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CBS decided to themselves, "You know what? Let's go ahead and make what should be a 30 minute show - at worst - and make it a two hour show." Because of that, we'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to have some more insight on the brackets. Nonetheless, the Big Ten is represented, and the early thoughts are, "Thanks Rutgers and Minnesota for making our collective RPI so awful that everyone got dropped a line." Anyhow, here are where each team is at:
MNW UPDATE: OOPS SOMEONE LEAKED THE BRACKET OH NO WE DON'T HAVE TO WATCH THIS SHIT
Spoiler alert: full bracket pic.twitter.com/kRIb4NSm4x
— Sarcastic Prick (@RlCHIE) March 13, 2016
South Region
The Kansas Jayhawks get the top seed in the South.
Jesse: You know, for a team that flirted with the Top 5 at various moments of the year, it is interesting to see them sitting at five. Maybe I'm crazy, but this is still a team that can figure it all out and go on a miniature run. Then again, I'm probably crazy. They need to play defense, but the offense that we saw in the Big Ten Tournament is definitely something that has potential. They start off against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and would move on to probably play the California Golden Bears. That's a winnable path to the Sweet 16 where they would probably get the Kansas Jayhawks. That's uh, less than ideal.
(7) Iowa Hawkeyes
Jesse: Speaking of teams that flirted with Top 5, the Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves also stuck in the Kansas Region. Fran and his boys will have to battle it out against Temple for the right to take on Villanova, and that's just to make the Sweet 16. A lot of people were assuming this is where Iowa would end up - a seven seed - after the late season meltdown, but seeing it is still a little disconcerting. The talent is still there for Iowa to get past Day 1, but I'm not so sure they really get further than that.
West Region
The Oregon Ducks get the top seed in the West. This was probably Michigan State's seed if, you know, the conference RPI wasn't so rough.
OH HEY NO BIG TEN TEAMS OUT HERE!
But Jesse and MNW, give me a rooting interest in this section!
Go Holy Cross.
East Region
North Carolina locked up the 1 seed in the East, and Xavier took the 2.
(5) Indiana Hoosiers
Candystripes: A FUCKING 5?
MNW: Weren't we talking recently about how the Hoosiers could climb onto a 3-line if they made it to the B1G Finals? This seems like a rough tumble for the regular-season conference champions, and even rougher when you consider the made-for-TV matchup with Kentucky in the Round of 32. Seriously, CBS will jizz their collective pants if that one happens. Let's hope Mike Jones isn't in Des Moines that day for the deluge of IU and UK fans descending like the plague of locusts upon his city.
Get through that and both Xavier and West Virginia and beatable 2- and 3-seeds, respectively, but the Hoosiers seem just as liable to get bounced by Kentucky.
(7) Wisconsin Badgers
MNW: God, that first-round matchup with Pitt is going to be nigh-unwatchable. I hear Pitt is it, though, so I'm not going to worry about breaking down the rest of the Badgers' potential matchups, since they're going to lose right away.
(11) Michigan Wolverines [vs. Tulsa in Dayton]
MNW: Without the gift that is Teddy Valentine and Gene Steratore having no fucking clue what they're doing and their stunning buzzer-beating over Indiana, the Wolverines are on a 3-line in the NIT. But somehow, some way, John Beilein's got 'em dancing again in Ann Arbor. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane will be a tough first out in Dayton for Michigan, but their stingy defense (84th in Kenpom) belies a dreadful 274th-ranked 3pt% defense (36.3%) which may present a good matchup for the Wolverines, ranked 30th in the country, shooting the three at a 38.4% clip. After that, Notre Dame represents both #hype in matchup and opportunity for the Wolverines to move on and, if chalk holds, face the wild and wacky Huggy Bear-led Mountaineers.
Midwest Region
The Virginia Cavaliers got the 1-seed out of the Midwest, but there are a couple tough Big Ten teams lurking on the Hoos' path to Houston.
(2) Michigan State Spartans
MNW: That'll be damn fun if Sparty makes it to Chicago -- the United Center will be rocking. It's a favorable slate for the Spartans, assuming they can crack Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone once again (and that the #10-seeded Orange get by Dayton in the first place). A tough 3-6 matchup, should chalk hold, in Utah-Seton Hall lurks in the Sweet Sixteen for Sparty, and the Utes are not a team to sleep on in 2016.
Andrew somethingpolish: The bracket we got is worth the #disrespekt. Now, not making the Final Four would be a huge disappointment. The selection committee's continued use of RPI is a bad joke with no punchline, but MSU is in a bracket with a 1 who has to feel like we're haunting them at this point.
The first round matchup I couldn't tell you anything about, the second round will feature a decent opponent regardless, and then it gets interesting. I could be wrong about Utah, but the other top seeds in the Midwest - Virginia and Purdue - would equate to the kind of physical slog you don't want to play against an Izzo team in this tournament. I am very confident, in short.
One last thing: per ESPN, this is MSU's third time as a 2-seed. The previous two times, they made the title game, winning in '79 and losing in '09.
(5) Purdue Boilermakers
MNW: For the trouble of losing to Michigan State in the conference championship game, Purdue gets whatever Arkansas-Little Rock is [I really need to go back and brush up on my college nicknames...] followed by a matchup with always-dangerous Iowa State (assuming they don't play UAB, which I'm told...nope, they get Iona). A Sweet Sixteen matchup with Virginia would essentially be a redux of Wisconsin-Pitt with a little better makeup, so there's...that to look forward to, I guess?
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Who got seeded too high? Who got seeded too low? What's the biggest surprise? Vote in the poll and have at it in the comments. If I can brush away the tears later, we'll add in some NIT selections or some shit.