NCAA Tournament Conference Breakdown- Final 4 Update

The Final 4 is finally here, and that means it's time to update my Conference Breakdown.  It's clearly up to the Big 10 and the Big East to settle who is truly the best of the best.  Here's a look at the updated records, in order of conference RPI.

Conference Records

1. Big 10 (7 bids)

13-6 record (4 teams in Sweet 16, 2 teams in Elite 8, 1 team in Final 4) 

Round 1 Results (6-1): 1 Indiana beat 16 James Madison.  2 Ohio St. beat 15 Iona.  3 Michigan St. beat 14 Valparaiso.  4 Michigan beat 13 SD St.  7 Illinois beat 10 Colorado.  11 Minnesota upset 6 UCLA.  5 Wisconsin upset by 12 Ole Miss.

Round 2 Results (4-2):  1 Indiana beat 9 Temple.  2 Ohio St. beat 10 Iowa St.  3 Michigan St. beat 6 Memphis.  4 Michigan beat 5 VCU.  7 Illinois lost to 2 Miami.  11 Minnesota lost to 3 Florida.

Sweet 16 Results (2-2):  2 Ohio St. beat 6 Arizona.  4 Michigan upset 1 Kansas.  1 Indiana upset by 4 Syracuse.  3 Michigan St. lost to 2 Duke.

Elite 8 Results (1-1):  4 Michigan upset 3 Florida.  2 Ohio St. upset by 9 Wichita St.

2. Mountain West (5) 

2-5 record (eliminated)

Round 1 Results (2-3): 7 SD St. beat 10 Oklahoma.  8 Colorado St. beat 9 Missouri.  3 New Mexico upset by 14 Harvard.  5 UNLV upset by 12 California.  13 Boise St. lost play-in game to 13 LaSalle.

Round 2 Results (0-2): 7 SD St. upset by 15 Florida Gulf Coast.  8 Colorado St. lost to 1 Louisville.

3. Big East (8)

11-6 record (3 teams in Sweet 16, 3 teams in Elite 8, 2 teams in Final 4)

Round 1 Results (3-5): 1 Louisville beat NC A&T.  3 Marquette beat 14 Davidson.  4 Syracuse beat 13 Montana.  2 Georgetown upset by 15 Florida Gulf Coast.  7 Notre Dame lost to 10 Iowa St.  8 Pittsburgh upset by 9 Wichita St.  9 Villanova lost to 8 UNC.  10 Cincinnati lost to 7 Creighton.

Round 2 Results (3-0): 1 Louisville beat 8 Colorado St.  3 Marquette beat 6 Butler.  4 Syracuse beat 12 California. 

Sweet 16 Results (3-0):  1 Louisville beat 12 Oregon.  3 Marquette upset 2 Miami.  4 Syracuse upset 1 Indiana.

Elite 8 Results (2-1):  1 Louisville beat 2 Duke.  4 Syracuse upset 3 Marquette.

4. ACC (4) 

6-4 record (2 teams in Sweet 16, 1 team in Elite 8, 0 teams in Final 4)

Round 1 Results (3-1): 2 Duke beat 15 Albany.  2 Miami beat 15 Pacific.  8 UNC beat 9 Villanova.  8 NC St. upset by 9 Temple.

Round 2 Results (2-1): 2 Duke beat 7 Creighton.  2 Miami beat 10 Iowa St.  8 UNC lost to 1 Kansas.

Sweet 16 Results (1-1):  2 Duke beat 3 Michigan St.  2 Miami upset by 3 Marquette.

Elite 8 Results (0-1):  2 Duke lost to 1 Louisville.

5. Pac 12 (5)

5-5 record (2 teams in Sweet 16, 0 teams in Elite 8)

Round 1 Results (3-2): 6 Arizona beat 11 Belmont.  12 Oregon upset 5 Oklahoma St.  12 California upset 5 UNLV.  6 UCLA upset by 11 Minnesota.  10 Colorado lost to 7 Illinois.

Round 2 Results (2-1): 6 Arizona beat 14 Harvard.  12 Oregon upset 4 St. Louis.  12 California lost to 4 Syracuse. 

