What if there were no automatic bids into the NCAA
Basketball Tournament? What if we simply
ranked the best 64 teams in the country and put them in a fantasy bracket?
Here is what the first round matchups would look like as of
today followed by some very interesting considerations.
1 Villanova
16 North Carolina State
1 Virginia
16 LSU
1 Purdue
16 Vermont
1 Duke
16 Murray State
2 Michigan State
15 San Diego State
2 Cincinnati
15 Providence
2 Gonzaga
15 UCLA
2 Kansas
15 Nebraska
3 Auburn
14 Alabama
3 Tennessee
14 Loyola Chicago
3 Texas Tech
14 Penn State
3 Xavier
14 Louisiana Lafayette
4 North Carolina
13 BYU
4 Ohio State
13 Baylor
4 West Virginia
13 Boise State
4 Saint Mary’s
13 Missouri
5 Clemson
12 USC
5 Nevada
12 Arkansas
5 Wichita State
12 Western Kentucky
5 Florida State
12 Middle Tennessee
6 Florida
11 SMU
6 Oklahoma
11 Syracuse
6 Creighton
11 Kansas State
6 Michigan
11 Maryland
7 Kentucky
10 Texas
7 TCU
10 Marquette
7 Arizona
10 Virginia Tech
7 Arizona State
10 New Mexico State
8 Miami
9 Houston
8 Butler
9 Notre Dame
8 Louisville
9 Texas A&M
8 Rhode Island
9 Seton Hall
How would the current Bracketology compare to this proposed
Fantasy Bracketology?
Current: There has never been a 1/16
upset.
Fantasy: On average, we would likely see a 1/16 upset every
other year.
Current: Gonzaga is a 7 seed with almost no chance of winning the
tournament due to the collective caliber of teams they would face along the way.
Fantasy: Gonzaga is a 2 seed as the 7th best team overall
with an exponentially better chance of winning the tournament due to the collective
caliber of teams they would face along the way.
Current: Many lower seeds are favored to win over higher
seeds.
Fantasy: No lower seeds would be favored to win over higher
seeds. Any upset would be a true upset.
Current: A much less competitive set of games overall - A
current 3/14 matchup in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology would have 3 Cincinnati as a
15.5 point favorite over 14 Northeastern.
Fantasy: A much more competitive set of games overall - 3
Xavier vs. 14 Louisiana Lafayette would have Xavier favored by 6 points.
