MBB: Iowa Basketball and the Postseason

 

Iowa Basketball.  Postseason Play.

The juxtaposition of those two phrases above used to be something not out of the ordinary.   In fact, on an annual basis in March, “postseason” and “Iowa” used to be synonymous with each other.   Dating back to Lute’s first run in the NCAA Tournament in 1979 (and up to Alford’s last season), Iowa went to the postseason 22 times in a 25 year span.  17 of those postseason berths were in the NCAA Tournament and the other 5 were NIT invites (2 by Dr. Tom in a 13 year span and 3 by Alford in an 8 year span).  Steve Alford’s last year as coach at Iowa would be the beginning of a five year postseason drought for a Hawkeye Basketball program that rarely missed a bid.
 

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE ON HAWKEYENATION.COM

My 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket

Forgot to post this, here it is...


(click image for full-size)

Can My 8 Month Son Pick the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket Better Than Me? The Secret to Filling Out Your Bracket

Last year it was the infamous Triscuit Cracker Box that went up against me...



And it FAILED MISERABLY.

This year another contender steps up to the plate to prove once and for all that filling out your bracket might just be a glorious crap shoot.

Here was the premise. I printed out all of the teams (with their record to help him out, of course) and presented him with each matchup as it came up. I randomly chose which side each team was presented to him to avoid biasing the results.

The winner of the round was determined by staying in play the longest on the table.

Rulings included:

• First team to be tossed off the table was out.
• First team to be eaten (or inserted into the mouth) was out.
• In the event of a tie, the top facing team in the mouth was out.
• The NCAA Champion was selected by the first team chosen of the two contenders.

Let's Go! (NOTE: All pics are clickable for larger images)


Studying the Field

FIRST ROUND


Morehead State was the first to fall.



Ohio State suffered the same fate. Perhaps he has a vendetta against the State colleges?


Usually he likes Hug(gin)s, but the little man took down the Mountaineers


Midwest: First round winners


He just HAD to take down his dad's alma mater, didn't he?


West: First round winners


East: First round winners


South: First round winners


END OF FIRST ROUND - He managed to keep three 1 seeds, three 2 seeds, and three 3 seeds.

SECOND ROUND


And DOWN GOES MICHIGAN STATE! Literally...


Sweet Sixteen, Baby! All the 3 seeds were knocked off, two 1 seeds and two 2 seeds still alive... and in all honesty, that West Region could really happen.

THIRD ROUND


Some of the Big Boys made it past the Sweet Sixteen.

FOURTH ROUND


A couple 5 vs 1 battles in the Final Four

FIFTH ROUND

Video coverage of the Final Four action:



Utah and FSU survive to play in the championship game - Two #5 seeds willed their way into the Championship Game.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Video footage of the exciting Championship Game:


And the winner is....


.............................


UTAH!



Congratulations to the Utes out of the Mountain West Conference!

QUEUE THE MONTAGE!


Here are the brackets (clickable for bigger image) -

Pax's:


Mine:


I am really torn on the West. I think Missouri has a legitimate chance to get to the Final Four. Here's my alternate bracket:

MEN'S BB: Who Needs the NCAA Tourney When You Have the N.I.T.?

At least that's what Google Trends is telling us...

MEN'S BB: 2009 NCAA Tournament & My Bubble Team Analysis (FINAL UPDATE)

STORMINSPANK'S BRACKETOLOGY

Final Look at Bubble Teams for 2009 and Projecting the NCAA Tourney Field.
This will likely be the last update, beside editing for the Big Ten champion.

UPDATES:
Mississippi State IN
Florida or Auburn OUT, I don't think both get in. I had Florida ranked higher than Auburn, but I like Auburn's play as of late, it will be tough to keep both in. It will have to be one of the two to be knocked out.


LAST FOUR IN:

Florida

Dayton

Creighton

San Diego State

LAST SIX OUT:

Auburn

Boston College

Arizona

Maryland

St Mary's

Penn State

TEAMS THAT I THINK ARE LOCKS/AUTOBIDS (parenthesis contain total number of bids for the conference; the first number is the locks and the second number is the total bids the conference will get as of right now).

