3rd Annual NLS Bracket Challenge- UPDATED

Click here to join! 

This year's contest is co-sponsored by the Virginian Federalist, a Republican leaning blog here in Virginia.  Last year we had a number of elected officials and celebrities join- we will try to do that again this year.

Also, for those interested, we are also getting a Fantasy Baseball League together like last year, Sean Holihan is putting it together, and I will check with him on how to get people signed up for that and post it this week.

UPDATE:  Deadline to join is Thursday morning. So far we have 116 participants- including ten in our elected official category:  Delegates Brian Moran, Tim Hugo, Ed Scott, Chuck Caputo, David Englin, Kris Amundson, and Paul Nichols, Senator Ken Cuccinelli, Former Senator Brandon Bell and Congressman Jim Moran.  More have said they are going to join- we will see who gets their brackets in on time. Will Sal Iaquinto stand on his tip-toes long enough to get his picks in?  We'll see Thursday morning!

Comments

[t]

Oral Roberts will defeat GMU in the final.

t speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaks

Screw GMU, especially since their AD is the committee chairman of such an awful bracket.

[George Templeton]

The mid-majors got the shaft again, but hey what's new. Here's hoping Marquette crushes Kentucky and prove the Wildcats didn't deserve to get in.

How did the mid-majors get screwed? The ACC was the #1 conference in RPI and only got 4 teams in.

[the poster formerly known as 147.]

vatech got screwed.

[Doug]

VT got screwed by the one t lost. George Mason is this year's George Mason.

[George Templeton]

No VCU (win their league by 3 games), no Illinois State (second-place team in No. 8 conference).
Tech: 0-4 against top 3 in the ACC. Lost to Penn State, Richmond, ODU. Margin of victory isn't supposed to count and if it is, then the blowout to UNC should count as much as the close game.
1-7 vs. Top 50.
The ACC might be the No. 1 conference but there 4-12 was incredibly mediocre and inconsistent. I would've rather seen Tech in than Villanova or the worse one, Kentucky!

VT- 10 wins in the #1 conference. The team that lost to those weaklings early on was completely different than the one that took off come conference play. Its like Digger Phelps said tonight, those games were "preseason". 4-12 are so "inconsistent" because they're playing in the nation's premier conference and beat each other up.

VT rpi > VCU rpi. VT schedule > VCU schedule. Where are their big wins? Its easy to win 24 games when you play JMU and Georgia State in conference. Thats not saying I don't think VCU deserved it over some other teams. Perhaps they'll get a chance to settle this topic during the NIT second round.

You wanna look at margin of victory? Well go ahead, but look at it both ways. 6 of VT's losses were by a mere 3 points or less. #24 Clemson only beat VT by 1 point. Beat tourney bound Miami by 14 in the tournament, when it matters most. And of course, #1 UNC took a last second shot to beat VT in the ACC semis. The NCAA tournament is about playing with the big boys, and VT proved they can do just that.

[George Templeton]

Tech RPI: 54
VCU RPI: 55
9-7 in the ACC, pretty good, but that is why there schedule is so much better (and it is supposed to be).
In the part of the schedule where each team had a choice in who to play, it is a bit different.

Tech non-conf RPI: 77
VCU non-conf RPI: 62
Tech non-conf SOS: 134
VCU non-conf SOS: 85

And Digger (and his fellow big-conference tail kisser Jay Bilas) is wrong. All of your season counts, not part of it, all of it (unless your Kentucky).

Overall SOS will always be in favor of the big teams because the system the RPI (although much fairer) is still weighted in the BCS conference's favor.

I don't care what league you are in winning 24 games is tough unless you schedule a string of cupcakes all at home.

Road+Neutral record:
VCU: 12-6
Tech: 7-11
Joe Lunardi calibrates road RPI and calls it LunaRPI
VCU: 33
Tech: 101

There are many objective measures there that can point to VCU having a better case than Tech. Even taking in their supposed improved performance down the stretch, Tech only went 7-5 in their final 12 games.

My point is this: Oregon, Villanova, Kentucky out. VCU, Tech, Illinois State in and we would have a much better and fairer bracket.

[George Templeton]

And lets remember to blame Arkansas. Had they won, Tech may have made it in. Georgia took up a spot by winning the SEC.

Don't forget, the CAA isn't the greatest conference, but it is a good one. Its had multiple bids the past couple of years and CAA teams have won NCAA games the last two years. In the last two years Michigan St, UNC, Duke and UConn have all lost to CAA teams in the tournament. And VCU won the league by 3 whole games.

George-
I agree with you on a lot of those points, but my point is this: I think what VT did was more impressive than what VCU did. I agree with you on those 3 teams out, but I would put VT, Arizona State, and probably VCU in. I'm just more impressed with what Tech did than what VCU did. (sweeping BC, UVa, and MD is more impressive than sweeping Delaware and Ga St.) Also, look at how the seasons ended. VCU beats towson and loses to William & Mary. VT pops Miami and barely loses to #1UNC.
I also don't think VCU goes .500 in the ACC.
All of your season does count, but you have to take into account the intangibles. VT lost some bad games, close, earlier in the season. It was a completely different team when we hit the big games and conference play. Had the Hokies played a little better (1 game even?) out of conference then they're in. It seems out of conference was most important this year anyway...

Oh, and throw Arizona out as well.

And one more thing- I hope kentucky gets railed as well.

[Doug]

Oh, we'll see VT vs. VCU round 2 NIT. Then we'll know more! Of course, they may throw a hissy and end up blowing the NIT, that's what the football team would do :)

[Doug]

Oh, my NIT prediction second round is:

VT 76
VCU 58

[Not Wayne Rooney]

Hey VT fans, can I get some cheese and crackers with that whine? You missed the tournament because you didn't have enough wins, get over it.

NWR-
No whining here. I'm ecstatic that a team with 6 true freshman (starting 3 of them) won 10 ACC games and made it to postseason play. By all means, we exceeded expectations by finishing 4th in a league we were expecting to finish 10th in. Analyzing the work of the pencil-pushers on the selection committee, however, I will do. Not to mention your "not enough wins" argument is weak since Tech had > or = wins of several other tournament schools.

[proudvadem]

Has anyone out there ever heard of the CBI tournament? Supposedly it's new but Im not finding anything online about it.

[Doug]

I like cheese and I like wine. Mason is heading to the finaly four again!

[Not Wayne Rooney]

Yes, George Mason is going to the Final Four. I hear they got a group discount on tickets to the games. I hope they get seats near mid-court.

[Phil Chroniger]

I've got UCLA winning it all over Georgetown...of course, since Maryland isn't in the tournament, I don't really care who wins...though, I guess I'm rooting for the Hoyas out of locality to my birthplace.

[Sam]

proudvadem,

All I know is that my poor hoos are going to it (the CBI)... hopefully it'll be awesome

[GOALP]

Nothing awesome about the CBI. Teams actually have to pay to be in it (60-70,000). Also, they're taking anyone they can get. Example- Cincy with a 13-18 record.

[Doug]

It's pretty funny, I remember being so proud of GMU winning the NIT in the 80s, waaaaaay before the internets. For mid-majors, waaaaay before that term existed, that was a huge deal. Now my pats are dancing again, and my hokies are in the NIT as a 1 seed.

I have no clue what the CBI is.

[Jamie Gregorian]

"Brighten the Lights of Madison" is in the pool. Though JMU's basketball team is years away from being competitive, I'm still pining for the days of Lefty Driesell.