Point/Counterpoint: Reseeding the Sweet 16

Should the Sweet 16 field be reseeded, forcing Cinderellas like Florida Gulf Coast to play the region's best team? (washingtonpost.com)

A popular topic the week of the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 is whether the tournament field should be reseeded within the regions once the final 16 teams are set. Meaning, if this would take place, the highest seed, in this year's case it could be a double-digit seed, would have to play the lowest seed (usually a No. 1 or 2 seed) in the Sweet 16 instead of who is in their region. Two of our writers each took a side to lay out the points in favor of either reseeding the field of 16 or keeping the regions as they were at the start of the tournament.

Eddie — Pro-reseeding:
The NCAA Tournament has become synonymous with madness because of its 'win or go home' format. Unlike 'best of seven' or 'best of five' scenarios, the better team doesn't always have the opportunity to prove their superiority. This results in highly unpredictable results and, every once in a blue moon, a champion that everyone agrees wasn't the best team in the land. In essence, the tournament is rigged against the better teams because all it takes is one off-night for your season to be over, even if you worked far harder than the other team to succeed throughout the course of the season. Reseeding teams within their regions for the Sweet Sixteen would go a long way toward reaffirming the importance of excelling in the regular season.

To make it worse, the NCAA made it a virtual cakewalk to get into the tournament by adding four teams to the field and creating a "first round" in 2011. Doing well in the regular season simply doesn't have the value that it used to. At the beginning of March, Baylor was still considered a "bubble team"with an 18-13 record.

This year, the West region offers the best case for reseeding teams in the Sweet Sixteen. Ohio State, as a No. 2 seed, will play No. 6 seed Arizona for a place in the regional final. Meanwhile, No. 9 seed Wichita State goes up against No. 13 seed LaSalle. Ohio State finished second in the regular season standings of one of the best conferences college basketball has ever seen and just happened to win its conference tournament. And what is its reward? It gets to play a Wildcats squad that spent much of the season ranked in the top five and finished second in the Pac-12. On the other end, two mid-majors who didn't accomplish anything noteworthy in the regular season, despite playing in less competitive conferences, are playing one another. It's really a shame that either Arizona or Ohio State will be sitting at home watching either Wichita State or LaSalle play in the Elite Eight.

Opponents will say that reseeding the Sweet Sixteen will give too great an advantage to the higher seeds and "punish" the lower seeds for earning a place in the tournament's second weekend. I would contend that's the entire point.  Conceivably, if Cinderellas like Florida Gulf Coast played well enough to get into the Sweet Sixteen, they should be able to compete with any team in the tournament regardless of seeding. But it could be that they just overachieved the first weekend and aren't actually good enough to play with the big boys. Either way, the regular season should play a bigger factor in determining a team's postseason fortunes.

Kyle — Anti-reseeding:
I agree there are times when the NCAA Tournament, because of seeding or match-up, makes the regular season seem unimportant. Rarely does a committee get every team's seeding correct and sometimes the best team (in this year's case it is Louisville) gets thrown in what many feel is the most difficult bracket. This tournament doesn't always give the championship to the best or most deserving team and neither does any other sport. When the New England Patriots went undefeated into the Super Bowl and lost to the New York Giants, did anyone think the Giants were the better team up until that point or deserved it more? No, but that's the beauty of sport. The Miami Heat "should have" won a championship in 2011, but Dallas had something to say about that. The Detroit Tigers had the fewest wins for a division winner in 2012, yet made it to the World Series. While the regular season is and should be important, it doesn't always translate to the postseason. The beauty of this tournament is when the round of 64 begins, all 64 teams have a shot at a title.

Whether or not it should, I don't think reseeding will happen because of the two reasons that drive fans and money to the NCAA Tournament: upsets and brackets. People love underdogs. More than underdogs, people love brackets. Are people going to start having to only fill out brackets on Selection Sunday only up until the Sweet 16 and then fill out a new one after the reseeding has taken place? And as we've seen, momentum and match-up can make the tournament field crazy. If it is more difficult for the "Cinderellas" to advance, and more and more top seeds breeze through the tournament, the casual fans, who just want to see an underdog, will not be nearly as interested in the tournament.

Why punish teams for playing well now for those who played well months ago? Sure, Wichita State gets to play No. 13 La Salle in the Sweet 16, but that's because the Shockers defeated a No. 1 team. It is not the Shockers' fault Ole Miss or Kansas State couldn't beat La Salle, but Wichita State took care of its business and shouldn't have to face a higher seed because of what the Rebels and Wildcats failed to do. If Ohio State and Arizona are that much better and are reseeded, they would each win and meet in the Elite 8 anyway, delaying the matchup just one round. The team that deserves to move on will find a way to win, no matter the seeding.