Sweet 16 Results (0-2):  6 Arizona lost to 2 Ohio St.  12 Oregon lost to 1 Louisville.

6. Big 12 (5) 

3-5 record (1 team in Sweet 16, 0 teams in Elite 8)

Round 1 Results (2-3): 1 Kansas beat 16 W. Kentucky.  10 Iowa St. upset 7 Notre Dame.  4 Kansas St. upset by 13 La Salle.  5 Oklahoma St. upset by 12 Oregon.  10 Oklahoma lost to 7 San Diego St. 

Round 2 Results (1-1):  1 Kansas beat 8 UNC.  10 Iowa St. lost to 2 Ohio St.

Sweet 16 Results (0-1): 1 Kansas upset by 4 Michigan.

7. Atlantic 10 (5) 

7-5 record (1 tram in Sweet 16, 0 teams in Elite 8)

Round 1 Results (6-0): 4 St. Louis beat 13 New Mexico St.  5 VCU beat 12 Akron.  6 Butler beat 11 Bucknell.  9 Temple upset 8 NC St.  13 LaSalle beat 13 Boise St and upset 4 Kansas St.

Round 2 Results (1-4):  13 La Salle upset 12 Ole Miss.  4 St. Louis upset by 12 Oregon.  5 VCU lost to 4 Michigan.  6 Butler lost to 3 Marquette.  9 Temple lost to 1 Indiana.

Sweet 16 Results (0-1):  13 LaSalle lost to 9 Wichita St.

8. SEC (3) 

4-3 record (1 team in Sweet 16, 1 team in Elite 8, 0 teams in Final 4)

Round 1 Results (2-1): 3 Florida beat 14 NW St.  12 Ole Miss upset 5 Wisconsin.  9 Missouri lost to 8 Colorado St.

Round 2 Results (1-1):  3 Florida beat 11 Minnesota.  12 Ole Miss upset by 13 LaSalle.

Sweet 16 Results (1-0): 3 Florida beat 15 Florida Gulf Coast

Elite 8 Results: (0-1): 3 Florida upset by 4 Michigan

9. Missouri Valley (2)

5-1 record (1 team in Sweet 16, 1 team in Elite 8, 1 team in Final 4)

Round 1 Results (2-0): 7 Creighton beat 10 Cincinnati.  9 Wichita St. upset 8 Pittsburgh.

Round 2 Results (1-1):  9 Wichita St. upset 1 Gonzaga.  7 Creighton lost to 2 Duke.

Sweet 16 Results (1-0): 9 Wichita St. beat 13 LaSalle

Elite 8 Results (1-0): 9 Wichita St. upset 2 Ohio St.

10. West Coast (2)

2-2 record (eliminated)

Round 1 Results (2-1): 1 Gonzaga beat 16 Southern.  11 St. Mary’s beat 11 Middle Tenn (play in) and lost to 6 Memphis.

Round 2 Results (0-1):  1 Gonzaga upset by 9 Wichita St.

Others (22) 

Round 1:  5-17 Record.

Round 2:  1- 4 record.

Sweet 16: 0-1 record

Overall:  6-22 record, 1 team in Sweet 16.  0 Teams in Elite 8.

Updated Breakdown on Bracket Picks in Pool

Well, we've reached the Final 4.  39 brackets were entered.  156 Final 4 votes were cast.  30 of those votes were correct, for a 19% success rate.  I have no idea if that's good, bad, or average.  But it's something.  In the coming rounds we'll see if we did better predicting the NCG or the Champion.

An updated breakdown:

