Busting Brackets
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NCAA Bracket: Five takeaways from the Selection Show

By Lukas Harkins

Mar 23, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; A view of March Madness logos on towels and the bench during practice the day before the semifinals of the South regional of the NCAA Tournament at KFC YUM!. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; A view of March Madness logos on towels and the bench during practice the day before the semifinals of the South regional of the NCAA Tournament at KFC YUM!. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 12, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Ethan Happ (22) dribbles the ball as Michigan Wolverines forward Moritz Wagner (13) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Ethan Happ (22) dribbles the ball as Michigan Wolverines forward Moritz Wagner (13) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

The Big Ten Madness

Actually though, what happened with this? There are a lot of reasonable arguments for seeding of teams, but this was one of the most surprising outcome of March Madness. For reference, these were the seeds of teams from the Big Ten: Purdue (4), Minnesota (5), Maryland (6), Michigan (7), Wisconsin (8), Northwestern (9), Michigan State (9).

Based on the Bracket Matrix differential between average seed and actual seed, Wisconsin falling to an eight was the most controversial selection. On the season, Wisconsin was 25-9 with five wins against the RPI top-50. Yes, they had a couple bad losses and ended the regular season on a tough run, but they recovered for the postseason. After beating Minnesota in their regular season finale, the Badgers went out in the Big Ten Tournament and handled Indiana and Northwestern before falling to Michigan in the final.

For most people, the main surprises in comparison to Wisconsin were the seeds of Maryland and Minnesota. Despite going 3-0 on the season against those teams, the Badgers were far behind them in the seed list. The argument for those two teams being ahead comes mainly in non-conference strength of schedule. Maryland and Minnesota had NCSOS of 116 and 27, respectively, which far outstripped Wisconsin’s number of 276.

Entering Selection Sunday, the general public assumed that the committee were not high on the Big Ten thanks to the Bracket Preview. In reality, however, five of the seven teams that made the field were seeded higher than their average on the Bracket Matrix. Yet, we will have to see how things play out over the next few weeks to look at how the Big Ten will play.

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