As we're now into the teeth of the conference season, it's time to see how the 1st real weekend of conference play shook up the brackets.
Final Four Pairings
South(1) vs. East(4)
Midwest(2) vs. West(3)
South Region
@Oklahoma City
1-Texas(Big 12) vs. 16-Prairie View A&M(Southwestern)
8-Mississippi State vs. 9-Notre Dame
@San Jose
4-Wisconsin vs. 13-College of Charleston(Southern)
5-Clemson vs. 12-Harvard(Ivy League)
@Buffalo
2-West Virginia vs. 15-Vermont(America East)
7-UAB(Conference USA) vs. 10-William & Mary(Colonial)
@New Orleans
3-Mississippi vs. 14-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
6-North Carolina(Atlantic Coast) vs. 11-Cincinnati
East Region
@Providence
1-Villanova(Big East) vs. 16-East Tennessee State(Atlantic Sun)
8-Minnesota vs. 9-Baylor
@Spokane
4-Tennessee vs. 13-Colorado State(Mountain West)
5-Florida State vs. 12-Cornell
@Milwaukee
2-Purdue vs. 15-Texas-San Antonio(Southland)
7-Nevada-Las Vegas vs. 10-Xavier
@New Orleans
3-Kansas State vs. 14-Denver(Sun Belt)
6-St. Mary's(West Coast) vs. 11-Virginia Tech
Midwest Region
@Milwaukee
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening Round: Lehigh(Patriot League) vs. Long Island(Northeast)
8-Connecticut vs. 9-New Mexico
@Spokane
4-Temple(Atlantic 10) vs. 13-Oakland(Summit)
5-Missouri vs. 12-Miami(FL)
@Buffalo
2-Syracuse vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Butler(Horizon) vs. 10-California(Pacific-10)
@Providence
3-Michigan State(Big Ten) vs. 14-Louisiana Tech(Western Athletic)
6-Wake Forest vs. 11-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
West Region
@Oklahoma City
1-Kansas vs. 16-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
8-Georgia Tech vs. 9-Louisville
@San Jose
4-Brigham Young vs. 13-Northern Colorado(Big Sky)
5-Gonzaga vs. 12-Vanderbilt
@Jacksonville
2-Duke vs. 15-Kent State(Mid-American)
7-Pittsburgh vs. 10-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley)
3-Georgetown vs. 14-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
6-Texas A&M vs. 11-Rhode Island
Last four in the field: Rhode Island, Miami(FL), Vanderbilt, Cornell
First four left out: Washington, Florida, Wichita State, Ohio State
Next four out: Arizona State, Marquette, Northwestern, Memphis
Also under consideration: Richmond, St. John's, Seton Hall, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Tulsa, Missouri State, Washington State, Alabama, Western Carolina, Western Kentucky
Coming in: Miami(FL), East Tennessee State, Xavier, Louisville, Notre Dame, Northern Colorado, Coastal Carolina, Baylor, Missouri, UC Santa Barbara, Kent State, Colorado State, UNLV, Long Island, Lehigh, Vanderbilt, Prairie View A&M, Denver
Moving out: Dayton, Richmond, Campbell, St. John's, Weber State, Radford, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Pacific, Virginia Commonwealth, Western Michigan, Robert Morris, Oregon, Washington, Army, Florida, Texas Southern, Troy
Monday, January 11, 2010
That Was The Weekend That Was
I'm still a couple of hours away from unveiling the new bracket, until then, here's yet another new feature to this blog, That Was The Weekend That Was.
Shock it to me, baby
No it isn't to praise Wichita State's 70-58 triumph over Creighton, it's to point out the number of teams that had huge wins over the weekend to bolster their cases. Notre Dame had the biggest, holding off a furious rally from West Virginia to win 70-68. Missouri handled Kansas State with a hard fought 74-68 win. Vanderbilt, in an underrated Bubble Battle knocked off a Florida team that might find itself out of the field. Louisville dispatched of St. John's, but with some 2nd half difficulties. Georgia Tech let Duke's Jon Scheyer run loose, but the Yellow Jackets contained the rest of the Blue Devils to score a 71-67 win. Down in Coral Gables, Miami knocked out Wake Forest 67-66(Mea culpa: I way overseeded the Deacs last week). Lastly, Mississippi State needed a win at Mississippi to bolster it's credentials and they got it, winning 80-75 over the Rebels.
