[rjt721]

This is from before this weekend's action, so Gtown's win over L'ville isn't accounted for.

Agree with you, though, Wisky would be about as bad of a 2 seed as we've seen in years.

[MrFresh]

Im like soo lost with this bracketology. First year really getting into this bracketology stuff. Like how do they divide it into West, Midwest, East, and south? Anyone got a site where i can learn more about this or if you dont mind telling me how they do it i would really appreciate it.

[EaglesPhan36]

I don't necessarily agree, but when you come right down to it - I think he is probably giving Wisconsin's win over Texas on the road alot of value while Georgetown does not have a road win of that caliber. Otherwise, their RPI and SOS are nearly identical.

[rjt721]

I don't necessarily agree, but when you come right down to it - I think he is probably giving Wisconsin's win over Texas on the road alot of value while Georgetown does not have a road win of that caliber. Otherwise, their RPI and SOS are nearly identical.

Would be a shame for the Big 11 champs to receive a higher seed than the outright Big East champs. The caliber of play from the BE to the B11 isn't even comparable.

It's of little significance, though. Wisky will struggle to survive the opening weekend.

[LT Profits]

I think he is probably giving Wisconsin's win over Texas on the road alot of value while Georgetown does not have a road win of that caliber.

I would agree with that if Wisconsin was ranked ahead of Gtown all along, but they actually swapped places recently. I am not sure what happened to justify the swap.

[imgv94]

Wisky is extremely beatable outside of their state.. They benefitted from a weak BIG-TEN.

[Wassymac]

Wisky is extremely beatable outside of their state..

outside of their own state & Texas

[imgv94]

That was one game.. I don't like to judge teams off one game. Was an impressive win though.

[Wassymac]

That was one game.. I don't like to judge teams off one game. Was an impressive win though.

Not saying their great but they've only been beat by 3 teams this year. They'll have earned a 2 if they somehow get past Purdue in the BTT final.

[mofome]

MD is out unless they make a run in the acc

[Junkyard Dog]

the east looks weak in that projection

[Wassymac]

just get Purdue to Denver is my only request

[griffijf]

Here's the thing about WI, and I am from Wisconsin so I think I have the right to say this.

You look at this team, and they have what it takes to make a deep run in the tournament. Sure, they do not have a star like they did last year. However, if they can establish their post play with Butch, and Flowers/Landry/Hughes have solid games, this team can make a run in the tournament.

Bo Ryan once again is proving himself to be one of the most overlooked coaches in DI.

Am I defending the fact they are a 2 seed, absolutely not. But I feel they can make a deep run regardless of their seed (2,3,4).

[LT Profits]

But nobody really answered the question at hand, i.e., what happened recently to cause Wisconsin and Georgetown seeds to get swapped?

[Junkyard Dog]

Unbelievable,these two conferences arent even close.The 5th place Big East team beat the badgers on their home court

[mofome]

I think the Big East is a top 3 conference in college basketball this year. The Big 10 on the other hand is a joke in basketball.

the acc makes a joke of the big-10 each year and the acc isnt very good this year.


big east
big 12
pac 10
a-10
SEC
MAC
MV
Sun Belt
SBR League
big 10

[rjt721]

But nobody really answered the question at hand, i.e., what happened recently to cause Wisconsin and Georgetown seeds to get swapped?

Georgetown beat Louisville (maybe the hottest team in the country) to win the BE outright. Certainly a more impressive accomplishment than Wisky beating Northwestern.

[LT Profits]

Georgetown beat Louisville (maybe the hottest team in the country) to win the BE outright. Certainly a more impressive accomplishment than Wisky beating Northwestern.

Right...yet Wisconsin moved up to a 2 and Gtown dropped to a 3. Hence, my question.

[BuddyBear]

Here's the thing about WI, and I am from Wisconsin so I think I have the right to say this.

You look at this team, and they have what it takes to make a deep run in the tournament. Sure, they do not have a star like they did last year. However, if they can establish their post play with Butch, and Flowers/Landry/Hughes have solid games, this team can make a run in the tournament.

