Bracket Watch - Twisted Friday

I'm not going to say much about this bracket, but the most difficult part was not choosing the last team, it was trying to put them in bracket that was the most difficult thing this week. So many teams had to be moved around, I won't be able to list them all today.

Final four pairings:
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
South(2) vs. East(3)

Midwest region

@ Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-Quinnipiac(Northeast)
8-Nevada-Las Vegas vs. 9-Northern Iowa
@ Spokane
4-Pittsburgh vs. 13-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
5-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 12-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
@ Milwaukee
2-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 15-Troy(Sun Belt)
7-Texas A&M vs. 10-Florida State
@ New Orleans
3-Vanderbilt vs. 14-Sam Houston State(Sun Belt)
6-Xavier vs. 11-Cornell(Ivy)

West region

@ Jacksonville
1-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-Marquette vs. 9-California(Pacific-10)
@ San Jose
4-Brigham Young vs. 13-Kent State(Mid-American)
5-Temple(Atlantic 10) vs. 12-Illinois
@ Oklahoma City
2-Kansas State vs. 15-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
7-Clemson vs. 10-Louisville
@ Providence
3-Villanova vs. 14-Oakland(Summit)
6-Wisconsin vs. 11-St. Mary's

South region

@ Buffalo
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Opening round winner
Opening Round: Lehigh(Patriot) vs. Jackson State(Southwestern)
8-Texas-El Paso(Conference USA) vs. 9-Old Dominion(Colonial)
@ Spokane
4-Maryland vs. 13-Rhode Island
5-Baylor vs. 12-San Diego State
@ Milwaukee
2-Purdue vs. 15-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
7-Oklahoma State vs. 10-Georgia Tech
@ Jacksonville
3-Tennessee vs. 14-Wofford(Southern)
6-Georgetown vs. 11-Utah State(Western Athletic)

East region

@ New Orleans
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Jacksonville(Atlantic Sun)
8-Missouri vs. 9-Wake Forest
@ Providence
4-Michigan State vs. 13-Memphis
5-Butler(Horizon) vs. 12-Notre Dame
@ Buffalo
2-West Virginia vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Richmond vs. 10-Florida
@ San Jose
3-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 14-Weber State(Big Sky)
6-Texas vs. 11-Virginia Tech

New to the field: Jacksonville, Memphis, Rhode Island, Virginia Tech
Out of the field: Uab, Connecticut, Lipscomb, Mississippi State

Last four in the field: San Diego State, Virginia Tech, Rhode Island, Memphis
First four left out: Connecticut, Mississippi State, Uab, Arizona State
Next four left out: Mississippi, Minnesota, Washington, Seton Hall
Also under consideration: South Florida, Arkansas, Texas Tech, William & Mary, Wichita State

Don't forget, I'll be doing daily updates starting Monday(except Saturday) and will continue through Sunday afternoon.

The Woody Woodpecker Game

It's time to guess which team is hiding behind the resume and more importantly, you have two pick one team to fill up the field. All data is current as of today and comes from http://rivals.yahoo.com/.

Team A
RPI Rank: 70
Divsion I Record: 17-11
SOS Rank: 43
Record vs. RPI top 50: 3-6
Record vs. RPI 51-100: 2-2
Record vs. RPI 101-150: 1-2
Record vs. RPI 151-200: 5-0
Record vs. RPI 201-347: 6-1

Team B
RPI Rank: 39
Division I Record: 18-8
SOS Rank: 62
Record vs. RPI top 50: 2-5
Record vs. RPI 51-100: 1-1
Record vs. RPI 101-150: 2-1
Record vs. RPI 151-200: 7-0
Record vs. RPI 201-347: 6-1

Hint: The two teams are seperated by two spots on my seed list(one is in, the other is out).

Bracket Watch's Open Bracket is open!

Click on the link above this post and you have the chance to play against other brackets in the Yahoo! Tournament Pick 'em contest. To play in open bracket, just create a pick set, click join a group and enter id# 5850. It's open to the public so invite your friends to play.

Predicting the conference tournament champions

Once again this season, I'll attempt to predict the 30 conference tournament champions.