Missed chances
A few teams could not pick up wins needed to keep pace with the pack. Even with Evan Turner back(literally) and healthy enough to play his normal minutes, Ohio State had no answer for Minnesota's hot shot, Blake Hoffarber. The Gophers prevailed 73-62, boosting it's own chances. New Mexico is unexpectedly 0-2 in Mountain West play, losing to UNLV at home 74-62. And Rhode Island failed to defend it's home court in it's Atlantic 10 lid lifter, as Temple escaped with a 68-64 win in Kingston.
And then there's this
I know I'll probably be wrong on this, but I'm going to say it anyway. The Pacific-10 conference does not deserve to have any of it's teams have a shot at an at-large bid. Washington, the only one before this weekend who looked like a decent team, got swept in the desert. California lost to an under-.500 UCLA team and Oregon lost at home to an Oregon State team who earlier in the week lost on it's home court to Seattle by 58 points.
Don't worry, I'll have the bracket up soon.
Shock it to me, baby
No it isn't to praise Wichita State's 70-58 triumph over Creighton, it's to point out the number of teams that had huge wins over the weekend to bolster their cases. Notre Dame had the biggest, holding off a furious rally from West Virginia to win 70-68. Missouri handled Kansas State with a hard fought 74-68 win. Vanderbilt, in an underrated Bubble Battle knocked off a Florida team that might find itself out of the field. Louisville dispatched of St. John's, but with some 2nd half difficulties. Georgia Tech let Duke's Jon Scheyer run loose, but the Yellow Jackets contained the rest of the Blue Devils to score a 71-67 win. Down in Coral Gables, Miami knocked out Wake Forest 67-66(Mea culpa: I way overseeded the Deacs last week). Lastly, Mississippi State needed a win at Mississippi to bolster it's credentials and they got it, winning 80-75 over the Rebels.
Missed chances
A few teams could not pick up wins needed to keep pace with the pack. Even with Evan Turner back(literally) and healthy enough to play his normal minutes, Ohio State had no answer for Minnesota's hot shot, Blake Hoffarber. The Gophers prevailed 73-62, boosting it's own chances. New Mexico is unexpectedly 0-2 in Mountain West play, losing to UNLV at home 74-62. And Rhode Island failed to defend it's home court in it's Atlantic 10 lid lifter, as Temple escaped with a 68-64 win in Kingston.
And then there's this
I know I'll probably be wrong on this, but I'm going to say it anyway. The Pacific-10 conference does not deserve to have any of it's teams have a shot at an at-large bid. Washington, the only one before this weekend who looked like a decent team, got swept in the desert. California lost to an under-.500 UCLA team and Oregon lost at home to an Oregon State team who earlier in the week lost on it's home court to Seattle by 58 points.
Don't worry, I'll have the bracket up soon.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Bubble Battles - January 9th & 10th
Here are the top ten games that will impact the bubble this weekend.
10) Creighton-Wichita State(Sunday): The Shockers went into Springfield, MO on Wednesday to play Missouri State and came away with an important road victory. They face the Bluejays hoping to avoid a letdown.
9) Marquette-Villanova(Saturday): Last weekend's 4-point win by the Wildcats in Milwaukee won't be forgotten by the Golden Eagles, who are coming off a 62-59 win over Georgetown. A win here and the Golden Eagles could be very close to the cut line on Monday, albeit on the wrong side.
8) William & Mary-Drexel(Saturday): Both the Tribe and Dragons are part of a 5-Way tie for 1st in the hotly Colonial and the winner could still be in a tie for the top after Saturday's action. For the Tribe, a victory here is essential for staying above the cut line for an at-large and preferably for Tony Shaver's club, a big win at that. All four of the Tribe's Colonial results have been by a point.
7) Kansas-Tennessee(Sunday): With Tyler Smith and three others out due to arrests made after the New Year's Eve game in Memphis, the Vols, after winning with six men against Charlotte, entertain Kansas in Knoxville. A loss won't hurt the Vols, but a win would help justify a high seed come March 14th.
UPDATE: as of today, Tyler Smith has bee dismissed from the team. Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams(No, not THAT one) are still on
indefinite suspension. One now has to feel that if all these players are unable to set foot on a collegiate court this season, the Vols are sunk.
6) Wake Forest-Miami(FL)(Saturday): A really bad OOC schedule kept the Hurricanes out of my projections this week, despite a gaudy record. Beating the Demon Deacons would erase a lot of doubts.
5) Ohio State-Minnesota(Saturday): Evan Turner makes his return to the starting lineup for the Buckeyes as they hit Williams Arena. The Gophers must be careful to avoid losing two in a row, if they do so, they will likely fall out of the projections next week.
4) Mississippi State-Mississippi(Saturday): After several losses to non-BCS 6 teams, the Bulldogs are teetering on the edge of the cut line. The Rebels hope to be the ones to push them off.
