2018 Barstool Bracketology: Version 5
It’s about that time where people start looking at bracketology and try to figure out where their team will be slotted. For the time being, I’m going to continue to put out my bracketology and try to take a guess at what we’ll see as we approach March. I’ll be releasing mine every Sunday because, well, why not?
After yet another week of weird results and teams doing their best to make me move them all around seed lines, I present to you my fifth version of Bracketology:
Well we’re starting to finish up the regular season and there’s still a million question when it comes to seeding. Right now there’s a fight for the fourth No. 1 seed with Villanova/Michigan State/Duke all fighting for that spot. Right now I’m still giving a slight edge to Villanova, but that can likely change in a few days. Michigan State did its job to win the Big 10 regular season, but the nonconference and weak Big 10 will hurt them in an argument. Duke is starting to look the part but has more bad losses than Michigan State and Villanova. The question then comes to what happens during conference tournament play. Virginia is likely a lock for a one seed. Kansas is inching closer to a lock. That leaves two spots open. Do you punish Xavier for not winning the Big East Tournament, but the regular season? Do you reward Duke for winning the ACC Tournament but losing the ACC regular season? It’s going to be absolutely fascinating to see how the committee values the respective conference tournaments.
After that there’s the big question. What the hell do you do with Arizona? Right now I’m working under the assumption that the committee will view them as a normal team considering Deandre Ayotn is still playing. That means right now you just take them based on their resume, even without Sean Miller. I have no idea if that’s how it’ll shake out, but with Ayton playing it’s easy to keep them as is. That’s going to be even more intriguing than the conference tournament race.
This is publishing a little early with Florida State/NC State playing, but other than that there really aren’t a ton of games going on that will determine who is in or out. I don’t have Nebraska or Penn State in, I don’t have UCLA in. So there really won’t be much change depending what happens the rest of the day.
I know there will be some debate, but it was tough to figure out what to do with a handful of teams. So I’m sure people will be upset, just remember I hate your team and always cheer for your rival. So what do you agree/disagree with? Let me know @barstoolreags.