03-17-2013, 08:29 PM
Charlie Creme's final brackets have a few changes. Again, if seedings held, we would play
1st Round: Stanford vs. Idaho at Maples
2nd Round: Stanford vs. Villanova at Maples
Sweet Sixteen: Stanford vs. Georgia/Delaware at Spokane
Elite Eight: Stanford vs. Penn State/Texas A&M at Spokane
Final Four: Stanford vs. Baylor
Creme keeps Duke near home at Norfolk and sends Penn State out West to us. The more I look at it, it would be unlikely that it would be Duke or Kentucky if geography really is a factor, since those two teams are higher on the S-curve than Penn State and would benefit by staying closer to home back east. But Cal is next behind Duke, and if Cal got its closest destination then it would be Cal in Spokane with us instead of Penn State.
The question is: what is more important to the Committee, geography or avoiding league match-ups. The Committee has done it both ways over the last few years and has taken flack for both. I think the fact that we avoided a third game with Cal in the Pac 12 tournament may militate toward the committee putting Cal in Spokane with us. I would not be shocked.
Possible Delaware or Texas A&M match ups at Spokane would certainly spark interest, provided either of those teams knock off their higher seeded opponents first.
If we do make our way to the final four, Creme now has us up against Baylor instead of Connecticut. Not sure why the change.
We shall find out tomorrow how accurate Creme actually is this time.
Creme discusses his reasons for his bracket, and specifically discusses the possibility that Stanford and Cal could both wind up in Spokane:
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basket...acket-most
Note what he says about geography and the S-curve:
1st Round: Stanford vs. Idaho at Maples
2nd Round: Stanford vs. Villanova at Maples
Sweet Sixteen: Stanford vs. Georgia/Delaware at Spokane
Elite Eight: Stanford vs. Penn State/Texas A&M at Spokane
Final Four: Stanford vs. Baylor
Creme keeps Duke near home at Norfolk and sends Penn State out West to us. The more I look at it, it would be unlikely that it would be Duke or Kentucky if geography really is a factor, since those two teams are higher on the S-curve than Penn State and would benefit by staying closer to home back east. But Cal is next behind Duke, and if Cal got its closest destination then it would be Cal in Spokane with us instead of Penn State.
The question is: what is more important to the Committee, geography or avoiding league match-ups. The Committee has done it both ways over the last few years and has taken flack for both. I think the fact that we avoided a third game with Cal in the Pac 12 tournament may militate toward the committee putting Cal in Spokane with us. I would not be shocked.
Possible Delaware or Texas A&M match ups at Spokane would certainly spark interest, provided either of those teams knock off their higher seeded opponents first.
If we do make our way to the final four, Creme now has us up against Baylor instead of Connecticut. Not sure why the change.
We shall find out tomorrow how accurate Creme actually is this time.
Creme discusses his reasons for his bracket, and specifically discusses the possibility that Stanford and Cal could both wind up in Spokane:
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basket...acket-most
Note what he says about geography and the S-curve:
Quote:To fully evaluate how Bracketology was put together, here is the full S-curve. Keep in mind, though, that the committee no longer places team in the bracket based on this data. Rather, geographical consideration is given to the higher teams as they are placed on the bracket, which would explain, for instance, why Notre Dame and Duke ended up in the same region