3) Southern California-California(Saturday): This is how bad the Pac-10 has gotten ladies & gentlemen. A loss by the Golden Bears on their home court and their place in line could be lost, leaving only Washington as a likely at-large team.
2) Duke-Georgia Tech(Saturday): The good for the Yellow Jackets, coming off a 73-66 loss to rival Georgia, is that they're playing at home. The bad news is that the Blue Devils are coming. Lose here, and their spot in the field is lost for next week.
1) St. John's-Louisville(Saturday): It's as simple as this for a battle of Big East bubblers. Winner is in, Loser is out(although the Cardinals may have played their way in before the game).
10) Creighton-Wichita State(Sunday): The Shockers went into Springfield, MO on Wednesday to play Missouri State and came away with an important road victory. They face the Bluejays hoping to avoid a letdown.
9) Marquette-Villanova(Saturday): Last weekend's 4-point win by the Wildcats in Milwaukee won't be forgotten by the Golden Eagles, who are coming off a 62-59 win over Georgetown. A win here and the Golden Eagles could be very close to the cut line on Monday, albeit on the wrong side.
8) William & Mary-Drexel(Saturday): Both the Tribe and Dragons are part of a 5-Way tie for 1st in the hotly Colonial and the winner could still be in a tie for the top after Saturday's action. For the Tribe, a victory here is essential for staying above the cut line for an at-large and preferably for Tony Shaver's club, a big win at that. All four of the Tribe's Colonial results have been by a point.
7) Kansas-Tennessee(Sunday): With Tyler Smith and three others out due to arrests made after the New Year's Eve game in Memphis, the Vols, after winning with six men against Charlotte, entertain Kansas in Knoxville. A loss won't hurt the Vols, but a win would help justify a high seed come March 14th.
UPDATE: as of today, Tyler Smith has bee dismissed from the team. Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams(No, not THAT one) are still on
indefinite suspension. One now has to feel that if all these players are unable to set foot on a collegiate court this season, the Vols are sunk.
6) Wake Forest-Miami(FL)(Saturday): A really bad OOC schedule kept the Hurricanes out of my projections this week, despite a gaudy record. Beating the Demon Deacons would erase a lot of doubts.
5) Ohio State-Minnesota(Saturday): Evan Turner makes his return to the starting lineup for the Buckeyes as they hit Williams Arena. The Gophers must be careful to avoid losing two in a row, if they do so, they will likely fall out of the projections next week.
4) Mississippi State-Mississippi(Saturday): After several losses to non-BCS 6 teams, the Bulldogs are teetering on the edge of the cut line. The Rebels hope to be the ones to push them off.
3) Southern California-California(Saturday): This is how bad the Pac-10 has gotten ladies & gentlemen. A loss by the Golden Bears on their home court and their place in line could be lost, leaving only Washington as a likely at-large team.
2) Duke-Georgia Tech(Saturday): The good for the Yellow Jackets, coming off a 73-66 loss to rival Georgia, is that they're playing at home. The bad news is that the Blue Devils are coming. Lose here, and their spot in the field is lost for next week.
1) St. John's-Louisville(Saturday): It's as simple as this for a battle of Big East bubblers. Winner is in, Loser is out(although the Cardinals may have played their way in before the game).
Thursday, January 7, 2010
About Last Night...again
Last night's Cornell-Kansas slug fest proved two things: One, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, the two-pronged all-american attack proved too strong for the Big Red. Two, even in losing 71-66, the Big Red proved resillient even in defeat and as such, strengthened their at-large case as best as possible without winning. As of this morning, they stay in field, though it is as the best Ivy League team by RPI, by 4 ten thousandths of a point over Harvard! Let's hope the Big Red can stay in the conversation.
The other big story of the night is the continuing suckitude of the Pacific-10 Conference. No, it wasn't UCLA's one point OT shocker up in Berkley, it was Oregon State's 99-48 loss at home to Seattle University. The Redhawks aren't even eligible for the tournament yet! The worst thing about the Bruins-Golden Bears debacle, Cal has not had a good OOC victory, the best one being a 25 point shellacking over the "vaunted" Pacific Tigers. Failing to get one win over Syracuse, Ohio State or Kansas has hurt the Bears' chances. They must beat Southern California if they are to stay reasonably away from the cut line.