Elite 8- 40.4% success rate

Louisville- 35

Ohio St. - 32

Miami- 29

Indiana- 28

Michigan St. - 23

Gonzaga- 18

Kansas- 18

Georgetown- 18

Florida- 17

Duke- 14

Michigan- 14

Wisconsin- 14

Syracuse- 10

VCU- 6

Butler- 6

New Mexico- 4

Kansas St. – 4

St. Louis- 4

Marquette- 3

UCLA- 3

Memphis- 2

Arizona- 2

UNLV- 1

NC St. – 1

Pittsburgh – 1

Wichita St. - 1

Villanova- 1

Iowa St. – 1

Ole Miss- 1

NW St. – 1

Final 4- 19.2% success rate

Ohio St. - 21

Louisville- 20

Indiana- 17

Miami- 14

Michigan St. – 12

Kansas- 10

Georgetown- 10

Florida- 10

Gonzaga- 9

Duke- 6

Michigan-5

Syracuse- 5

Wisconsin- 5

VCU- 3

Butler- 2

New Mexico- 1

Kansas St. - 1

St. Louis- 1

Arizona- 1

UCLA- 1

NC St. - 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Final

Louisville- 14

Indiana- 12

Miami- 9

Ohio St. – 6

Michigan St. - 6

Gonzaga- 5

Kansas- 5

Duke- 5

Florida- 5

Georgetown- 3

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Michigan- 1

St. Louis- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Champion

Indiana- 8

Louisville- 6

Miami- 5

Kansas- 4

Ohio St. - 3

Duke- 2

Florida- 2

Michigan St. - 2

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Gonzaga- 1

Georgetown- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Updated Breakdown on Bracket Picks in Pool

Well, we've reached the Elite 8.  39 brackets were entered.  312 Elite 8 votes were cast.  126 of those votes were correct, for a 40% success rate.  I have no idea if that's good, bad, or average.  But it's something.  In the coming rounds we'll see if we did better predicting the Final 4, the NCG, or the Champion.

An updated breakdown:

Elite 8

Louisville- 35

Ohio St. - 32

Miami- 29

Indiana- 28

Michigan St. - 23

Gonzaga- 18

Kansas- 18

Georgetown- 18

Florida- 17

Duke- 14

Michigan- 14

Wisconsin- 14

Syracuse- 10

VCU- 6

Butler- 6

New Mexico- 4

Kansas St. – 4

St. Louis- 4

Marquette- 3

UCLA- 3

Memphis- 2

Arizona- 2

UNLV- 1

NC St. – 1

Pittsburgh – 1

Wichita St. - 1

Villanova- 1

Iowa St. – 1

Ole Miss- 1

NW St. – 1

Final 4

Ohio St. - 21

Louisville- 20

Indiana- 17

Miami- 14

Michigan St. – 12

Kansas- 10

Georgetown- 10

Florida- 10

Gonzaga- 9

Duke- 6

Michigan-5

Syracuse- 5

Wisconsin- 5

VCU- 3

Butler- 2

New Mexico- 1

Kansas St. - 1

St. Louis- 1

Arizona- 1

UCLA- 1

NC St. - 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Final

Louisville- 14

Indiana- 12

Miami- 9

Ohio St. – 6

Michigan St. - 6

Gonzaga- 5

Kansas- 5

Duke- 5

Florida- 5

Georgetown- 3

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Michigan- 1

St. Louis- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Champion

Indiana- 8

Louisville- 6

Miami- 5

Kansas- 4

Ohio St. - 3

Duke- 2

Florida- 2

Michigan St. - 2

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Gonzaga- 1

Georgetown- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

NCAA Tournament Conference Breakdown- Round 2 Update

The second round of the NCAA Tournament is in the books, and the Sweet 16 is set.  Yes, I'm still calling the round of 32 the second round, and the first round is the round of 64.  Calling 4 play-in games the first round is stupid, just like a lot of the things the NCAA does.  Anyway, in Round 1 we saw the Big 10 and Atlantic 10 steal the spotlight and dominate.  The Big 10 continued to do so, and have 4 teams dancing in the Sweet 16, the most of any conference.  The A-10 fell on their faces and went 1-4, with LaSalle being the lone survivor at this point.

The Mountain West is completely eliminated after San Diego St. and Colorado St. were knocked off by Florida Gulf Coast and Louisville respectively.  So the #2 RPI conference went 2-5 for the tourney and placed zero teams in the Sweet 16.  Awesome.  The Big East was off to a rough 3-5 start after Round 1, but they responded by going 3-0 in Round 2 and restoring respectability.

The ACC and Pac-12 have also had good tournaments and placed 2 teams each in the Sweet 16.  The ACC is 5-2 overall and the Pac-12 is 5-3 overall.

