FanPost

Final 2017 Schmolik 64!

Hello, college basketball fans!

It's the moment anyone who actually reads this is waiting for, the 2017 Schmolik 64!

East Regional
New York
Fri/Sun March 24-26
Buffalo 1 Villanova* 31-3
Thur/Sat March 16-18 16
8 Maryland 23-8
9 Virgina Tech 22-10
Buffalo 5 SMU* 30-4
Thur/Sat March 16-18 12
4 West Virginia 26-8
13 Vermont* 28-5
Sacramento 6 Wisconsin 25-9
Fri/Sun March 18-20 11 Rhode Island* 24-9
3 UCLA 29-4
14 New Mexico State* 25-5
Greenville, SC 7 Minnesota 24-9
Fri/Sun March 17-19 10 Xavier 21-13
2 North Carolina 26-7
15 Mt. St. Mary's* 19-15
West Regional
San Jose
Thur/Sat March 23-25
Salt Lake City 1 Gonzaga* 32-1
Thur/Sat March 16-18 16 New Orleans* 17-11
8 Dayton 23-7
9 Oklahoma State 19-12
Orlando 5 Virginia 22-10
Thur/Sat March 16-18 12 Middle Tennessee* 29-4
4 Florida 24-8
13 East Tennessee State* 25-7
Indianapolis 6 Michigan* 24-11
Fri/Sun March 17-19 11
3 Louisville 24-8
14 Florida Gulf Coast* 23-7
Salt Lake City 7 St. Mary's 28-4
Thur/Sat March 16-18 10 South Carolina 21-10
2 Arizona* 30-4
15 North Dakota* 19-9
Midwest Regional
Kansas City
Thur/Sat March 23-25
Tulsa 1 Kansas 28-4
Fri/Sun March 17-19 16
8 Arkansas 25-9
9 Seton Hall 21-11
Milwaukee 5 Purdue 25-7
Thur/Sat March 16-18 12 Princeton* 22-6
4 Notre Dame 25-9
13 Bucknell* 26-8
Sacramento 6 Cincinnati 29-5
Fri/Sun March 18-20 11 Nevada* 28-6
3 Oregon 28-5
14 Iona* 22-12
Orlando 7 VCU 26-8
Thur/Sat March 16-18 10 Michigan State 19-14
2 Florida State 25-8
15 Texas Southern* 23-11
South Regional
Memphis
Fri/Sun March 24-26
Greenville, SC 1 Duke* 27-8
Fri/Sun March 17-19 16 Jacksonville State* 18-14
8 Vanderbilt 19-15
9 Wichita State* 29-4
Milwaukee 5 Iowa State* 23-10
Thur/Sat March 16-18 12 UNC Wilmington* 27-5
4 Butler 23-8
13 Winthrop* 24-6
Tulsa 6 Creighton 24-9
Fri/Sun March 17-19 11 Wake Forest 19-13
3 Baylor 24-7
14 Northern Kentucky* 22-10
Indianapolis 7 Miami 21-11
Fri/Sun March 17-19 10 Northwestern 23-11
2 Kentucky* 29-5
15 Kent State* 21-13

Play In Games
Dayton E Troy* 20-14
Tue March 17 16 NC Central* 22-8
Dayton MW South Dakota State* 16-16
Wed March 18 16 UC Davis* 20-12
Dayton E Marquette 19-12
Tue March 17 12 Syracuse 18-14
Dayton W Providence 20-12
Wed March 18 11 Illinois State 26-6

Bids By Conference:

ACC: 10 (Duke, UNC, FSU, Lville, ND, Va, Mia, VaT, WF, Syr)

Big East: 7 (Vill, Butl, Creig, SH, Xav, Prov, Marq)

Big Ten: 7 (Pur, Wisc, Minn, Mich, Md, MSU, NW)

Big 12: 5 (Kan, Bay, WV, ISU, OkSt)

SEC: 5 (Ky, Fla, Ark, Vandy, SC)

Pac 12: 3 (Ariz, Ore, UCLA)

A-10: 3 (VCU, Day, RI)

WCC: 2 (Gonz, St. M)

AAC: 2 (SMU, Cin)

MVC: 2 (Wich St, ISU)

One Bid Conferences: 22

Highest RPI (courtesy of CBS Sports.com) left out: USC (41), UT-Arlington (45), Monm (48), Ga (52), Hou (53), Cal (54)

Compare my bracket to others in the Bracket Matrix.

Comments:

My best guess at the questions you have:

Q: Why Duke as #1 instead of North Carolina?

A: ACC Tournament championship, 2-1 record vs. UNC, eight top 25 wins vs. six for the Tar Heels.

Q: Doesn't the ACC regular season matter?

A: It does. But if you look at the two's ACC schedule:

Throw out the head to head.

North Carolina played FSU, Lville, ND, and Va. They only played Va on the road.

Duke only played FSU at home. They played FSU, Lville, ND, and Va on the road.

Assuming the home team should win all games, UNC should be 4-1 and Duke should be 1-4. UNC was indeed 4-1 but Duke was 3-2 (they beat ND and Va on the road). This also doesn't count the fact that Duke played at (and lost) at Syracuse, who only lost one conference home game while North Carolina also played them at home. UNC did win the regular season but the schedule was way in their favor.

I said previously I thought Kansas didn't deserve to be a #1 seed because of their choke job vs. TCU in what was basically a home game for them and would love to have put both UNC and Duke as #1's and drop Kansas to a #2. But Kansas beat Duke so I had no choice but to keep Kansas a #1 and drop Carolina to a #2.

Q: Why Florida State as a #2?

A: Six top 25 wins, eleven top 50 wins, head to head victory over Louisville.

Q: Why Vanderbilt a #8?

A: They improved their RPI a lot lately, beat Florida three times (including the season finale and the SEC tournament) and has five top 25 wins (also beat Iowa State and Arkansas). They also played the toughest schedule and non conference schedule in the country.

Q: Why Illinois State in?

A: High RPI (#33). 17-1 in MVC play including a win over champion Wichita State. Should they be blamed for the weak MVC this year or the fact that most major conference teams don't want to play them?

Q: Why Syracuse in?

A: Obviously not their RPI (#84, the lowest I remember ever accepting). But they have three top 25 wins (Duke, Florida State, and Virginia) and six top 50 wins along with a 10-8 conference record in the toughest conference record. The head to head win over Wake Forest also helped.

Q: Why USC out?

A: They would have made it if Rhode Island lost today. Only two Top 50 wins. Poor conference RPI. A loss at home to California also hurts them.

Q: Why Kansas State out?

A: Two of their big wins come against a struggling Baylor. Only four Top 50 wins which pales in comparison to Syracuse's six and RPI #57, way lower than Illinois State.

According to the latest Bracket Matrix, Syracuse and Illinois State are the two teams chosen by the least number of brackets in the matrix and USC and Kansas State are the two teams chosen by the most brackets.

Almost time for the real field to be announced and come later tonight/tomorrow you will hear my complaints.

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