Bracketology: First projected field following non-conference play
Non-conference play is over and teams are starting to build their potential NCAA Tournament resumes. What does our first Bracketology field look like?
Is it too early for Bracketology? Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still fun. Now that non-conference play is practically complete across the country, it is about that time to start firing up postseason projections. With the year finally flipped to 2018, we are just a few more months away from Selection Sunday, a holiday for all those who follow college basketball.
Considering how young the season is, there is a ton of potential for the projected field to change in the coming months. Not only will teams pick up big wins or suffer disastrous losses but resumes will also change based on the play of the entire nation. What is defined as a “quality win” now might not be that good when it comes to March.
It is also important to note that the NCAA Tournament selection committee has released their new criteria for their team sheets. Here is a look at what the new “tiers” are for team sheets (all rankings using RPI):
- Tier 1: Home games vs. 1-30, neutral-site games vs. 1-50, road games vs. 1-75
- Tier 2: Home games vs. 31-75, neutral-site games vs. 50-100, road games vs. 76-135
- Tier 3: Home games vs. 76-160, neutral-site games vs. 101-200, road games vs. 136-240
- Tier 4: Home games vs. 161+, neutral-site vs. 200+, road games vs. 241+
Without any more introduction into what goes into resumes on paper, here is where my projected bracket looks like (taking into account numbers, resumes, and on-the-court production) as 2018 is getting underway, starting with the East Region.