America East: Stony Brook
Atlantic Coast: Maryland
Atlantic Sun: Lipscomb
Atlantic 10: Temple
Big East: Syracuse
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big Ten: Minnesota
Big 12: Kansas State
Big West: UC Santa Barbara
Colonial: Northeastern
Conference USA: Memphis
Horizon: Butler
Metro Atlantic: Siena
Mid-American: Ball State
Mid-Eastern: Morgan State
Missouri Valley: Wichita State
Mountain West: New Mexico
Northeast: Mount St. Mary's
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Pacific-10: California
Patriot League: Bucknell
Southeastern: Kentucky
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Sam Houston State
Southwestern: Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Summit: South Dakota State
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee
West Coast: St. Mary's
Western Athletic: Nevada

Bracket Watch - And they want to expand the field to 96?

And now here's a reminder about leaving your telly on ESPN. Leave your telly on ESPN.

Seriously, it appears that nobody wants to make the field of 65 this year(I said this last year too). And yet some people still want to expand to 96 so that their favorite BCS 6 team makes it in(and Northwestern will still miss out). But this year, I could make the case for eliminating the Opening Round game. I can count 27 at-large teams in the newest projection that I could pick without having to throw up. But let's just say that I didn't throw up while making out the newest brackets.

Final Four pairings
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
South(2) vs. East(3)

Midwest region

@ Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-Quinnipiac(Northeast)
8-Texas-El Paso(Conference USA) vs. 9-Nevada-Las Vegas
@ San Jose
4-Butler(Horizon) vs. 13-Kent State(Mid-American)
5-Maryland vs. 12-Connecticut
@ Providence
2-Villanova vs. 15-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
7-Baylor vs. 10-Florida
@ Milwaukee
3-Michigan State vs. 14-Sam Houston State(Southland)
6-Xavier(Atlantic 10) vs. 11-St. Mary's

West region

@ Jacksonville
1-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 16-Lipscomb(Atlantic Sun)
8-Texas vs. 9-Uab
@ Spokane
4-Wisconsin vs. 13-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
5-Temple vs. 12-Notre Dame
@ Oklahoma City
2-Kansas State vs. 15-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
7-Clemson vs. 10-Louisville
@ San Jose
3-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 14-Weber State(Big Sky)
6-Vanderbilt vs. 11-Utah State(Western Athletic)

South region

@ Buffalo
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening Round: Lehigh(Patriot) vs. Jackson State(Southwestern)
8-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley) vs. 9-Georgia Tech
@ Spokane
4-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 13-San Diego State
5-Texas A&M vs. 12-Mississippi State
@ Buffalo
2-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Wake Forest vs. 10-Marquette
@ Jacksonville
3-Tennessee vs. 14-Wofford(Southern)
6-Georgetown vs. 11-Cornell(Ivy)

East region

@ New Orleans
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-Missouri vs. 9-California(Pacific-10)
4-Pittsburgh vs. 13-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
5-Brigham Young vs. 12-Illinois
@ Milwaukee
2-Purdue vs. 15-Troy(Sun Belt)
7-Oklahoma State vs. 10-Florida State
@ Providence
3-West Virginia vs. 14-Oakland(Summit)
6-Richmond vs. 11-Old Dominion(Colonial)

Procedural moves: Clemson(up 1), Cornell(up 1), Connecticut(down 1), Missouri(down 1)
New to the field: Lipscomb, Notre Dame, Quinnipiac, San Diego State, Troy
Out of the field: Jacksonville, North Texas, Rhode Island, Robert Morris, Virginia Tech

Last four in the field: Mississippi State, Illinois, Notre Dame, San Diego State
First four left out: Virginia Tech, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Dayton
Next four left out: Washington, Memphis, Arizona State, Wichita State
Also on board: Miami(FL), Cincinnati, Saint Louis, New Mexico State, South Florida, Mississippi, Texas Tech

Now if you want to complain about expansion, here's the address to complain to:
The Royal Frog Trampling Institiute
16 Rayners Lane
London, W.C. Fields

I'll just repeat that:
Tristam and Isolde Philips
7.30 Covent Garden
Saturday(near Sunday)
and afterwards at the Inigo Jones Fish Emporium