Other games of burning import: Syracuse put Memphis away in the second-half of the 74-57 triumph. The Tigers' performance does auger a good chance of remaining the kings of Conference USA. VCU's chances are all but nil after losing at Drexel 75-72, while William & Mary's season of living dangerously continues, needing a 3-ball with 3 seconds left to down Delaware 74-73. Ohio State needed a victory over Indiana last night and got it convincingly. With Evan Turner coming back full-time(he played limited minutes vs. the Hoosiers) Saturday in Minnesota, the Buckeyes appear to be set to make it back in the bracket(IMO, it isn't Turner I was concerned with when I left the Buckeyes out, it was the high RPI numbers). And lastly, the Atlantic 10 season got underway with Temple triumphing over St. Joseph's in a birdly battle.
Update: Forgot two games that I kept an eye on. UNLV could not get it done in Provo, losing to Brigham Young 77-73. Also Marquette FINALLY got a closely fought victory, defeating Georgetown 62-59 in Milwaukee, the Golden Eagles aren't in the field yet, they have to revenge their home loss to Villanova this weekend in Philly to get close.
The other big story of the night is the continuing suckitude of the Pacific-10 Conference. No, it wasn't UCLA's one point OT shocker up in Berkley, it was Oregon State's 99-48 loss at home to Seattle University. The Redhawks aren't even eligible for the tournament yet! The worst thing about the Bruins-Golden Bears debacle, Cal has not had a good OOC victory, the best one being a 25 point shellacking over the "vaunted" Pacific Tigers. Failing to get one win over Syracuse, Ohio State or Kansas has hurt the Bears' chances. They must beat Southern California if they are to stay reasonably away from the cut line.
Other games of burning import: Syracuse put Memphis away in the second-half of the 74-57 triumph. The Tigers' performance does auger a good chance of remaining the kings of Conference USA. VCU's chances are all but nil after losing at Drexel 75-72, while William & Mary's season of living dangerously continues, needing a 3-ball with 3 seconds left to down Delaware 74-73. Ohio State needed a victory over Indiana last night and got it convincingly. With Evan Turner coming back full-time(he played limited minutes vs. the Hoosiers) Saturday in Minnesota, the Buckeyes appear to be set to make it back in the bracket(IMO, it isn't Turner I was concerned with when I left the Buckeyes out, it was the high RPI numbers). And lastly, the Atlantic 10 season got underway with Temple triumphing over St. Joseph's in a birdly battle.
Update: Forgot two games that I kept an eye on. UNLV could not get it done in Provo, losing to Brigham Young 77-73. Also Marquette FINALLY got a closely fought victory, defeating Georgetown 62-59 in Milwaukee, the Golden Eagles aren't in the field yet, they have to revenge their home loss to Villanova this weekend in Philly to get close.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
OT: Building the Nasdaq-100....in 19, 19, 1985(Updated)
Sometimes, it pains me to interrupt my pontifications on the state of putting college basketball teams onto lines and giving them numbers, but I have to tonight.
Why is it that the NASDAQ Stock Market, well renowned as the home for technology has refused to embrace it's past? When it comes to the NASDAQ-100 index, you can find lists of it's components of old NASDAQ Fact Books and it lists specific changes on nasdaq.com from 1995 onward. So why is it so difficult to find information on companies during the early years of the index? With that in mind, I went over to the Minneapolis Central Library this morning armed with a notebook, 3 pencils and a calculator and attempted to piece together a resonable approximation of the index. Using one of those big OTC Daily Record books there, I multiplied the prices of January 30th, 1985(the day before the index was first introduced) and the share counts listed at the top of each company to come up with the results:
Update(1-22): After more research, Rouse Company and First Data Resources were removed due to being Financial firms, while Claire's Stores was dropped after determining their market cap did not warrant inclusion in the index. They were replaced by Bassett Furniture Industries, Bob Evans Farms, and Monolithic Memories.