The lower seeds are supposed to be the better teams, which is why they have earned those seedings. But at some point they need to go out and win instead of getting favors. It takes six consecutive wins to be champions for everyone and somewhere along the line a team is going to have to beat the other great teams to earn that title.

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If the Mascots Battled - Predicting Regional Finals

Basing bracket predictions off which mascot would win in a fight is a popular method for those unfamiliar with the college basketball landscape (and we all know that they do better in bracket pools than the rest of us). There are some great mascots in the field this year, so here is how I think the regional finals would break down if each team's mascot got to duke it out for a chance to advance in the Big Dance.

Midwest

Billikens vs. Spartans

The St. Louis Billikens have easily the most enigmatic mascot in all of sports. Even the university itself can't quite seem to pin down the origin or definition of their mascot. As they state on their own website, "Several details seem to be certain. Everyone agrees that the Billiken is a good-luck figure who represents "things as they ought to be." The designer of the Billiken also seems to be fact. Florence Pretz, a Missouri art teacher and illustrator, patented her "design for an image" of the jovial creature in 1908.

The Billiken in action.

It's also known that the Billiken was manufactured in the early 1900s as a bank and statuette and was the national rage for about six months -- kind of that period's pet rock. During this time, the Billiken was turned into all sorts of things: dolls, marshmallow candies, metal banks, hatpins, pickle forks, belt buckles, auto hood ornaments, salt and pepper shakers and glass bottles." - http://www.slu.edu/evgrn-what-is-a-billiken, St. Louis University

The Billiken would advance to the regional final out of the midwest simply because of its magical, mysterious properties and the fact that all other mascots would be too confused to fight back.

The Spartans vs. the Blue Devils presents an intriguing Sweet Sixteen matchup, but the Spartans win out because, well, the Spartans always win out, even when down 300 - 150,000. Look for a glorious comeback victory that will avenge the Gods to advance Michigan State to the Elite Eight.

South

Wolverines vs. Aztecs

With all due respect to the Hilltoppers, Jayhawks, and Tar Heels, the Wolverine actually exists and he usually means business. It's definitely not something you would want to run into in the wilderness. It is renowned for besting predators that are significantly larger and more well-equipped. Like the honey-badger, the Wolverine don't care. He'll rip you apart for no reason at all.

I like the Aztecs to come out of a weak bottom half of the South bracket, but I hesitate because of that whole Cortes fiasco a while back. Sure, you can blame smallpox all you want, but losing an empire to a few Spaniards just off the boat is pretty weak. Look for the Wolverines to advance in this one.

East

Wolfpack vs. Buffaloes

The East region has a few of the better live mascots in sports. Butler's Blue II and Blue III get a lot of recognition for being so darn cute, but I've always thought the Bulldog was a rather lazy breed. I like Tuffy, the Tamaskan representing the North Carolina State Wolfpack to get through as the only canine member of the Elite Eight. NC State's website describes the Tamaskan as a "breed of domestic dog originating from Finland. It is known to excel in agility, obedience, and working trials." Sounds like a much better recipe for success than that paunchy bulldog.

You don't want to get in the way of Ralphie, Colorado's live mascot. (zimbio.com)

The bottom half of the East region has several of the more intriguing mascot matchups. At first glance, it would seem that the Miami Hurricanes have the advantage. Hurricanes can really take a punch. However, Miami has employed Sebastian the Ibis as their mascot, and we all know Ibises, "a group of long-legged wading birds" are far too lanky to do well in a fight. Ralphie from the University of Colorado, another impressive live mascot during football season, should make short work of Sebastian after getting revenge on the Illini for all those years getting chased across the plains.

West

Explorers vs. Cyclones

The top half of the West region offers some unique human-based mascots against some feisty wildlife, such as the Badgers out of Wisconsin (you already know my opinion of bulldogs). The Wichita State Shockers and LaSalle Explorers both offer intriguing qualities in fights. The Shocker mascot supposedly originates from students who would shock wheat to work their way through college, though it has taken on quite a different connotation of late. As fun as Shockers can be, Explorers are a gritty bunch who have fought their way through scurvy, chlamydia, and rambunctious natives over the years and can certainly handle a Wildcat or two.

The Iowa State mascot, Cy the Cardinal, as a cyclone. (newspaper.li)

The Iowa State Cyclones have a cake-walk to the Elite Eight, facing potential match-ups against the Buckeyes, and the Wildcats or Crimson. Please. Yes, Cy the Cardinal is a much weaker stand-in for an actual cyclone, but for the sake of argument, we are going to assume that he can turn himself into a column of wind at will. How else could he have posed for his picture featured on the Iowa State logo?  This should be a tough matchup for the privilege of a trip to the final four. 