LOCKS

NUMBER ONE SEEDS: NORTH CAROLINA, UCONN, MEMPHIS, LOUISVILLE

Am East (1/1) - BINGHAMTON
ACC (5/5) - DUKE, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State
A. Sun (1/1) - ETSU
A-10 (2/3) - TEMPLE, Xavier
Big East (7/7) - LOUISVILLE, UConn, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
Big Sky (1/1) - PORTLAND STATE
Big South (1/1) - RADFORD
Big Ten (4/7) - Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State
Big 12 (6/6) - MISSOURI, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M
Big West (1/1) - CSN or PACIFIC
CAA (1/1) - VCU
CUSA (1/1) - MEMPHIS
Horizon (1/2) - CLEVELAND STATE
Ivy (1/1) - CORNELL
MAAC (1/1) - SIENNA
MAC (1/1) - AKRON
MEAC (1/1) - MORGAN STATE
MVC (1/2) - NORTHERN IOWA
MWC (2/3) - UTAH, BYU
NEC (1/1) - ROBERT MORRIS
OVC (1/1) - MOREHEAD STATE
Patriot (1/1) - AMERICAN
Pac-10 (5/5 ) - USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington, California
SEC (3/4) - MISSISSIPPI STATE, LSU, Tennessee
Southern (1/1) - CHATTANOOGA
Southland (1/1) - SF AUSTIN
Summit (1/1) - NORTH DAKOTA STATE
SWAC (1/1) - ALABAMA STATE
Sun Belt (1/1) - WESTERN KENTUCKY
WCC (1/1) - GONZAGA
WAC (1/1) - UTAH STATE

CAP/BOLD TEAMS WON THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BUBBLE TEAMS

8 spots are up for grabs - 29 teams up for the spots.

65 teams - 57 listed above = 8 bubble teams.

Those teams IN are noted with an asterisk (*).

ACC:
Miami
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia Tech

A10:
Dayton *
Rhode Island

BIG EAST:
Providence

BIG TEN:
Wisconsin *
Michigan *
Minnesota *
Penn State
Northwestern

BIG XII:
Kansas State
Nebraska

C-USA:
UAB
Tulsa

HORIZON:
Butler *

MVC:
Creighton *
Illinois State

MWC:
UNLV
New Mexico
San Diego State *

PAC-10:
Arizona

SEC:
Auburn
South Carolina
Florida *
Kentucky

SOUTHERN:
Davidson

WCC:
St. Mary's

MEN'S BB: 2009 NCAA Tournament & My Bubble Team Analysis (Saturday Night Update)

STORMINSPANK'S BRACKETOLOGY

2nd Official Look at Bubble Teams for 2009 and Projecting the NCAA Tourney Field.
This will likely be the last update, as tomorrow's games really have limited bearing on the field.

UPDATES:
Oklahoma State moves from Bubble to Lock.
Wisconsin moves from Lock to Bubble.
Ohio State moves from Bubble to Lock.
Utah State moves from Bubble to Lock.
Penn State OUT.
St. Mary's OUT.
Arizona OUT.
Auburn IN.
SDSU IN.
USC IN.
Temple IN.

LAST FIVE IN:

Florida

Dayton

Creighton

Auburn

San Diego State

LAST FIVE OUT:

Boston College

Arizona

Maryland

St Mary's

Penn State

TEAMS THAT I THINK ARE LOCKS/AUTOBIDS (parenthesis contain total number of bids for the conference; the first number is the locks and the second number is the total bids the conference will get as of right now).

LOCKS

NUMBER ONE SEEDS: NORTH CAROLINA, UCONN, MEMPHIS, LOUISVILLE

Am East (1/1) - BINGHAMTON
ACC (5/5) - North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State
A. Sun (1/1) - ETSU
A-10 (2/3) - TEMPLE, Xavier
Big East (7/7) - UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
Big Sky (1/1) - PORTLAND STATE
Big South (1/1) - RADFORD
Big Ten (4/7) - Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State
Big 12 (6/6) - Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M
Big West (1/1) - CSN or PACIFIC
CAA (1/1) - VCU
CUSA (1/1) - MEMPHIS
Horizon (1/2) - CLEVELAND STATE
Ivy (1/1) - CORNELL
MAAC (1/1) - SIENNA
MAC (1/1) - AKRON
MEAC (1/1) - MORGAN STATE
MVC (1/2) - NORTHERN IOWA
MWC (2/3) - UTAH, BYU
NEC (1/1) - ROBERT MORRIS
OVC (1/1) - MOREHEAD STATE
Patriot (1/1) - AMERICAN
Pac-10 (5/5 ) - USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington, California
SEC (2/4) - LSU, Tennessee
Southern (1/1) - CHATTANOOGA
Southland (1/1) - UTSA or SF AUSTIN
Summit (1/1) - NORTH DAKOTA STATE
SWAC (1/1) - ALABAMA STATE
Sun Belt (1/1) - WESTERN KENTUCKY
WCC (1/1) - GONZAGA
WAC (1/1) - UTAH STATE


CAP/BOLD TEAMS WON THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BUBBLE TEAMS

9 spots are up for grabs - 29 teams up for the spots.

