So what’s new in the past couple of days? Well to start, we have lots of automatic bids that have gone out. Teams like Western Kentucky and Detroit surprised conference favorites to grab a ticket to the Big Dance. With 15 more automatic bids left to go, there will be […]
Author: Michael Protos
March to Madness 7.0: Conference favorites fall
If you don’t usually do so, please watch the NIT this year. I realize the March to Madness is all about the NCAA Tournament, and college basketball analysts talk ad nauseam about the NCAA Tournament worthiness of Team A-Z. But I can promise you that some of the best teams […]
March to Madness 6.0: Spartans battle Ohio State with top-seed implications
The regular season comes to a close today, with several monstrously important games on tap. The inside track for a No. 1 seed is at stake, and bubble teams could see a bid thief steal one of the valuable bids to the NCAA Tournament. In East Lansing, Michigan State could […]
March to Madness 5.0: Chaos trending among the No. 1 seeds
The final weekend of the regular season is nearly upon us, and that means we’re down to nine days until Selection Sunday. Starting this weekend, we’re quickening the pace of the March to Madness, with the next bracket updates coming Sunday morning, after all the craziness slated to go down […]
Blind résumés: You pick which teams get the bid
As Hoopville’s resident bracketologist, I can assure you that the NCAA Tournament selection committee has one of the toughest jobs out there — a job at which they paradoxically can’t win and can’t lose. Selection committee members will never avoid criticism about their final picks for at-large teams. The committee […]
March to Madness 4.0: Ram tough on the bubble with VCU and Colorado State
We’re heading into the final week of the regular season, and Selection Sunday is just a little more than two weeks away. Teams must make their final pitch now for a bid to the tournament or a better seed in the brackets. At the top of the field, Kentucky and […]
Plenty of teams prepare to jockey for seeding, selection tonight
In the immortal words of the Black Eyed peas, tonight’s gonna be a good night. There are 40 teams in action tonight, and more than half of them are likely to appear in the NCAA Tournament or seriously challenge for their conference’s automatic bid. We’ve got elite powers like Kentucky, […]
ACC player ratings: In search of this year’s Kemba Walker
About this time last season, Connecticut faltered after a 20-5 start, ending the regular season with four losses in five games. Heading into the Big East Tournament, many observers figured the Huskies would be short-lived in both that tourney and the NCAA Tournament. Then Kemba did his thing. With Kemba […]
Underdogs beware: Great teams look to tame the Madness
March Madness might be a little less crazy this season, if recent trends hold up. That’s because the numbers indicate that a plethora of great offenses and defenses will take care of business as teams navigate through the early rounds and head into the Final Four. How do I know […]
March to Madness 3.0: Bid thieves lurk on the horizon
Conference tournaments are closing in fast, and that means the real madness is nearly upon us. For teams like Northwestern, Texas, BYU and Cincinnati, the beginning of Championship Week will be a critical time. Most of the top conferences will still be wrapping up their regular seasons while other conferences […]