NCAA Basketball: Busting Brackets Bracketology
By Doug Winkey
16 Seeds: Bucknell, Montana, Grand Canyon, Northern Illinois
Bucknell currently has a two game lead on Navy for the Patriot regular season title and have won the only game between the two to this point. Bucknell has recovered nicely in conference play to reach 12-9 after a disastrous 3-8 nonconference slate that included losses to power five schools Penn State and NC State.
Montana possesses an 8-1 Big Sky record. That puts them one game ahead of Weber State before the conference tournament. Neither team owns a marquee win, but the Grizzlies have the distinction of having played Gonzaga, Kansas, and Washington compared to just BYU for Weber State.
Northern Illinois against Akron could be an interesting showdown in Championship week. NIU is second in the MAC West at 5-4 compared to Akron at 7-2 in the MAC East. The Zips did win the first matchup in Akron, but have yet to host the rematch. Akron has the better nonconference win on its resume over Arkansas in Fayetteville. I still go with the Huskies because I think they have the more balanced team on both ends of the court and will steadily push their way to the MAC automatic bid.
The last slot I’ve got is for Grand Canyon of the WAC. Their main competition is New Mexico State. The two are tied right now, but GC owns the tiebreaker due to a win several weeks ago. I go with the Antelopes because of a more highly rated offense over NMSU’s advantages in rebounds and points allowed.
Next: 15 Seeds