Below is a breakdown of the conference records of each of the Top 10 RPI Conferences so far.  Conferences are listed in order of RPI rank.

Conference Records

1. Big 10 (7 bids)

10-3 record (4 teams in Sweet 16) 

Round 1 Results (6-1): 1 Indiana beat 16 James Madison.  2 Ohio St. beat 15 Iona.  3 Michigan St. beat 14 Valparaiso.  4 Michigan beat 13 SD St.  7 Illinois beat 10 Colorado.  11 Minnesota upset 6 UCLA.  5 Wisconsin upset by 12 Ole Miss.

Round 2 Results (4-2):  1 Indiana beat 9 Temple.  2 Ohio St. beat 10 Iowa St.  3 Michigan St. beat 6 Memphis.  4 Michigan beat 5 VCU.  7 Illinois lost to 2 Miami.  11 Minnesota lost to 3 Florida.

2. Mountain West (5) 

2-5 record (eliminated)

Round 1 Results (2-3): 7 SD St. beat 10 Oklahoma.  8 Colorado St. beat 9 Missouri.  3 New Mexico upset by 14 Harvard.  5 UNLV upset by 12 California.  13 Boise St. lost play-in game to 13 LaSalle.

Round 2 Results (0-2): 7 SD St. upset by 15 Florida Gulf Coast.  8 Colorado St. lost to 1 Louisville.

3. Big East (8)

6-5 record (3 teams in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (3-5): 1 Louisville beat NC A&T.  3 Marquette beat 14 Davidson.  4 Syracuse beat 13 Montana.  2 Georgetown upset by 15 Florida Gulf Coast.  7 Notre Dame lost to 10 Iowa St.  8 Pittsburgh upset by 9 Wichita St.  9 Villanova lost to 8 UNC.  10 Cincinnati lost to 7 Creighton.

Round 2 Results (3-0): 1 Louisville beat 8 Colorado St.  3 Marquette beat 6 Butler.  4 Syracuse beat 12 California. 

4. ACC (4) 

5-2 record (2 teams in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (3-1): 2 Duke beat 15 Albany.  2 Miami beat 15 Pacific.  8 UNC beat 9 Villanova.  8 NC St. upset by 9 Temple.

Round 2 Results (2-1): 2 Duke beat 7 Creighton.  2 Miami beat 10 Iowa St.  8 UNC lost to 1 Kansas.

5. Pac 12 (5)

5-3 record (2 teams in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (3-2): 6 Arizona beat 11 Belmont.  12 Oregon upset 5 Oklahoma St.  12 California upset 5 UNLV.  6 UCLA upset by 11 Minnesota.  10 Colorado lost to 7 Illinois.

Round 2 Results (2-1): 6 Arizona beat 14 Harvard.  12 Oregon upset 4 St. Louis.  12 California lost to 4 Syracuse. 

6. Big 12 (5) 

3-4 record (1 team in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (2-3): 1 Kansas beat 16 W. Kentucky.  10 Iowa St. upset 7 Notre Dame.  4 Kansas St. upset by 13 La Salle.  5 Oklahoma St. upset by 12 Oregon.  10 Oklahoma lost to 7 San Diego St. 

Round 2 Results (1-1):  1 Kansas beat 8 UNC.  10 Iowa St. lost to 2 Ohio St.

7. Atlantic 10 (5) 

7-4 record (1 tram in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (6-0): 4 St. Louis beat 13 New Mexico St.  5 VCU beat 12 Akron.  6 Butler beat 11 Bucknell.  9 Temple upset 8 NC St.  13 LaSalle beat 13 Boise St and upset 4 Kansas St.

Round 2 Results (1-4):  13 La Salle upset 12 Ole Miss.  4 St. Louis upset by 12 Oregon.  5 VCU lost to 4 Michigan.  6 Butler lost to 3 Marquette.  9 Temple lost to 1 Indiana.

8. SEC (3) 

3-2 record (1 team in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (2-1): 3 Florida beat 14 NW St.  12 Ole Miss upset 5 Wisconsin.  9 Missouri lost to 8 Colorado St.

Round 2 Results (1-1):  3 Florida beat 11 Minnesota.  12 Ole Miss upset by 13 LaSalle.

