The time has come. In just under an hour the field of 68 will be revealed. Therefore, here is a look at my Final Bracket Projection. I’m lucky enough to be one of the 100+ bracketologists included in The Bracket Matrix.
For the most part, everyone is in agreement about the 67 of the 68 teams in the field. The only real question remains about the last team in the field, and the discussion has mostly centered around BYU and Southern Miss. However, I’m going out on a limb and not putting either team in my bracket. BYU just lost their best player (Kyle Collinsworth – the team’s 2nd leading scorer, leading rebounder and leading in assists) to an ACL injury. Southern Miss doesn’t have a great non-conference resume and while they have a resume that is similar to the one that got Middle Tennessee and Iona into the last two fields, I’m totally going against the grain of tradition with my Last Team In.
On the surface, most are discarding Green Bay because of their RPI (58). No mid-major has ever earned an At-Large bid with an RPI over 50, but looking at their resume, it stacks up very well. BYU has 4 losses outside the Top 100. Green Bay’s worst loss (to Valpo) came without their best player (7-foot center Alec Brown) and the Phoenix have a huge win against Virgina and a pretty good non-conference slate, along with a winning record away from home. Therefore, against historical tradition, I’m putting Green Bay in as my Last Team In.
South Region
Texas Southern vs Cal Poly (winner to Orlando)
Coastal Carolina vs Mt St Mary’s (winner to St Louis)
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