Well, I am from Wisconsin too and I'd be very surprised if they did make a deep run but not completely out of the question. A couple things to consider. 1) They got annihilated by Duke, lost to Marquette (at home where they never lose), lost to Purdue twice (the Big Ten #2 team) and they also played Ohio State only once and did not go to East Lansing (a sure loss). They got very fortunate to beat Indiana and Texas. They played the weakest Big Ten conference schedule and are in a conference that is considered by most experts to be the weakest. Considering their losses are against high quality competition and they pulled a few rabbits out of the hat in other matches, it's possible they could make a deep run but for me I don't see it personally.

Bo Ryan once again is proving himself to be one of the most overlooked coaches in DI.

Bo Ryan in my opinion is one of the more over-rated coaches in the country. Unfortunately the common wisdom is that he is an elite coach, but reality is different than perception! Despite the fact that he has had unprecendented success in the regular season (159-53; 84-30), (1) Bo Ryan only has a 7-6 mark in NCAA play and 2) has never beat a higher seed in the NCAA tournament. The one year he reached the regional semifinals he managed to get victories off three double-digit seeds (Northern Iowa; Bucknell; NC State). So if Bo Ryan is such a great coach, why is it in 6 years he has never beat a seed higher than his????

(3) his NCAA failures are even more pronounced when you consider that on two occassions he has lost basically what amount to home games. A few years ago they were placed in Milwaukee and lost (L.(3)Pittsubugh). Last year, they lost to (7)UNLV in Chicago. Keep in mind they lost in a building they were quite familar with from Big Ten Tournament play. There were maybe 10 UNLV fans and the rest UW fans.

(4) Also, remember Ryan has recruited and had NBA level talent on his teams with Devin Harris and Alondo Tucker. He even had some very good players such as Mike Wilkinson and Kam Taylor and still managed to do very little in the NCAA tournament. So if Bo Ryan had the greatest year basketball year in Badger history and in 2006-07 and has had NBA talent on his team and done nothing, what makes you think he can possibly do anything in the tournament when he has no NBA talent on his team?????

(5) Also keep in mind. that Bo Ryan inhereted a team that had just been to the Final Four in 2000, so we aren't talking about taking over a program in mediocrity. Instead, all Ryan has done is maintain the level of success that Dick Bennet helped built and done nothing more than that.


Look, Bo Ryan is a good coach...maybe a B/B- range but he is certainly not elite by any standard IMO. He's no Izzo, Kryzewski, or even Howland. He's a good coach and defends the home court well but tournament time is not "his time" to say the least. He has underachieved big time. Sure he's an A+ coach if you listen to the broadcasters but keep in mind most broadcasters think Ed Dechellis is a really good coach too.

Am I defending the fact they are a 2 seed, absolutely not. But I feel they can make a deep run regardless of their seed (2,3,4).

Their seed will depend on how they fare in the BTT. If they win it, they'll get a 2 seed most likely. If they don't, I think a 3 seed is appropriate. In any event, UW will be a trendy pick to be upset in the 2nd RD.

I do agree though, their style of play can give teams serious fits. It all depends on Brian Butch. If he plays well, they can reach the regional semifinals at least and who knows. However, if they were to match up against any of the top teams they would be big underdogs. I can even see them being an underdog to a team like Washington State or Vanderbilt.

We'll see how Bucky does, but realistically there is nothing in Bo Ryan's track to suggest that he and Wisconsin will go deep in the tournament.

[griffijf]

(5) Also keep in mind. that Bo Ryan inhereted a team that had just been to the Final Four in 2000, so we aren't talking about taking over a program in mediocrity. Instead, all Ryan has done is maintain the level of success that Dick Bennet helped built and done nothing more than that.

First off, I respect your opinion, and appreciate the insight you provided on Badgers. For the most part I agree with you. However, I still disagree with you on the Bo Ryan subject.

That team was an eight seed, who made a miracle run through the tournament. I don't think it was because they had a plethora of talent, and many would argue that they weren't even top 5 in the Big 10 at the time.

Regardless, great post, and we have one thing in common. Go Bucky!

[rjt721]

Right...yet Wisconsin moved up to a 2 and Gtown dropped to a 3. Hence, my question.