9. Missouri Valley (2)

3-1 record (1 team in Sweet 16)

Round 1 Results (2-0): 7 Creighton beat 10 Cincinnati.  9 Wichita St. upset 8 Pittsburgh.

Round 2 Results (1-1):  9 Wichita St. upset 1 Gonzaga.  7 Creighton lost to 2 Duke.

10. West Coast (2)

2-2 record (eliminated)

Round 1 Results (2-1): 1 Gonzaga beat 16 Southern.  11 St. Mary’s beat 11 Middle Tenn (play in) and lost to 6 Memphis.

Round 2 Results (0-1):  1 Gonzaga upset by 9 Wichita St.

Others (22) 

Round 1:  5-19 Record.

Round 2:  1- 4 record.

Overall:  6-23 record, 1 team in Sweet 16.

Updated Breakdown on Bracket Picks in Pool

As I wrote yesterday:

Well, at least I won't be nervous.  My bracket in this pool is complete crap after the events that transpired yesterday in the NCAA Tournament.  My National Champion VCU got blown out by Michigan.  Butler, another bold Final 4 pick of mine, lost a close game to Marquette.  And Gonzaga lost to Wichita St., busting a lot of brackets but mine especially, since I had them in the Final.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to finish in last in my own pool.  I should have been a sheep and picked Louisville and Indiana, instead of trying to be different and cool.  Oh well.  

Anyways, here's a look at the breakdown after 4 days.

Elite 8

Louisville- 35

Ohio St. - 32

Miami- 29

Indiana- 28

Michigan St. - 23

Gonzaga- 18

Kansas- 18

Georgetown- 18

Florida- 17

Duke- 14

Michigan- 14

Wisconsin- 14

Syracuse- 10

VCU- 6

Butler- 6

New Mexico- 4

Kansas St. – 4

St. Louis- 4

Marquette- 3

UCLA- 3

Memphis- 2

Arizona- 2

UNLV- 1

NC St. – 1

Pittsburgh – 1

Wichita St. - 1

Villanova- 1

Iowa St. – 1

Ole Miss- 1

NW St. – 1

Final 4

Ohio St. - 21

Louisville- 20

Indiana- 17

Miami- 14

Michigan St. – 12

Kansas- 10

Georgetown- 10

Florida- 10

Gonzaga- 9

Duke- 6

Michigan-5

Syracuse- 5

Wisconsin- 5

VCU- 3

Butler- 2

New Mexico- 1

Kansas St. - 1

St. Louis- 1

Arizona- 1

UCLA- 1

NC St. - 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Final

Louisville- 14

Indiana- 12

Miami- 9

Ohio St. – 6

Michigan St. - 6

Gonzaga- 5

Kansas- 5

Duke- 5

Florida- 5

Georgetown- 3

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Michigan- 1

St. Louis- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Champion

Indiana- 8

Louisville- 6

Miami- 5

Kansas- 4

Ohio St. - 3

Duke- 2

Florida- 2

Michigan St. - 2

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Gonzaga- 1

Georgetown- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Updated Breakdown on Bracket Picks in Pool

Well, at least I won't be nervous.  My bracket in this pool is complete crap after the events that transpired yesterday in the NCAA Tournament.  My National Champion VCU got blown out by Michigan.  Butler, another bold Final 4 pick of mine, lost a close game to Marquette.  And Gonzaga lost to Wichita St., busting a lot of brackets but mine especially, since I had them in the Final.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to finish in last in my own pool.  I should have been a sheep and picked Louisville and Indiana, instead of trying to be different and cool.  Oh well.  

Anyways, here's a look at the breakdown after 3 days.