65 teams - 56 listed above = 9 bubble teams.

Those teams IN are noted with an asterisk (*).

ACC:
Miami
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia Tech

A10:
Dayton *
Rhode Island

BIG EAST:
Providence

BIG TEN:
Wisconsin *
Michigan *
Minnesota *
Penn State
Northwestern

BIG XII:
Kansas State
Nebraska

C-USA:
UAB
Tulsa

HORIZON:
Butler *

MVC:
Creighton *
Illinois State

MWC:
UNLV
New Mexico
San Diego State *

PAC-10:
Arizona

SEC:
Auburn *
South Carolina
Florida *
Kentucky

SOUTHERN:
Davidson

WCC:
St. Mary's

Ranking of the Bubble Teams (As of 3/14/2009)							9 Teams
Rank	Prev. Rank	+/-	Team	Conference	Overall	Conf	RPI	SOS	L10	Top 50 Record	Prev RPI	RPI Diiff
1	3	2	Butler	Horizon	26-5	15-3	22	94	7-3	2-1	24	2
2	6	4	Michigan	B10	20-13	9-9	43	11	5-5	6-10	42	-1
3	0	-3	Wisconsin	B10	19-12	10-8	48	12	7-3	4-10	48	0
4	10	6	Minnesota	B10	22-10	9-9	37	33	4-6	5-8	40	3
5	9	4	Florida	SEC	23-10	9-7	51	84	4-6	1-5	48	-3
6	4	-2	Dayton	A10	26-7	11-5	30	89	6-4	3-2	23	-7
7	12	5	Creighton	MVC	26-7	14-4	41	112	9-1	2-2	41	0
8	17	9	Auburn	SEC	22-11	10-6	59	67	9-1	2-3	66	7
9	21	12	SDSU	MWC	23-9	11-5	26	51	7-3	2-5	43	17
10	15	5	Boston College	ACC	22-11	9-7	56	58	5-5	4-5	56	0
11	8	-3	Arizona	P10	19-13	9-9	57	32	5-5	6-10	53	-4
12	20	8	Maryland	ACC	20-13	7-9	52	22	6-4	4-7	67	15
13	7	-6	St Mary's	WCC	26-6	10-4	47	148	7-3	2-3	45	-2
14	11	-3	Penn State	B10	22-11	10-8	67	87	5-5	6-9	64	-3
15	13	-2	UAB	CUSA	22-11	11-5	46	73	7-3	0-5	44	-2
16	18	2	UNLV	MWC	21-10	9-7	65	81	4-6	4-5	57	-8
17	14	-3	New Mexico	MWC	21-11	12-4	66	79	8-2	3-4	58	-8
18	23	5	Davidson	Southern	26-7	18-2	72	164	6-4	1-4	72	0
19	32	13	Virginia Tech	ACC	18-14	7-9	58	19	3-7	2-9	63	5
20	16	-4	South Carolina	SEC	21-9	10-6	63	93	5-5	1-4	49	-14
21	29	8	Tulsa	CUSA	24-10	12-4	61	108	8-2	3-6	61	0
22	22	0	Kansas State	B12	21-11	9-7	83	96	6-4	3-7	75	-8
23	26	3	Rhode Island	A10	22-10	11-5	68	122	7-3	2-5	65	-3
24	27	3	Nebraska	B12	18-12	8-8	78	57	6-4	4-8	68	-10
25	28	3	Providence	Big East	19-13	10-8	71	50	5-5	2-9	70	-1
26	30	4	Illinois State	MVC	24-9	11-7	45	106	5-5	2-2	46	1
27	31	4	Kentucky	SEC	20-13	8-8	79	60	4-6	3-4	81	2
28	25	-3	Northwestern	B10	17-13	8-10	74	45	4-6	6-10	69	-5
29	33	4	Miami	ACC	18-12	7-9	59	29	4-6	2-7	52	-7

Saturday Edtion of Storminspank's Bracketology Coming Later Tonight

Several changes (as always on the day before Selection Sunday).