The current Bracketology does have Gtown a 2 and Wisky a 3. The seedings in the initial post that had it the other way around were from before this weekend's action.

[BuddyBear]

First off, I respect your opinion, and appreciate the insight you provided on Badgers. For the most part I agree with you. However, I still disagree with you on the Bo Ryan subject.

That team was an eight seed, who made a miracle run through the tournament. I don't think it was because they had a plethora of talent, and many would argue that they weren't even top 5 in the Big 10 at the time.

Regardless, great post, and we have one thing in common. Go Bucky!

Well, true, but Dick Bennet was one of the best coaches I have ever seen in my lifetime. He was just an amazing coach who did more with less.

Also consider that since Bo Ryan took over, 4 Big Ten teams have reached the Final Four (Indiana '02, Illinois '05, MSU '05, and OSU '07) and three of them have played in the championship game (c.f. MSU '05).

During that time period, UW has had the best record in Big Ten play. So what does that say about Bo Ryan and the tournament. To win 2 Big Ten titles, 2 BTT titles, have more road wins than anyone else, have NBA players, being playing in home friendly sites....and to have 4 other Big Ten teams go farther than he does????

Sorry, but till B.R. does something in the tournament you have to say to yourself the guy is at best a B/B- coach. That's just the way I see it.

[turnip]

This is off topic, but I think South Alabama shouldn't get in as an at large. Their RPI is 24 now, not sure what it will be after the loss tonight. Lunardi had them as a 9.

Other than sweeping WKU (big whoop), they are banking on a win over Miss. St. to outweigh 2 losses to MTSU, a loss to Miami OH and a loss to North Texas. This is why the RPI sucks

[dwaechte]

USA will be a very tough call after tonight. Certainly a team with an RPI like that can still be left out, but they've had a great year in general. Either way, I don't see anything wrong with the Sun Belt being a 2 team conference.

[dwaechte]

Wow. There's going to be a lot of unhappy campers tonight now that both USA and Gonzaga lost. Atleast one, probably two bubble teams just got sunk.

On the bright side, it makes the power conference tourneys that much more interesting. A lot of teams are going to have to go deep to make a good case.

[Wassymac]

I can't stand him but my personal opinion is it doesn't get much better than Bo Ryan. All the guy does is win everywhere he goes...

He won something like 4 DIII titles with Wisconsin Platteville. Then he went to Wisconsin-Mil and revived their program nearly instantly. The work he's done with Wisconsin has been amazing. We have to remember this is Wisconsin we're talking about as they had never won 20 games before Dick Bennett came around. Bennett started the program revival and Ryan has taken it to another level.

He's elite and I can't believe I'm defending him.

[griffijf]

I can't stand him but my personal opinion is it doesn't get much better than Bo Ryan. All the guy does is win everywhere he goes...

He won something like 4 DIII titles with Wisconsin Platteville. Then he went to Wisconsin-Mil and revived their program nearly instantly. The work he's done with Wisconsin has been amazing. We have to remember this is Wisconsin we're talking about as they had never won 20 games before Dick Bennett came around. Bennett started the program revival and Ryan has taken it to another level.

He's elite and I can't believe I'm defending him.

Exactly. I'm shocked that anyone who hasn't followed BIG TEN basketball can even make that comment. He's going to get it done eventually, like all GREAT coaches do.

[BuddyBear]

He's not elite at all.

If you call a 7-6 mark in the NCAA tournament elite, never beating a higher seed in the tournament, and watching 4 other programs from your conference go to the Final Four despite the fact that you've had the best record the past 6 years to me says more than anything underachieving.

He's a decent enough coach but he's not a "big time" coach. Someone like a Tom Izzo is a big time coach. A guy like that can get it done when it counts.

And honestly, who cares what he did at a Division 48 school. I could find a high school coach who is amazing and wins states every eyar...then what? Is that coach better than Coach K? Better than Bob Knight?

Coaches are judged by how they do in March...not whether they can beat Northwestern and Penn State and win in a soft conference.

I'll change my mind once I see Bo Ryan make a nice run in the tournament. Then he can be considered an elite coach.