WINNER: 2015-16 NCAA basketball (dustin800)

[agentcom]

Wow ... the top 10 by RPI got smacked. Only a few (OSU, Temple & NC) are still alive. The SE Conf., which had the top 4 spots and 2 more teams in the top 10 really got hammered. Only #10 NC remains.

I don't get how Michigan dropped out of the top 10 at the end of the regular season. Last time full rankings were published, we were 13-9 and ranked #14. Then we won 7 straight to finish the season at 20-9 (including against a #2 OSU). We were at #8 when you posted the last top 10 rankings right before the season ended. Could you please check that out for me if you have some time flex?

[sportsgod24]

How will the first round byes be selected? Make sure you see how hot Houston has been (won 8 of the last 9), regular season conference champs, and soon to be conference tourney champs (yeah, I'm calling it).

[agentcom]

The pollsters have raised the ire of the Wolverines. Snubbed from the end of season top 10, Michigan made its case for a top tourney seed by rolling through its competition in the Great Lakes Conference. Michigan outscored its opponents by an average of 19 points and capped off the run with a 67-60 victory over perennial rival Ohio State. The Buckeyes won the regular season GLC title and finished the season as the top-ranked team in the country outside the Southeast Conference. As the top seed in the GLC tournament Ohio State held home court advantage throughout the tournament. But that wasn't enough to put the Buckeyes over the top as Michigan got out to an early lead and never looked back. With the win, Michigan avenged a 34-point thrashing it suffered on the same court in halfway through the season. (Michigan narrowly won the other meeting of the two teams, 66 to 63 at Michigan in game 22.)

The two teams will head into the Dance with 9 losses apiece. Aside from Temple in the Northeast and Houston or St. Louis in the Midwest, which could finish 22-8 if by winning their respective tournaments, that will be tied for the fewest of any team. (Oakland also finished with 9 losses, and San Diego State could do so as well by winning in the West.) Michigan also will hold the honor of the most wins of any team this year with 23.

And with that Michigan joins a growing list of teams that are making things hard for the Selection Sunday Committee. It's a list that, those in Ann Arbor and elsewhere are starting to argue, might be topped with maize and blue.

[dustin800]

Joining the Wolverines making Selection Sunday hard are the #10 UNC Tarheels winners of 10 of their last 11 including 4 of 5 against top 10 teams (7 total wins against top 10 teams). Is being the hottest team in the country at the end combined with winning the best conference tourney (and matching for most wins in the Southeast) enough for a #1 seed?

[flexmaster33]

Excited to go through the Selection process...very balanced at the top indeed. Hoping to get final games out soon and have a Selection Sunday date sometime this coming week.

Sorry for the sparse updates...May is a busy work month for me.

[flexmaster33]

Sorry for the long delay guys...May is a butt-kicker at my work...and I just go through it. I'll get updates out today/tonight.

[flexmaster33]

North Carolina and Michigan earn automatic bids into the March Madness bracket...the other three conference title games have been sent out. Hoping to get to the Selection Show by early next week...more on that when I have an exact time.

[flexmaster33]

Notre Dame is the most recent team to earn an automatic bid into the Big Dance...

Selection Day will be Tuesday with the bracket to be revealed at 9 a.m. (PST).

[agentcom]

#excited!

[flexmaster33]

Brackets are revealed...South Carolina gets the top spot out of the South, Ohio State is the top team in the Midwest, Temple is the top team out of the North and Clemson gets the No.1 spot in the West.

[flexmaster33]

Ohio State is the only team to earn a full allotment of power ups

[dustin800]

Wow, defending ncaa champions, ranked top 10 regular season, winners of the best conf tourney (including beating a team that is given a #1 seed) and UNC gets a 3 seed. No respect and no weight given to conf tourney.

