The Quest to Beat Joe Lunardi: Pickin' the NCAA bracket (Final Edition)

So, having heard all the guys at ESPN talk about the greatness of Joe Lunardi, I wanted to see, putting up 10 days of hard work into it (starting last Friday, March 7), to see if I could be close, or even better. So what I'm going to do is list the 65 teams in an outline for a basic list, then go in ridiculous detail underneath in matchup form to explain why. Hopefully, it'll be informative, if not put people to sleep. I also will try to update each day, though the info for the teams won't change much day-to-day unless moved or played. My basic info of use is RPI, Strength of schedule, and record vs RPI top 100, as well as generic record/conference type/conference record setup. Since I didn't feel like spending money on ESPN's InsideRPI, I used the daily RPI from Ken Pomeroy's website at www.kenpom.com/rpi.

Lots to discuss, and still a few adjustment possibilities today, sure to make the committee thrilled. Today I’m just going to break down everything that changed, you’ve probably had enough of the 65 team 5,000 word sleepfest.

The way this quest will work is I will compare my bracket with Joe’s (and others if I feel like doing so) on two items: Which teams are in (out of 65, probably will be within like 4), and how close to getting actual seeds. We’ll do one point per seed off (so 6 instead of 5 is 1 point, 9 instead of 7 is 2, etc; lower score wins), and see what happens. One thing’s for sure, I have a heck of a lot more respect for him doing this all year, I’m pretty drained.

What Sunday did to my bracket:

• UNC solidifies one-seed with win, Clemson stays at 6 with good showing.
• UT-Arlington is officially in with Southland conference title over Northwestern St
• Kansas takes the Midwest #1 from Texas with a win, Texas moves to #2 in South. Heck of a game though.
• Wisconsin cruises, knocking Illinois out, and putting them as the best #3, but not above Duke in my mind.
• Georgia takes Villanova out of the tournament with shocker, moves to #14, Boise St goes up to #13, Oral Roberts up to #12

Going by seed in East, Midwest, South, West order (official conference champs in bold)

The Final Bracket:

1. North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA

2. Georgetown, Tennessee, Texas, Duke

3. Stanford, Xavier, Louisville, Wisconsin

4. Vanderbilt, Mich St, UConn, Drake

5. Marquette, Butler, Wash St, Pitt

6. Purdue, Indiana, Clemson, Notre Dame

7. BYU, West Virginia, Gonzaga, Arkansas

8. Kent St, USC, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

9. Kansas St, Miami-FL, UNLV, Mississippi St

10. St. Mary’s, Oregon, Baylor, S Alabama

11. Temple, Illinois St, Kentucky, Arizona

12. Davidson, Oral Roberts, St Joseph’s , W Kentucky

13. Siena, Boise St, Cornell, George Mason

14. Georgia, Cal St Fullerton, Austin Peay, San Diego

15. American, Belmont, Winthrop, UMBC

16. (Play-in) Miss Valley St/Coppin St (new), Mount St Mary's, Portland St, UT-Arlington