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Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Wichita State, Seton Hall rising

By Lukas Harkins

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 30: Jared Rhoden #14 and Myles Cale #22 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrate the win against the DePaul Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena on December 30, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 30: Jared Rhoden #14 and Myles Cale #22 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrate the win against the DePaul Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena on December 30, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – JANUARY 07: Butler of the Bears handles. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS – JANUARY 07: Butler of the Bears handles. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

South Region

(1) Baylor vs. (16) South Dakota State

(8) Houston vs. (9) Marquette

(4) Dayton vs. (13) Louisiana Tech

(5) Arizona vs. (12) East Tennessee State

(6) Michigan vs. (11) VCU

(3) Florida State vs. (14) Georgia State

(7) Rutgers vs. (10) Texas Tech

(2) Auburn vs. (15) UC Irvine

Baylor has one of the best collection of wins in the country. Honestly, there are very few teams that can boast victories over teams such as Villanova, Butler, Arizona, and Texas Tech already in this young season. While the Bears did a suffer a loss to a current non-tourney team in Washington, they have been absolutely phenomenal in every other contest (and probably should’ve won that game too). Baylor ranks 8th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and it can erupt offensively at any given moment with MaCio Teague and Jared Butler scorching the nets in the backcourt.

Speaking of strong defensive teams, Rutgers is steadily moving up seed lines. The Scarlet Knights are currently in the midst of a six-game winning streak that includes victories over Wisconsin, Seton Hall, and Penn State. The last of these victories came even while Geo Baker was out with an injury. Ron Harper Jr. has been excellent as of late and their team defense is quite impressive. Good luck scoring inside against Rutgers this season. This is a team to watch.

Lastly, I want to talk about why I have Texas Tech seeded so low. In my opinion, the Red Raiders are a much better team than this seeding would indicate but their resume does not agree with this. Although TTU ranks exactly 27th in all predictive metrics used by the committee, the team sits sub-75 in both KPI and SOR. This is due to the fact that the Red Raiders are just 2-4 in games against Q1+2+3. The vast majority of their wins to date have come in Q4 games. While their wins over Louisville and Oklahoma State were impressive, they also have a losing record against quality opposition. TTU’s seeding should improve as Big 12 play continues.

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