Bracketology - Week 18 (merged)

[Bone Dog]

Today's update from CC:

Minnesota has been in the field nearly all season. Now the Gophers' spot is slipping away. After losing by 14 in the first game of the Big Ten tournament to Washington, another bubble team, Minnesota is now the last team in the field. The Gophers' NET ranking has stayed solidly in the 30s for the last two months, but five losses in the last six games might be too much to overcome. The lack of another bubble team seizing the day is the only thing keeping the Gophers in the field. If another bubble team gets a significant win, or if a bid stealer emerges in the Atlantic 10 or Summit, Minnesota will miss its sixth straight NCAA tournament. Elsewhere, Stanford's loss Wednesday likely means the Cardinal's streak of playing in 36 consecutive NCAA tournaments will come to an end. And Tennessee won in the SEC tournament to keep its hopes of hosting alive.​

No change to the top 16 from March 4.

Big Ten - 13, SEC - 10, ACC - 8, Big 12 - 7, Ivy - 3, Big East - 2

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I feel particularly bad about Mara Braun's injury. She seems to be as ill-starred when it comes to injury as her friend Paige. This looks like a huge loss for the team both in talent and in heart. Now the burden is almost entirely on Amaya Battle to run the offense.

 

[Zonepress]

I personally don’t want to be in South Carolinas bracket.

I agree completely. Very hard to go out and be a team at you embarrassed
On a neutral floor to me, it’s a pick up game
It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re a number one or two seed, unless you’re the number overall one seed
There are seven teams that have said themselves above the rest
And I’m being kind saying that about LSU
You’re going to have to be a very good team in the elite eight
I it’s all about matchups, and I think the matchup would be better with either Texas or UCLA

 

[Bone Dog]

The question is whether it will be "chalk" as the say. There's a lot of talk about parity in the top-10 and a big gap after the first 7 or 8. Do people understand this to mean they expect a chalk bracket until the Sweet 16? I'm looking at Charlie's latest bracket with the following questions.

• Will those top 7 all make it into the Elite 8?
• Could Texas lose to Creighton in the Second Round?
• Or could SC lose to MD in the third round?
• Or ND lose to Michigan?
• Or UCLA lose to Alabama in the third round?
• Could USC lose to Vandy in the second round?
• Could TCU lose to OK St?
• Could UConn lose to Iowa or Duke?

These would all be significant upsets, but are they impossible given the roller coast of emotions heading into the tournament?