Plebe
La verdad no peca pero incomoda
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Last night I was looking at the evolving picture of the likely top 16 teams and where they might be seeded and placed. In doing so I had a realization of a possibility that I haven't heard discussed yet: Even if Oregon remains the #1 seed in the Portland regional, it's not far-fetched that Oregon State might end up in Portland as well. How?
The committee is bound by the following principle: "Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines." Obviously, then, a fifth team selected from the same conference would have to be in the same region as one of the other four.
The committee's Feb. 3 reveal included five Pac-12 teams in the top 16:
By necessity, the first 4 teams in this list were each placed in separate regions. The 5th team (Arizona) was placed as the #4 seed in the Dallas region with #2 seed Stanford.
But two significant games since Feb. 3 have surely altered this pecking order within the Pac-12: UCLA's win at Stanford, and Arizona's win at Oregon State. The combination of these two results means that UCLA has likely overtaken, for now, Oregon State in the committee's ranking, and Arizona just may have barely overtaken Oregon State as well. (This last part is debatable, but let's run with it for now.)
Ironically, slipping to 5th in the Pac-12 pecking order might be a good thing for Oregon State. Why? Because then the committee would be freer to place them in any region, potentially including Portland. (There are other principles that could also restrict placement, but no need to muddy the picture for this hypothetical.)
For example, the following seedings would be just one of the possibilities as of now:
The committee is bound by the following principle: "Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines." Obviously, then, a fifth team selected from the same conference would have to be in the same region as one of the other four.
The committee's Feb. 3 reveal included five Pac-12 teams in the top 16:
4. Oregon
6. Stanford
9. Oregon State
11. UCLA
13. Arizona
By necessity, the first 4 teams in this list were each placed in separate regions. The 5th team (Arizona) was placed as the #4 seed in the Dallas region with #2 seed Stanford.
But two significant games since Feb. 3 have surely altered this pecking order within the Pac-12: UCLA's win at Stanford, and Arizona's win at Oregon State. The combination of these two results means that UCLA has likely overtaken, for now, Oregon State in the committee's ranking, and Arizona just may have barely overtaken Oregon State as well. (This last part is debatable, but let's run with it for now.)
Ironically, slipping to 5th in the Pac-12 pecking order might be a good thing for Oregon State. Why? Because then the committee would be freer to place them in any region, potentially including Portland. (There are other principles that could also restrict placement, but no need to muddy the picture for this hypothetical.)
For example, the following seedings would be just one of the possibilities as of now:
Oregon: #1 seed in Portland
Stanford: #2 seed in Dallas
UCLA: #2 seed in Fort Wayne
Arizona: #3 seed in Greenville
Oregon State: #3 seed in Portland
How would the Beaver and Duck fans feel about a Civil War regional final?
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