They deserve congratulations for two reasons. The obvious reason is that the Tigers were the first team of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship to win a game, as they beat Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 76-67.
The second reason is that Texas Southern managed to win their game despite the fact that the Lunatic picked them to cover the spread in his handicapping page. Which we all know is a remarkable feat! Apparently I do well picking games when I have never seen either team before.
It has been crazy busy for the Lunatic! The Bumper Night Podcast with Kevin Flippen and Paul Gilman was extremely fun – if you missed it, go check it out on YouTube and subscribe. They have fun topics each episode – typically each Monday night!!!!!
I am not sure that I will stick with my picks from the show. I hate picking so much chalk – so I am going to look again and see what kind of upsets I can pick. My son Charlie said that I was lame for picking Arizona as the favorite – boring. He might be right – but as much as I might not like it, top seeds tend to win. 32 of the last 36 National Champions were from the top 3 seed lines. And 23 of those 32 were won by #1 seeds. So boring might be lame, but it is also right 64% of the time.
I am going to try to get the handicapping site up and running and at least pick the two games tomorrow before I head to work. I guess I have to – Charlie has a soccer game so I won’t get home before the first game starts. So, check out how the Lunatic’s imaginary Vegas run begins.
I also at some point will have to see how bad I did against the bracketologists. I missed two teams (Wyoming and Rutgers instead of Texas A&M and Oklahoma). To be honest, I actually am happy that the committee went with Wyoming and Rutgers. Happy for Wyoming because the committee awarded a talented non-power conference school. Happy for Rutgers because the committee ignored the computer rankings and looked at who Rutgers was able to beat. I am glad that Oklahoma didn’t get in at just 3 games over .500 – I thought they would get in like Michigan, but not going to complain. Texas A&M being out is rough. I guess it means the conference tournaments don’t really count towards getting into the tournament. But the Aggies’ resume was flawed as well as other bubble teams, and to be honest, I am not exactly sure who I would remove to give the Aggies a spot (if I keep Wyoming and Rutgers).
Well – I am going to pick the two Tuesday play-in games tonight, and try to go to bed before midnight. Columns about how bracketology did or how I think the selection committee did can wait for another evening.
Hope everyone had a happy Pi Day!!!!
Just a reminder that I will be joining Kevin and Paul on their podcast, Bumper Night, at 8 pm. We will break down the bracket, talk about favorites and Cinderellas in each region, and talk about who we think will make the Final 4!!!!
You should be able to find the podcast on YouTube/Bumper Night Channel. Should be a fun time to get some insights for your picks.
The selection committee has made their decisions, and the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is set. And so that means it is Time to STOMP THE LUNATIC!!!!
The entry form is now available – despite my technical issues. Please remember that you must re-register to enter the 2022 contest – my site does not remember your login from previous years. It is simple to register, and it leads you straight to the page where you can enter your picks.
I have also put out their the rest of the 2022 schedule through all the games including today. And for those of you who don’t want to do that level of work, I have created a cheat sheet link in research. This document goes through each game and puts interesting statistics about how they have played and their schedule side by side so you can compare them.
Whether you do research or simply pick your teams, make sure you join us for the fun. It is time to STOMP THE LUNATIC!!!!
Well – it wasn’t meant to be. Iowa ruined my hopes for some type of Big 10 title, as they just played better basketball today. Purdue turned the ball over too many times and ended up playing catch-up most of the game. Congratulations to the Hawkeyes.
So at that point, I have my final bracketology. Because I was watching the game, I didn’t put teams into regions – I might go back and do that based on the bracketing rules. But with it being so close to before the bracket gets released, I didn’t want to get caught up with that task.
