https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket...ournaments has predictions for all 32 tournaments by four people. The CAA and the Big Ten are the only conferences in which everybody picked a different team. Charleston, Delaware, Hofstra, and William & Mary got one each. In the Big Ten, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, and Iowa got one each, and that excludes first place Maryland. I like Hofstra and Florida State for a long time and Michigan because I had three relatives who are brothers go there. All three of those teams got one person to pick them, and it was three different people.

That's crazy that there were 4 different favorites for the CAA. Usually, most "experts" don't seem to give a you know what about leagues like the CAA, so they just go with the 1st place team.

(03-03-2020 06:17 PM)EvanJ Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket...ournaments has predictions for all 32 tournaments by four people. The CAA and the Big Ten are the only conferences in which everybody picked a different team. Charleston, Delaware, Hofstra, and William & Mary got one each. In the Big Ten, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, and Iowa got one each, and that excludes first place Maryland. I like Hofstra and Florida State for a long time and Michigan because I had three relatives who are brothers go there. All three of those teams got one person to pick them, and it was three different people.

This is likely a good year to be a fan of all 3 of those. Michigan is really coming on the last few weeks(along with Michigan St). Florida St probably will win the ACC regular season and Hofstra has been the best team in the CAA this year. Of course, the huge difference is that Michigan and Florida State are already in the tournament and the Pride has to win in DC. But, that UCLA win looks better and better. Too bad that the revised net rankings make it almost impossible for a small conference to get an at large.

Hofstra is 122nd in the NET and 103rd in the RPI, so even if the NET wasn't created Hofstra couldn't get an at-large. The difference is significant for other mid-majors, and here are the nine teams outside the top seven conferences in ESPN's Bubble Watch:

Much better in the RPI and would get an at-large bid if teams were selected by the RPI:
Northern Iowa: NET 36th, RPI 18th
East Tennessee State: NET 39th, RPI 25th
Richmond: NET 44th, RPI 28th
Rhode Island: NET 57th, RPI 35th
Furman (1 game behind ETSU and ESPN added Furman to the Bubble Watch): NET 68th, RPI 41st

Bubble by the NET and RPI:
Utah State: NET 38th, RPI 43rd

Unlikely to get an at-large bid either way:
Yale: NET 66th, RPI 57th
Liberty: NET 70th, RPI 71st
Stephen F. Austin: NET 80th, RPI 77th

Just wanted to say congratulations to EvanJ here on a main forum page. Hofstra was the best team all year and showed it all year. Good luck in the tourney, hope you guys can represent us all well. Also, Florida St is having a great year for you too. Enjoy this March!

Your welcome.

(03-14-2020 04:44 PM)EvanJ Wrote:  Your welcome.

So sorry Evan. I do feel really bad for both the Florida State players and for Hofstra.