Some off the top of my head are Wisconsin moving from a lock to on the bubble, but IN. Also Oklahoma State is easily a lock, and Ohio State is most certainly a lock, as well. There will also be bubble spots taken away as some conf. tourney champs have stolen them from others.

Later tonight, I will put out my updated list.

MEN'S BB: 2009 Big Ten Tournament Predictions

I think whomever wins the Iowa-UM game has a VERY good shot at doing some damage. The problem is, I think UM wins it today. Here's how I see the bracket:

MEN'S BB: 2009 NCAA Tournament & My Bubble Team Analysis (Wednesday Night Update)

STORMINSPANK'S BRACKETOLOGY

Initial Look at Bubble Teams for 2009 and Projecting the NCAA Tourney Field

TEAMS THAT I THINK ARE LOCKS/AUTOBIDS (parenthesis contain total number of bids for the conference; the first number is the locks and the second number is the total bids the conference will get as of right now).

As always, it is assumed for the major conferences that the locks will contain the conf. tourney champion. If someone who isn't a lock wins the conf. tourney, obviously a bubble spot is removed. The Bubble is very fluid the next couple days, a team like Ohio State can win it's first tourney game and they would then go to the lock category, or, as previously mentioned, a non-locked team could win its conf tourney, removing a bubble spot.

LOCKS

NUMBER ONE SEEDS: NORTH CAROLINA, UCONN, MEMPHIS, PITT

Am East (1/1) - UMBC or BINGHAMTON
ACC (5/5) - North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest , Clemson, Florida State
A. Sun (1/1) - ETSU
A-10 (1/2) - Xavier
Big East (7/7) - UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
Big Sky (1/1) - PORTLAND STATE
Big South (1/1) - RADFORD
Big Ten (4/8) - Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin
Big 12 (5/6) - Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M
Big West (1/1) - AUTOBID
CAA (1/1) - VCU
CUSA (1/1) - Memphis
Horizon (1/2) - CLEVELAND STATE
Ivy (1/1) - CORNELL
MAAC (1/1) - SIENNA
MAC (1/1) - AUTOBID
MEAC (1/1) - AUTOBID
MVC (1/2) - NORTHERN IOWA
MWC (2/2) - Utah, BYU
NEC (1/1) - ROBERT MORRIS
OVC (1/1) - MOREHEAD STATE
Patriot (1/1) - AMERICAN or HOLY CROSS
Pac-10 (4/5 ) - UCLA, Arizona State, Washington, California
SEC (2/3) - LSU, Tennessee
Southern (1/1) - CHATTANOOGA
Southland (1/1) - AUTOBID
Summit (1/1) - NORTH DAKOTA STATE
SWAC (1/1) - AUTOBID
Sun Belt (1/) - WESTERN KENTUCKY
WCC (1/2) - GONZAGA
WAC (1/1) - AUTOBID (Should be Utah State, if it is, a Bubble spot opens up)


CAP/BOLD TEAMS WON THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BUBBLE TEAMS

12 spots are up for grabs - 33 teams up for the spots.

65 teams - 31 automatic bid = 34 at large teams - 22 locks (I assume a lock wins the conf tourney)= 12 bubble teams. Or an easier way to look at it: 65 teams - 53 listed above = 12 bubble teams.

Those teams IN are noted with an asterisk (*).