Adolph Coors
Alexander & Baldwin
American Greetings
Andrew
Apollo Computer
Apple Computer
Avantek
Bassett Furniture Industries
Betz Laboratories
Bob Evans Farms
Bruno's
Cadbury Schweppes
Charming Shoppes
Chi-Chi's
Cipher Data Products
Citizens Utilities
Comprehensive Care
Computer Products
Consolidated Papers
Convergent Technologies
Cross & Trecker
Daisy Systems
Digital Switch
Dollar General
Economic Laboratories
El Paso Electric
Food Lion
Genentech
Gibson Greetings
Gulf Broadcasting
Hamilton Oil
HBO & Company
HealthAmerica
Hechinger
Herman Miller
Hoover
IMS International
InteCom
Intel
Intergraph
Kinder-Care Learning Centers
KLA Instruments
Liebert
LIN Broadcasting
Liz Claiborne
LM Ericsson Telephone
Lotus Development
LSI Logic
Mack Trucks
MaxiCare Health Plans
McCormick & Company
MCI Communications
Mentor Graphics
Micom Systems
Micron Technology
Millipore
Molex
Monolithic Memories
Multimedia
Mylan Laboratories
Network Systems
NIKE
Nordstrom
Norsk Data
Noxell
Ogilvy & Mather
PACCAR
Pacific Telecom
Pay 'N Save
Petrolite
Phillips
Pic 'N Save
Pioneer Hi-Bred International
Policy Management Systems
The Price Company
Quotron Systems
Reuters
Reynolds & Reynolds
Roadway Services
SeaGate Technology
Service Merchandise
ServiceMaster Industries
Shared Medical Systems
Shoney's
Sonoco Products
Standard Register
Subaru of America
Tandem Computers
Tandon
Tele-Communications
Ungerman-Bass
United Arists Communications
United States Health Care Systems
United Stationers
Western Tele-Communication
Willamette Industries
Worthington Industries
Wyman-Gordon
Xidex
Yellow Freight Systems
Note: If Cadbury Schweppes, LM Ericsson Telephone and Reuters are not eligible, they will be replaced by(in order of capitalization): Summit Health, Optical Radiation and Goulds Pumps.
Also, if anyone tries to post this on wikipedia, I will move to remove it. It is completely original research. Of course, if it can be verified, let me know.
And now, back to bracketology.
Why is it that the NASDAQ Stock Market, well renowned as the home for technology has refused to embrace it's past? When it comes to the NASDAQ-100 index, you can find lists of it's components of old NASDAQ Fact Books and it lists specific changes on nasdaq.com from 1995 onward. So why is it so difficult to find information on companies during the early years of the index? With that in mind, I went over to the Minneapolis Central Library this morning armed with a notebook, 3 pencils and a calculator and attempted to piece together a resonable approximation of the index. Using one of those big OTC Daily Record books there, I multiplied the prices of January 30th, 1985(the day before the index was first introduced) and the share counts listed at the top of each company to come up with the results:
Update(1-22): After more research, Rouse Company and First Data Resources were removed due to being Financial firms, while Claire's Stores was dropped after determining their market cap did not warrant inclusion in the index. They were replaced by Bassett Furniture Industries, Bob Evans Farms, and Monolithic Memories.
Adolph Coors
Alexander & Baldwin
American Greetings
Andrew
Apollo Computer
Apple Computer
Avantek
Bassett Furniture Industries
Betz Laboratories
Bob Evans Farms
Bruno's
Cadbury Schweppes
Charming Shoppes
Chi-Chi's
Cipher Data Products
Citizens Utilities
Comprehensive Care
Computer Products
Consolidated Papers
Convergent Technologies
Cross & Trecker
Daisy Systems
Digital Switch
Dollar General
Economic Laboratories
El Paso Electric
Food Lion
Genentech
Gibson Greetings
Gulf Broadcasting
Hamilton Oil
HBO & Company
HealthAmerica
Hechinger
Herman Miller
Hoover
IMS International
InteCom
Intel
Intergraph
Kinder-Care Learning Centers
KLA Instruments
Liebert
LIN Broadcasting
Liz Claiborne
LM Ericsson Telephone
Lotus Development
LSI Logic
Mack Trucks
MaxiCare Health Plans
McCormick & Company
MCI Communications
Mentor Graphics
Micom Systems
Micron Technology
Millipore
Molex
Monolithic Memories
Multimedia
Mylan Laboratories
Network Systems
NIKE
Nordstrom
Norsk Data
Noxell
Ogilvy & Mather
PACCAR
Pacific Telecom
Pay 'N Save
Petrolite
Phillips
Pic 'N Save
Pioneer Hi-Bred International
Policy Management Systems
The Price Company
Quotron Systems
Reuters
Reynolds & Reynolds
Roadway Services
SeaGate Technology
Service Merchandise
ServiceMaster Industries
Shared Medical Systems
Shoney's
Sonoco Products
Standard Register
Subaru of America
Tandem Computers
Tandon
Tele-Communications
Ungerman-Bass
United Arists Communications
United States Health Care Systems
United Stationers
Western Tele-Communication
Willamette Industries
Worthington Industries
Wyman-Gordon
Xidex
Yellow Freight Systems
Note: If Cadbury Schweppes, LM Ericsson Telephone and Reuters are not eligible, they will be replaced by(in order of capitalization): Summit Health, Optical Radiation and Goulds Pumps.
Also, if anyone tries to post this on wikipedia, I will move to remove it. It is completely original research. Of course, if it can be verified, let me know.
And now, back to bracketology.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