I believe that the top seeds will be Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas and Baylor. As for the bubble, I think the bubble breakdown in
Final 4 At-Large before Play-ins: Texas A&M, Marquette, Seton Hall, Davidson
Final 4 At-Large Teams: Indiana, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Miami FL
First 4 Out: SMU, Rutgers, Wake Forest and Dayton
Next 4 Out: Xavier, Florida, Wyoming, BYU
Here is the bracket broken up by the Lunatic’s S-curve – I am sure the committee probably will disagree with me. But so exciting – the Selection Show is in 6 minutes!!!!!!!!
| 1) Gonzaga (WCC) | 2) Arizona (Pac 12) | 3) Kansas (Big 12) | 4) Baylor (AL 1) |
| 5) Auburn (AL 2) | 6) Kentucky (AL 3) | 7) Villanova (Big East) | 8) Tennessee (SEC) |
| 9) Duke (AL 4) | 10) Purdue (AL 14) | 11) UCLA (AL 5) | 12) Texas Tech (AL 6) |
| 13) Wisconsin (AL 7) | 14) Arkansas (AL 8) | 15) Illinois (AL 9) | 16) Houston (American) |
| 17) St. Mary’s (AL 10) | 18) Providence (AL 11) | 19) Connecticut (AL 12) | 20 Iowa (Big 10) |
| 21) Texas (AL 13) | 22) Murray St (OVC) | 23) USC (AL 15) | 24) North Carolina (AL 16) |
| 25) Boise St (Mt West) | 26) Alabama (AL 17) | 27) Colorado St (AL 18) | 28) Ohio St (AL 19) |
| 29) LSU (AL 20) | 30) TCU (AL 21) | 31) Memphis (AL 22) | 32) Creighton (AL 23) |
| 33) Iowa St (AL 24) | 34) Michigan St (AL 25) | 35) Virginia Tech (ACC) | 36) Loyola IL (MVC) |
| 37) Michigan (AL 26) | 38) San Diego St (AL 27) | 39) San Francisco (AL 28) | 40) Texas A&M (AL 29) |
| 41) Marquette (AL 30) | 42) Seton Hall (AL 31) | 43) Davidson (AL 32) | 44) Indiana (AL 33) / Notre Dame (AL 34) |
| 45) Oklahoma (AL 35) / Miami FL (AL 36) | 46) UAB (Conf USA) | 47) Chattanooga (Southern) | 48) New Mexico St (WAC) |
| 49) Vermont (Am East) | 50) South Dakota St (Summit) | 51) Richmond (Atl 10) | 52) Akron (MAC) |
| 53) Colgate (Patriot) | 54) St Peter’s (MAAC) | 55) Montana St (Big Sky) | 56) Jacksonville St (Atl Sun) |
| 57) Longwood (Big South) | 58) Delaware (Colonial) | 59) Yale (Ivy) | 60) CSU Fullerton (Big West) |
| 61) Norfolk St (MEAC) | 62) Georgia St (Sun Belt) | 63) Wright St (Horizon) / Texas Southern (SWAC) | 64) Bryant (NEC) / Texas A&M – CC (Southland) |
Can’t blog long because I have the bracketology to finish. But Richmond as the 6 seed of the Atlantic 10 has just upset regular season champion Davidson 64-62. It was a great game where the Spiders found themselves down 60-54 with just 1 1/2 minutes to play. But they kept fighting back, and somehow took the lead on a layup and foul from Matt Grace. The Spiders played great defense to get the ball with 2 seconds left. And after hitting a free throw, they survived one last three pointer from the corner by Davidson.
Congratulations to the Richmond Spiders for making the NCAA Tournament. But now Davidson falls onto the bubble – which likely knocks someone else out of the tournament.
Don’t know how I am going to finish my bracketology and watch the Purdue / Iowa game. Oh well – that is the typical problem for the Lunatic on Selection Sunday afternoon.
And so much drama to go with just 5 games left.
We have a true bid-stealer alert in the Atlantic 10. Whether you believe regular season champ Davidson is in no matter what, Richmond certainly is not in the bubble conversation. But one more Spiders’ upset will shrink the bubble by one to make room for Richmond.
If you believe ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, we have another bid stealing situation in the SEC – where he says that right now Texas A&M is the last team in but they would drop out with a loss. I don’t think I agree but it will be interesting to see his final bracket and if he sticks with that statement. This game is interesting also because I think Tennessee can make a case for a 2 seed with a win.
The American has bubble team Memphis playing against Houston – I think the Tigers are one of the safer bubble teams but why take the chance.