[agentcom]

Flex, I usually give you the benefit of the doubt that you know what you're doing. But how the hell is Michigan getting so screwed in these rankings? The end of season rankings were pretty ridiculous with not being moved back into the top 10 with 7 straight wins to close out the season. (As I pointed out at the time but didn't get a response.) Then we add 3 more wins and a conference title and still get seeded lower than 4 teams with worse records?!?! Of the alleged #1 seeds, Ohio State we beat 2/3 times this season; South Carolina lost in the opening round of its tourney; and Temple and Clemson lost in the second round of theirs. Meanwhile, at least one other team that won its tourney didn't get anything for it: UNC was #10 to finish the season, wins the supposedly amazing Southeast and draws a 3-seed.

Over the past few years, I've been able to make some sense of your rankings most of the time, but this season I don't get it.

[CaronylKluster]

Flex,

You do great work. I know why I wasn't in the top 10 RPI - because I didn't play hardly anyone in the top 10 this year.

Quick question - I see that I got sixth man, but I thought that I also earned sharpshooter by winning my conference tournament at the end of the year. If you don't mind checking this I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Caronylkluster

[flexmaster33]

To address some of the seeding complaints...

I think it's a two-fold scenario...1) I placed more value on the course of the 28-game regular season than on the 2-3 game conference tourney, and 2) the differences in seeding are more pronounced this year with the smaller bracket. The difference between a 2 and 3 seed would be nominal during a full 64-team bracket season, but this year it's a bigger deal with the bye week being awarded.

Trust me, I spent plenty of time scouring through results to make sure the best teams got a chance...good luck all

[dustin800]

To address some of the seeding complaints...

I think it's a two-fold scenario...1) I placed more value on the course of the 28-game regular season than on the 2-3 game conference tourney, and 2) the differences in seeding are more pronounced this year with the smaller bracket. The difference between a 2 and 3 seed would be nominal during a full 64-team bracket season, but this year it's a bigger deal with the bye week being awarded.

Trust me, I spent plenty of time scouring through results to make sure the best teams got a chance...good luck all

This still doesn't make sense. From the regular season I was ranked higher than all 4 #2 seeds (according to your final poll). Then I win the best conf tourney beating multiple top 10 teams and get passed by a bunch of teams including one that didn't win their conf tourney and beat no one ranked. Not to mention getting put in the bracket with the #1 team also from my conf.

I did do well in the regular season and in the conf tourney but for some reason both were ignored and I have an extra set of games and the hardest bracket.

[G0rgatr0n]

Oakland hasnt joined any of our games yet and invites were sent Thursday. Any clue of whats going on?

[flexmaster33]

@dustin800...I could see flipping you and St. Louis easy enough...but it looks like you'll get a chance to play that one out. You also have an argument to move past Michigan as a 2, but the Wolverines put on a strong finish to the season, too.

Bracketing is never a perfect process.

Of the other No. 2s ... Houston won its regular season title and Oregon was runner-up in the Pac-12 and unbeaten vs. top-10 foes.

Hoping to send out Sweet 16 matchups tonight.

[Robespierre__]

You know it is close when the difference between advancing and going home is your power up .... go Tigers (no, not you Clemson)

-- Robes

[flexmaster33]

North Carolina and Houston are the first two teams to crack into our Elite Eight...well done

[Robespierre__]

Michigan joins them ... bitter dice pill swallowed by the Tigers. A worthy victor in AgentCom advances!

Flex, as always this tourney is amongst the best things that CC does every year. You rock.

Robes

[flexmaster33]

Thanks...sign-ups for the 2016-17 season will be coming in October

[agentcom]

Flex, as always this tourney is amongst the best things that CC does every year. You rock.

Robes

Truth.

Michigan joins them ... bitter dice pill swallowed by the Tigers. A worthy victor in AgentCom advances!

This was a crazy, back-and-forth game that went down to the very last turn. I think I won by 1 point. One of the most exciting tourney series that I've ever been in.

[flexmaster33]

All but one spot into the Elite 8 has been sewn up...I'll get fresh matchups out tonight, along with an NIT update.

[flexmaster33]

Some great matchups this year with South Carolina being the only #1 seed still alive.