Elite 8

Louisville- 35

Ohio St. - 32

Miami- 29

Indiana- 28

Michigan St. - 23

Gonzaga- 18

Kansas- 18

Georgetown- 18

Florida- 17

Duke- 14

Michigan- 14

Wisconsin- 14

Syracuse- 10

VCU- 6

Butler- 6

New Mexico- 4

Kansas St. – 4

St. Louis- 4

Marquette- 3

UCLA- 3

Memphis- 2

Arizona- 2

UNLV- 1

NC St. – 1

Pittsburgh – 1

Wichita St. - 1

Villanova- 1

Iowa St. – 1

Ole Miss- 1

NW St. – 1

Final 4

Ohio St. - 21

Louisville- 20

Indiana- 17

Miami- 14

Michigan St. – 12

Kansas- 10

Georgetown- 10

Florida- 10

Gonzaga- 9

Duke- 6

Michigan-5

Syracuse- 5

Wisconsin- 5

VCU- 3

Butler- 2

New Mexico- 1

Kansas St. - 1

St. Louis- 1

Arizona- 1

UCLA- 1

NC St. - 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Final

Louisville- 14

Indiana- 12

Miami- 9

Ohio St. – 6

Michigan St. - 6

Gonzaga- 5

Kansas- 5

Duke- 5

Florida- 5

Georgetown- 3

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Michigan- 1

St. Louis- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Champion

Indiana- 8

Louisville- 6

Miami- 5

Kansas- 4

Ohio St. - 3

Duke- 2

Florida- 2

Michigan St. - 2

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Gonzaga- 1

Georgetown- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

NCAA Tournament Conference Breakdown

One of my favorite subplots to the NCAA Tournament every year is the breakdown of the conferences and how they fare.  All season certain conferences get touted for their depth and ability and then the tournament is “put up or shut up” time.  This year is no exception. 

The big winners so far have been the Big 10 and the Atlantic 10.  The Big 10 validated their place as the best conference in America, going 6-1 in the opening round.  The Atlantic 10 went a staggering 6-0 and made this blogger proud to be a follower of the conference.  Ranked 7^th in conference RPI, the A-10 has 10 teams in the Final 32, second of any conference.  13 seed La sale has been a big surprise after beating Boise St. in a play-in game and then knocking off 4-seed Kansas St. in the actual first round.

The big losers so far are the Mountain West and the Big East.  For the Mountain West, 5^th seeded UNLV was upset by 12^th-seeded Ole Miss and 3 seed New Mexico lost to Harvard (Harvard!), a measly 14 seed.  Those top teams were huge disappointments for the 2^nd ranked RPI conference, who only send 7 seed San Diego St. and 8 seed Colorado St. to the round of 32.

The other big loser is the Big East.  I had a lot of Big East teams getting upset in the first couple of rounds, but I picked the wrong ones so far.  The conference had 8 bids, most of any conference, yet only 3 teams are going to the Final 32.  2 seed Georgetown was upset by 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast in the game of the tournament so far, and Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Cincinnati also came up short.  It’s a fitting sputter to the finish line for a conference about to be fissured in two.

Below is a breakdown of the conference records of each of the Top 10 RPI Conferences so far.  Conferences are listed in order of RPI rank.

Conference Records

1. Big 10 (7 bids)

6-1 record

Results: 1 Indiana beat 16 James Madison.  2 Ohio St. beat 15 Iona.  3 Michigan St. beat 14 Valparaiso.  4 Michigan beat 13 SD St.  7 Illinois beat 10 Colorado.  11 Minnesota upset 6 UCLA.  5 Wisconsin upset by 12 Ole Miss.

2. Mountain West (5) 

2-3 record

Results: 7 SD St. beat 10 Oklahoma.  8 Colorado St. beat 9 Missouri.  3 New Mexico upset by 14 Harvard.  5 UNLV upset by 12 California.  13 Boise St. lost play-in game to 13 LaSalle.

3. Big East (8)

3-5 record

Results: 1 Louisville beat NC A&T.  3 Marquette beat 14 Davidson.  4 Syracuse beat 13 Montana.  2 Georgetown upset by 15 Florida Gulf Coast.  7 Notre Dame lost to 10 Iowa St.  8 Pittsburgh upset by 9 Wichita St.  9 Villanova lost to 8 UNC.  10 Cincinnati lost to 7 Creighton.

4. ACC (4) 

3-1 record

Results: 2 Duke beat 15 Albany.  2 Miami beat 15 Pacific.  8 UNC beat 9 Villanova.  8 NC St. upset by 9 Temple.