ACC:
Miami
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia Tech

A10:
Dayton *
Temple
Rhode Island

BIG EAST:
Providence

BIG TEN:
Ohio State *
Michigan *
Minnesota *
Penn State *
Northwestern

BIG XII:
Oklahoma State *
Kansas State
Nebraska

C-USA:
UAB
Tulsa

HORIZON:
Butler *

MVC:
Creighton *
Illinois State

MWC:
UNLV
New Mexico
San Diego State

PAC-10:
Arizona *
USC

SEC:
Auburn
South Carolina
Florida *
Kentucky

SOUTHERN:
Davidson

WCC:
Utah State *

WCC:
St. Mary's *

Ranking of the Bubble Teams (As of 3/11/2009)							12 Teams
Rank	Prev. Rank	+/-	Team	Conference	Overall	Conf	RPI	SOS	L10	Top 50 Record	Prev RPI	RPI Diiff
1	NA	####	Oklahoma State	B12	21-10	9-7	25	9	7-3	3-9	25	0
2	NA	####	Ohio State	B10	20-9	10-8	36	31	6-4	5-8	36	0
3	NA	####	Butler	Horizon	26-5	15-3	24	94	7-3	2-1	24	0
4	NA	####	Dayton	A10	25-6	11-5	23	95	6-4	4-2	23	0
5	NA	####	Utah State	WAC	27-4	14-2	26	137	7-3	1-2	26	0
6	NA	####	Michigan	B10	19-12	9-9	42	10	5-5	6-9	42	0
7	NA	####	St Mary's	WCC	25-6	10-4	45	144	7-3	2-3	45	0
8	NA	####	Arizona	P10	19-12	9-9	53	32	6-4	5-8	53	0
9	NA	####	Florida	SEC	22-9	9-7	48	86	4-6	2-6	48	0
10	NA	####	Minnesota	B10	21-9	9-9	40	38	4-6	5-7	40	0
11	NA	####	Penn State	B10	21-10	10-8	64	82	5-5	6-8	64	0
12	NA	####	Creighton	MVC	26-7	14-4	41	107	9-1	3-2	41	0
13	NA	####	UAB	CUSA	21-10	11-5	44	75	8-2	0-5	44	0
14	NA	####	New Mexico	MWC	21-10	12-4	58	80	8-2	3-4	58	0
15	NA	####	Boston College	ACC	21-10	9-7	56	58	6-4	4-4	56	0
16	NA	####	South Carolina	SEC	21-8	10-6	49	93	6-4	1-5	49	0
17	NA	####	Auburn	SEC	21-10	10-6	66	71	8-2	2-5	66	0
18	NA	####	UNLV	MWC	21-9	9-7	57	85	5-5	4-4	57	0
19	NA	####	Temple	A10	19-10	11-5	39	49	7-3	1-5	39	0
20	NA	####	Maryland	ACC	18-12	7-9	67	27	5-5	2-7	67	0
21	NA	####	San Diego State	MWC	21-8	11-5	43	66	7-3	1-5	43	0
22	NA	####	Kansas State	B12	21-10	9-7	75	98	7-3	3-5	75	0
23	NA	####	Davidson	Southern	26-7	18-2	72	164	6-4	1-4	72	0
24	NA	####	USC	P10	18-12	9-9	59	30	4-6	2-8	59	0
25	NA	####	Northwestern	B10	17-12	8-10	69	45	5-5	6-9	69	0
26	NA	####	Rhode Island	A10	22-9	11-5	65	123	8-2	2-5	65	0
27	NA	####	Nebraska	B12	18-12	8-8	68	54	6-4	3-7	68	0
28	NA	####	Providence	Big East	19-12	10-8	70	47	4-6	2-7	70	0
29	NA	####	Tulsa	CUSA	22-9	12-4	61	97	8-2	2-6	61	0
30	NA	####	Illinois State	MVC	24-9	11-7	46	106	5-5	2-1	46	0
31	NA	####	Kentucky	SEC	19-12	8-8	81	62	3-7	4-6	81	0
32	NA	####	Virginia Tech	ACC	17-13	7-9	63	23	3-7	2-8	63	0
33	NA	####	Miami	ACC	18-11	7-9	52	24	4-6	2-7	52	0

NOTES: The Big Ten has a lot to lose in the Big Ten Tourney. Minnesota, Michigan, and Penn State can play themselves out of the Dance with a loss in the first round. While the SEC teams have everything to gain in their conf. tourney. Auburn and SC can punch their cards with a couple wins.

MEN'S BB: 2009 NCAA Tournament & My Bubble Team Analysis (Previous Results)

Over the past four years (and the original reason I set up this blog) I have made my predictions on who gets in and who stays home on Selection Sunday. During Championship Week, I usually unveil who I think is in/out. Normally at the end of February / beginning of March I put out my Bubble Watch - I slept on that this year. And even this post is about 4 days overdue. I am currently working on my list 65, including my shake of bubble teams.

Here's a look at previous years:

2008 - 64 out of 65 teams correctly picked. (98.7%, .981 overall)
2007 - 63 out of 65 teams correctly picked. (96.9%, .979 overall)
2006 - 63 out of 65 teams correctly picked. (96.9%, .985 overall)
2005 - 65 out of 65 teams correctly picked. (100%, 1.000 overall)

2009 picks to be released very soon.