Bracketology: Shifting on the top line in the projected field after crazy week
South Region
(1) Virginia vs. (16) Iona
(8) Gonzaga vs. (9) Maryland
(4) Kansas vs. (13) Buffalo
(5) Kentucky vs. (12) Middle Tennessee
(6) Cincinnati vs. (11) Baylor/UCLA
(3) Seton Hall vs. (14) Lipscomb
(7) Florida State vs. (10) SMU
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) Bucknell.
The last team to be awarded a No. 1 seed this week is Tony Bennett’s Virginia Cavaliers. Their strength of schedule might not be the best but it is hard to argue with UVA’s 14-1 record and ridiculously high RPI (2) and KenPom (3) numbers. The Cavaliers’ only loss so far this season came to a highly-regarded Texas Tech team and their defense is as good as ever. In their two best wins, Virginia held North Carolina (49 points) and Rhode Island (55 points) to way below their season averages in scoring.
Related Story: Virginia proves a lot in win over UNC
Even though Michigan State’s resume and RPI are weak, the eye test certainly says that they are one of the best teams in the nation. The Ohio State loss was concerning towards the end of the week but that will hopefully turn out to be an anomaly. Miles Bridges and Tom Izzo have a good thing going this year and it will be hard to stop the Spartans in Big Ten play once they get going. Props to Ohio State for an awesome performance.
On the No. 3 line, Seton Hall moved up thanks to a great comeback win on the road over Butler. It is never easy to win at Hinkle Fieldhouse and it is even more difficult to win when trailing for the majority of the game. Behind awesome games by Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado, the Pirates were able to take a monster win and the outright lead in the Big East.
Kansas and Kentucky, two bluebloods, fill out the next two seeds in what might seem like surprising placements. So far this year, though, neither the Jayhawks nor the Wildcats have been tremendous. They are still deserving of high seeds but need to have a few impressive weeks to move up a line or two.
As per usual, Gonzaga snagged the automatic bid for the WCC this week. The Bulldogs are not as powerful as they were a year ago but return enough pieces to not only win their conference but potentially move up the seed lines with consistent play in the coming weeks.