5. Pac 12 (5)

3-2 record

Results: 6 Arizona beat 11 Belmont.  12 Oregon upset 5 Oklahoma St.  12 California upset 5 UNLV.  6 UCLA upset by 11 Minnesota.  10 Colorado lost to 7 Illinois.

6. Big 12 (5) 

2-3 record

Results: 1 Kansas beat 16 W. Kentucky.  10 Iowa St. upset 7 Notre Dame.  4 Kansas St. upset by 13 La Salle.  5 Oklahoma St. upset by 12 Oregon.  10 Oklahoma lost to 7 San Diego St. 

7. Atlantic 10 (5) 

6-0 record

Record: 4 St. Louis beat 13 New Mexico St.  5 VCU beat 12 Akron.  6 Butler beat 11 Bucknell.  9 Temple upset 8 NC St.  13 LaSalle beat 13 Boise St and upset 4 Kansas St.

8. SEC (3) 

2-1 record

Results: 3 Florida beat 14 NW St.  12 Ole Miss upset 5 Wisconsin.  9 Missouri lost to 8 Colorado St.

9. Missouri Valley (2)

2-0 record

Results: 7 Creighton beat 10 Cincinnati.  9 Wichita St. upset 8 Pittsburgh.

10. West Coast (2)

2-1 record

Results: 1 Gonzaga beat 16 Southern.  11 St. Mary’s beat 11 Middle Tenn. And lost to 6 Memphis.

Others (22) 5-19 Record.

Updated Breakdown on Bracket Picks in Pool

All across America, people are screaming in euphoria, screaming even louder in vain, and glued to their TV/computer screen as their March Madness dreams are made and broken.  Along with Mike Lucas, a former contributor of mine who has moved on to his own highly successful sports blog, I've organised and entered a pool on espn.com with a total of 39 people.  Being a numbers guy, I looked into the breakdown of people's brackets to figure out who the popular picks were, as well as making it easy to track whose brackets are being busted.  To me, a bracket is busted if one of your Elite 8 picks is knocked out in the first round, as everyone will have one or two Sweet 16 teams get knocked out, but the Elite 8's are important to have make it through. An Elite 8 knocked out in the first round is the equivalent of 3 missed picks.  Likewise, you want all your Final 4 picks to make it past the second round (minimum).  After taking down the results, here's a look at how many bracketeers of the 39 picked each team to advance to the Elite 8 and beyond.  I'm going to continue to edit this throughout this opening weekend to highlight in red the missed picks.  For a look at my complete bracket breakdown, click here.

Elite 8

Louisville- 35

Ohio St. - 32

Miami- 29

Indiana- 28

Michigan St. - 23

Gonzaga- 18

Kansas- 18

Georgetown- 18

Florida- 17

Duke- 14

Michigan- 14

Wisconsin- 14

Syracuse- 10

VCU- 6

Butler- 6

New Mexico- 4

Kansas St. – 4

St. Louis- 4

Marquette- 3

UCLA- 3

Memphis- 2

Arizona- 2

UNLV- 1

NC St. – 1

Pittsburgh – 1

Wichita St. - 1

Villanova- 1

Iowa St. – 1

Ole Miss- 1

NW St. – 1

Final 4

Ohio St. - 21

Louisville- 20

Indiana- 17

Miami- 14

Michigan St. – 12

Kansas- 10

Georgetown- 10

Florida- 10

Gonzaga- 9

Duke- 6

Michigan-5

Syracuse- 5

Wisconsin- 5

VCU- 3

Butler- 2

New Mexico- 1

Kansas St. - 1

St. Louis- 1

Arizona- 1

UCLA- 1

NC St. - 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Final

Louisville- 14

Indiana- 12

Miami- 9

Ohio St. – 6

Michigan St. - 6

Gonzaga- 5

Kansas- 5

Duke- 5

Florida- 5

Georgetown- 3

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Michigan- 1

St. Louis- 1

Pittsburgh- 1

Champion

Indiana- 8

Louisville- 6

Miami- 5

Kansas- 4

Ohio St. - 3

Duke- 2

Florida- 2

Michigan St. - 2

Syracuse- 2

VCU- 2

Gonzaga- 1

Georgetown- 1

Pittsburgh- 1