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NCAA Tournament: Round of 64 Day 1 Recap

No. 14 Harvard pulled off the biggest upset of the night against No. 3 seed New Mexico. (thecrimson.com)

The first "official" day of the NCAA Tournament is in the books. It was a great day of basketball because, well, it was 10 hours of basketball. I'm not sure it's possible for the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament to not be great, no matter what happens on the court.

Yet the offense wasn't great and it looked like there wouldn't be any of the major upsets that we're normally accustomed ... oh, hey Harvard, almost missed you. It took one of the final games of the night, but No. 14 Harvard upset No. 3 New Mexico, making many who had New Mexico advancing multiple rounds sobbing into their pillow before falling asleep and waking up the next morning hoping it was all a dream. Those Ivy School Madness-makers were the big story of the night, but here are a few other takeaways from the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

No first for a No. 16 … yet
Every No. 1 seed each year has to go into that first game wishing and praying it is not them who becomes the first top seed to lose to a No. 16 seed. It will forever live in the history books along with the embarrassment that it was you and your school to "choke" first. An athletic Southern team gave Gonzaga all it could handle Thursday bringing the thought up once again, but the Bulldogs were too strong down the stretch to be upset. However, with the increasing parity and athleticism found at some of these mid-major schools, it would not be surprising to see a No. 16 come away victorious for the first time in the next five years.

Runaway victories
Out of the 16 games played Thursday, 11 of them were decided by 10 points or more. Some of these scores are misleading as it was closer than the final score would indicate (Butler vs. Bucknell) but others are the opposite, as it was never really felt that close (Michigan St. vs. Valpo). In a tournament where the stage and momentum are great equalizers, games are usually pretty competitive, but Thursday there were plenty of cases where one team didn't show up or the other team just ran away with the game from the beginning. This was especially surprising in the No. 8/No. 9 matchups, where the quality of the teams should be fairly equal, yet Wichita State ran all over Pitt and Colorado State did the same to Missouri. It will be interesting to see if the margin is closer in the Friday games.

Close, but not close enough
Yes, most of the games were not that close, but a few teams brought fans to the edge of their seats, especially in the afternoon sessions. No. 11 St. Mary's battled back from a late deficit to having the final shot to win with just more than a second remaining, while No. 14 Davidson had a one-point lead on Marquette with four seconds left. In a month and tournament known for underdogs being immortalized in last-second greatness, both St. Mary's and Davidson fell short of advancing to the Round of 32. Instead it was Marquette with the end-game heroics to win. We're still waiting for that first buzzer-beater from a mid-major player who will be remembered and talked about from that point on.

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Spying Cinderella Pt. 2: Montana Grizzlies

Does Montana have the firepower from 3-point range to knock off Syracuse and become Cinderella? (sbnation.com)

By now, you've seen all the "expert" predictions on who could make a splash with a big upset in the second (first) round and possibly carry the banner of 'Cinderella' into the Sweet 16. You've probably taken this advice and settled on a couple Cinderellas to feature on your bracket. But don't turn that sucker in to the pool manager without giving one last hard look at the Montana Grizzlies, the scrappy champions of the Big Sky Conference.

Montana returns the bulk of its players from a first-round-tournament exit one year ago, which was not particularly competitive. Giving a hot team like Montana additional motivation to prove itself is like adding fuel to the fire. The Grizzlies have won 21 of 23 coming into their Thursday night match-up with 4-seed Syracuse.

We all know how big a factor 3-point shooting is for underdogs to overcome their disadvantages in the athleticism department. This is particularly true when going up against Syracuse's vaunted zone defense. As a team, Montana shoots 38.5 percent from 3 — five percentage points better than Syracuse. They also post the No. 23 highest overall field goal percentage in the nation at 47.4 percent.

Aspiring Cinderellas always benefit from experienced floor generals, and Montana has that in senior point guard, Will Cherry. In a close game down the stretch, Cherry could be the difference, along with the Grizzlies' stellar 76.8 percent team free throw percentage. One reason to hesitate when picking Montana to advance tonight, though, is its loss of leading scorer and senior forward Mathias Ward late in the season to a foot injury. Montana managed to persevere and make it to the Big Dance anyway, but he could be sorely missed in those moments when the Grizzlies desperately need a bucket to turn back Syracuse's momentum.

It won't be easy for Montana to pull off the upset, by any means, but if Syracuse goes cold, the Grizzlies are the perfect team to take advantage. Some hot shooting from deep, early and often, coupled with enough opportunities at the charity stripe, could spell trouble for the Orangemen... and victory for your bracket.

