NCAA Basketball: Busting Brackets Bracketology

11 Seeds: Valparaiso, California, Saint Joseph’s, South Carolina

The Valparaiso Crusaders are one of my favorite mid-major contenders this year.  They have a two-game lead over Oakland for the Horizon title.  They have a good win over Oregon State, a good loss to Oregon, and a relatively bad loss to Wright State.  I’m particularly excited to see Dirk Nowitzki-esque Alec Peters with his mix of size, strength, and shooting.  The 6’9″ junior averages 17.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and shoots 46% from range.

California is in a weird stretch.  They have a great resume with wins over Saint Mary’s, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, but they’ve lost five of their previous seven.  I think Cal gets in if they beat Oregon and either USC or UCLA in Berkeley before the Pac-12 tournament.

South Carolina was one of the final unbeaten teams in America, thanks largely to a true cupcake nonconference schedule.  The Gamecocks currently have the 202nd hardest schedule in the country.  Even at third in the SEC, they might get left in Charleston unless they beat any combination of LSU, Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee in their remaining home games.

Saint Joseph’s could be an at-large from the Atlantic-10 conference.  They sit one game behind VCU.  They Hawks have beaten three teams between RPI 51-100 (Buffalo, Princeton, Temple) and lost to three above 50 (Florida, VCU, Villanova).  St. Joe’s probably gets in if they make the A-10 title game or if any power team on the bubble collapses.

Next: 10 Seeds