respective conferences as of today. (And keep your eyes peeled for tomorrow, as I have an exciting update for BRCT to show off come Tuesday morning!)
You know the drill—take a peek at the Bauertology projection for Monday, Jan. 27, and leave your questions, comments, and concerns as they come to mind!
