Y’all ready?
The Selection Show is under half an hour away. We will soon learn which 68 teams will be selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament. For the first time in a long time, I feel pretty darn good about which 68 are in. It was just last year that I was pulling my hair out at the last minute deciding whether Indiana or Boise State should be my last team in… only for both of them to be out. I don’t think that’ll be the case this year, as I feel very, very good about at-large teams 1 through 35—it’s really only the last two spots (Texas and SMU) where I could see a stunner. Maybe the committee kicks out Texas for their poor Q1-3 record, or maybe they bump out SMU for their play without B.J. Edwards, in favor of Oklahoma or San Diego State or, god forbid, Auburn (blech), but I think the scenario that I’ve listed out is the most likely.
I’ve also decided to go pencils-down on changes that I really think should happen but are unlikely to, due to the committee’s annual tendency to undervalue Saturday and Sunday results. Both Arkansas and St. John’s have excellent arguments for a 4 seed now, and Vanderbilt really ought to be a 3 ahead of Virginia and Nebraska following Saturday’s win over Florida. Even Purdue’s got a résumé that should warrant a 2 seed after knocking off Michigan, despite the head-to-head losses to the three teams directly in front of them. But until proven otherwise, it’s best to take all these results from the final two days of games with a major grain of salt.
So this is what I’m settling on! A huge, huge thank you to every single one of you for following along with Bauertology all year. I really think that this has been one of the most excellent and most enjoyable years of Bauertology yet, and I’m already looking forward to doing it all over again in 2027. Now let’s get to the madness!
