2023-24 Bracketology

[randylahey]

This team does have wins against teams currently ranked 1, 5, 6, and 11. I wouldn't get too down, this team is capable of beating anyone. We have a good team, with good players. We just don't have elite athleticism, so we won't be a dominant team.

The season is going to be a grind. The conference is crazy good again. More losses will come. But come tourney time, we have the talent and experience to make a run

[KUTradition]

lunardi now has statie as one of the first four out

[KUTradition]

prone to upsets, per B/R:

Projected Seed: 3

There is plenty to like about a Baylor rotation that features six double-digit scorers and a top-five perimeter clip in the nation. This has been one of the best offenses to watch in 2023-24.
On the other hand, we have to consider the defense.

Thanks to a slow pace, Baylor—which is 286th in that metric on KenPom—doesn't necessarily give up a ton of points. Still, the Bears are an ugly 334th in transition defense, per Hoop-Math.com.

An efficient, up-tempo offense like Samford or Kentucky on the opening weekend could be a bad matchup for Baylor.

Projected Seed: 3

The bright side is Iowa State boasts a tenacious defense, one that forces turnovers at the highest rate in the country. In the right situations, the Cyclones are an absolute nightmare.

But an ideal opponent will not always await in March.

So much of Iowa State's success hinges on that elite ability to disrupt defensively. Five of the Cyclones' six losses have occurred when the team has forced no more than 15 turnovers, and each one of those setbacks happened on a road or neutral court.

Even a potential low-seeded team—such as Princeton/Yale, Vermont or Charleston—that rarely cedes possession could give Iowa State a fight, let alone a No. 6-type opponent in the second round.
…
Star center Zach Edey is incredible. Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Mason Gillis are excellent three-point shooters, and second-leading scorer Lance Jones is no slouch from the perimeter, either.

But we've seen this movie before.

Purdue has earned a No. 5 seed or better in each of the past seven NCAA tournaments. That span includes three first-round losses and a second-round exit to a No. 11 seed. Reaching the Sweet 16 is hardly a failure, but falling to 15th-seeded Saint Peter's in 2022 was nothing less than a disaster.

Sure, it's a new year and a new team. Virginia went from its historic loss to UMBC in 2018 to winning the national title in 2019, and Purdue is aiming to repeat that inglorious feat in 2024.

Not mentioning the Boilers, however, would be foolish based on the program's recent March Madness history.

[DeletedUser]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C38tVsVs ... Y0N2dqdmY=

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

I'm now predicting KU is going to play Indiana State in the 1st round and Dickinson is going to have a battle against Cream Abdul-Jabbar.

[KUTradition]

i bet he’s a decent free throw shooter

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

i bet he’s a decent free throw shooter

He is. 81% on the season.
Dickinson was 80.2% his second season at UM. He's 64.5% this season. Maybe he's trying to miss?

[DeletedUser]

Wow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4GZpBTO6yf ... B4cHc3cQ==

No love.

[pdub]

South Florida?
Come on Katz.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

College basketball sucks this season. There, I said it.
USF is 20-1 in their last 20. I can't say for sure they aren't the 16th most "powerful" team in the country right now.

[TDub]

least exciting, fun, college basketball season in quite some time really

[MICHHAWK]

least exciting, fun, college basketball season in quite some time really

they tend to be that way when your team is floundering.

[pdub]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... redictions

Vermont wouldn't be a team i'd be overly nervous about.
Can't rebound. Don't cause turnovers. Bad free throw shooters.

South Carolina would be like playing TCU which wouldn't be easy but you could see a win.

It's the matchup with UNC that would be quite the story and I think, just because we're in their heads, we'd probably win, even though they are much better than we are.

[twocoach]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... redictions

Vermont wouldn't be a team i'd be overly nervous about.
Can't rebound. Don't cause turnovers. Bad free throw shooters.

South Carolina would be like playing TCU which wouldn't be easy but you could see a win.

It's the matchup with UNC that would be quite the story and I think, just because we're in their heads, we'd probably win, even though they are much better than we are.

One thing to note is that KU has almost certainly played themselves out of getting placed in Omaha for the first two rounds. Iowa State and Baylor are likely ahead of them now, pushing out to some random location like Pittsburgh in the most recent ESPN Bracket. Do that and KU will almost certainly be facing a road game type atmosphere with few KU fans there.

[MICHHAWK]

pittsburgh is a great city. and much closer to MICHHAWK than omaha.

[randylahey]

lunardi now has statie as one of the first four out

Of all our loses this season I think that one stings me the most. K state didn't even play well that day

[pdub]

UCF is a marginally better team than ksu but we had a 16 point lead on em.
That's the worst of the bunch.

[DeletedUser]

lunardi now has statie as one of the first four out

Of all our loses this season I think that one stings me the most. K state didn't even play well that day

I thought KState played pretty well for them. They are not very good. That was a top 3 or 4 performance for them on the entire season.

[jfish26]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... redictions

Vermont wouldn't be a team i'd be overly nervous about.
Can't rebound. Don't cause turnovers. Bad free throw shooters.

South Carolina would be like playing TCU which wouldn't be easy but you could see a win.

It's the matchup with UNC that would be quite the story and I think, just because we're in their heads, we'd probably win, even though they are much better than we are.

One thing to note is that KU has almost certainly played themselves out of getting placed in Omaha for the first two rounds. Iowa State and Baylor are likely ahead of them now, pushing out to some random location like Pittsburgh in the most recent ESPN Bracket. Do that and KU will almost certainly be facing a road game type atmosphere with few KU fans there.

Call me a bad fan (not undeserved!), but I cannot imagine spending meaningful money to watch this team in the tournament. At least for the first weekend, for sure.

[twocoach]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... redictions

Vermont wouldn't be a team i'd be overly nervous about.
Can't rebound. Don't cause turnovers. Bad free throw shooters.

South Carolina would be like playing TCU which wouldn't be easy but you could see a win.

It's the matchup with UNC that would be quite the story and I think, just because we're in their heads, we'd probably win, even though they are much better than we are.

One thing to note is that KU has almost certainly played themselves out of getting placed in Omaha for the first two rounds. Iowa State and Baylor are likely ahead of them now, pushing out to some random location like Pittsburgh in the most recent ESPN Bracket. Do that and KU will almost certainly be facing a road game type atmosphere with few KU fans there.

Call me a bad fan (not undeserved!), but I cannot imagine spending meaningful money to watch this team in the tournament. At least for the first weekend, for sure.

I have free tickets if they play here in Omaha so I am selfishly hoping they get their shit together and win enough ganes to get here.