Can’t leave out the Ivy with Princeton and Yale playing for a bid. And of course, my Boilers might also still be in the 2 seed conversation if they can win the Big 10 tournament against Iowa.
There are lots of interesting bubble profiles. What do you do with non-power conferences that played great like the Mt West and West Coast Conference? What do you do with teams like Notre Dame who finished tied for 2nd in the ACC but somehow didn’t beat hardly any of the best ACC teams? What about a team like Xavier who has 5 Quad 1 wins and went 16-5 to start the season and then lose 8 of their last 10? Where do you seed teams peaking in the conference tournament like VT, Texas A&M, Indiana and Oklahoma? And how so you have a team with 6 Quad 1 wins like Rutgers end up with a NET ranking of 78?
So many interesting questions for the committee to answer – and we will get those answers in just under 7 hours!!!! Enjoy Selection Sunday!!!!!
Well – Purdue may have just had the weirdest situation of playing great, winning their game, and getting passed in the seed list anyways.
Eric Hunter Jr hit some big three pointer for Purdue, helping them advance to the Big 10 final with a 75-70 victory over Michigan State.
However, as I was celebrating that Purdue was going to play in the championship tomorrow, the Tennessee Volunteers beat Kentucky in the SEC semi-finals 69-62. Both Tennessee and Purdue were tied for 9th in the AP poll, but beating Kentucky is clearly a more impressive victory than Michigan State. Both great wins, but Kentucky still had a chance to be a 1 seed. Not any more.
Meanwhile, completely overshadowed by the Big 10 and SEC, Richmond continued its attempt to destroy any bubble teams in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders came back from being down 13 to beat Dayton 68-64. If Richmond can beat Davidson tomorrow, the Spiders will shrink the bubble by stealing the Atlantic 10 bid.
It is fun seeing Richmond do well – and obviously I am happy the Boilers won. If I can get the bracketology close to finished tonight, that will make it a truly awesome day for the Lunatic
Texas A&M had to fight Florida on Thursday in OT to keep going. Then, they shocked the country by beating Auburn Friday in the quarterfinals. And now, the Aggies will be playing in the SEC championship with an incredible 82-64 victory over Arkansas. This should have moved Texas A&M into the field.
Also credit goes out to the Indiana Hoosiers – but their run to taking the decision out of the committee’s hands ended in heartbreaking fashion.
The Hoosiers jumped out to a quick lead to start the game, but Iowa had fought back and took a late lead thanks to three-pointers by Jordan Bohannon. So, the Hoosiers find themselves down 2 with 40 seconds left. Then, Trey Galloway steals the ball and passes it ahead to Xavier Johnson who lays it in to tie the game. They play amazing defense for 25 seconds to the point that Iowa’s Bohannon ends up with the ball at the half court circle. Witb no time left, Bohannon takes a step up and forces up a prayer that gets answered as it banks off the backboard into the basket.
This just in – laughing because on the ESPN postgame show – Lunardi from ESPN says that Virginia Tech and Texas A&M are still in the First Four out – that is ridiculous. Watch it will change tomorrow and he will somehow be magically right. It is so silly – don’t worry Aggies’ fans, the Lunatic thinks you are dancing! Anyone who has watched you play this week knows you are a legit tourney team.
Also have to give
The schedules link is updated through all of Friday’s games.
A note of potential mismatch – I noticed that in my QC check that all the records are correct – but 5 teams have neutral court records that are different (which is weird since they matched yesterday).
The discrepancies are because of the Mountain West and Big East tournaments. The Mountain West tournament is played at the Thomas and Mack Center (UNLV’s home court) and the Big East tournament is played at Madison Square Garden (considered one of St. John’s home courts).
Well, in the recent update of the NET, it looks like it has changed UNLV’s game against Wyoming, and St. John’s games against DePaul and Villanova to Neutral court games.
I could spend some time to try to fix something that I think is not right – sure it is a conference tournament but it was still a home game for UNLV and St. John’s, I would just leave the data alone and let you change it if you want.
I might look at it again later – but I would rather do my bracket analysis while I watch the Big Ten tourney games (by the way, Indiana and Texas A&M are both up at halftime trying to make another upset). So the data is there and on to bracketology!!!!