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BDD Brackets: Who Our Writers Picked In The NCAA Tournament

Since we writers for BDD have been giving you, and will continue to give you loads of information and breakdowns of the NCAA Tournament, we're putting our brackets where our mouths are and revealing our tournament selections.

Alex:

Let's be clear: I am not at all comfortable with this bracket. It didn't even feel right while it was happening, but I'm forging ahead with it because many of these are reasonable picks (even two No. 2's, a No. 1 and a No. 3 make the Final Four), which is exactly what distresses me about this bracket. Instead of doing the usual amount of research, I took an approach that mixed equal parts eye test and gut reaction with a reputation regarding defensive and scoring prowess. High risk, high reward.

• Living in the heart of Big 12 country, I advanced each team in the conference except for the young, athletic Oklahoma Sooners. K-State sees an early exit, having been eliminated by Wisconsin twice since the turn of the century (2008, 2011) and new coach Bruce Weber's Big Ten experience shouldn't be enough to overcome history.

• Upsets — Colorado got some glancing love even after defecting from the Big 12. Some of it is also due to Illinois' underachieving ways. Like innumerable other people, I have Davidson advancing over Marquette, although I believe Buzz Williams' squad is underrated. The biggest chances I took are in the loaded Midwest region with Louisville going down to a balanced, physical St. Louis, and Creighton moving past Duke. Many people fail to realize the Bluejays can score without Doug McDermott on the floor and are battle-tested having played Wichita State's stringent defense three times in Missouri Valley play.

• Sweating — Having two Big Ten teams, let alone both Michigan teams, in the Final Four has me worried. Trey Burke can put the Wolverines on his back if need be and Tom Izzo primes his teams for March each season, something that puts the Spartans far ahead of the pack in a year where there is not a clear cut juggernaut. Sending Georgetown and Florida to the Sweet 16 (and further, for the Hoyas) will keep me on pins and needles until they prove me otherwise, though.

  Kyle:

This year, more than ever, is up in the air. There is no dominant Kentucky team of last year that was a virtual no brainer for the Final Four. This tournament could go a number of ways, which means the amount of research, scouting and knowledge might be futile. You might as well pick by color or mascot. Nevertheless, it is an equal playing field in the fact that this field is a jumbled mess to everyone, so here's a few of my thoughts and reasonings for why you see the names above that you do.

• While there is more parity than ever, I do think there's still only a handful of teams that are legitimate title contenders. So while I loved some early-round upsets, there is still a good amount of chalk in the Elite 8 and up. It's difficult to stop - I wanted to go with that No. 13 seed to reach the Final Four, but as much as I tried, I couldn't do it. Some teams are just better, even with the parity.
• That being said, I love some double-digit seeds to advance to the third round (Round of 32) and on to the Sweet 16. As I mentioned in my initial reactions post, I really like No. 14 Davidson because of how the Wildcats match up with Marquette and then advancing on to the Sweet 16. Remember, they're on a roll. I also clearly like the No. 11's and No. 10's as I have two No. 11's (Belmont and Minnesota) and two No. 10-seeds (Iowa State and Colorado) winning second-round games.
• I read an incredible stat that only once in the past 16 years have all four No. 2 seeds reached the Sweet 16. No. 2 seeds seem like almost automatic advances, yet one always falls. That's why I picked Iowa State to knock off Ohio State (I also considered Colorado over Miami). Iowa State is a dynamic 3-point shooting team that when they're hot, the offense is very tough to stop. If they can hit outside shots and play better defense, I could see the Cyclones reaching the Sweet 16.
• As for my Final Four, I'll start in the Midwest, where honestly any of the top four seeds could be in Atlanta. I really wanted to put St. Louis in Atlanta, but Tom Izzo gets his teams ready in March as well as anyone. The Spartans are balanced and physical, which bodes well for this tournament. A lot of people are writing off Gonzaga, but I've watched at least half of the Bulldogs' games this year and they are a legitimate great team. I think Indiana is too strong for Miami in the East and if the Kansas team that played in the Big 12 Tournament shows up here, the Jayhawks have the talent to reach the Final Four.

 Zach:

My college basketball knowledge, is not the best, but this is what I think I know. Miami CRUSHED Duke at some point this season. New Mexico didn't hold back when scheduling opponents (the Lobos have the second-rated strength of schedule). Being in-tune to the Minnesota Golden Gophers' play kept my ear open to the Big Ten. That being said, here's the method to my bracket madness.

• Regardless of their season and ACC tournament performance, usually Duke lands in my final four. Coach K has his pick when recruiting and also happens to be a pretty darn good in-game coach.  

• Minnesota Golden Gophers — I have lived in Minnesota for a scattered 17 years. I've watched Rodney Williams, Joe Coleman and Trevor Mbakwe play since their days in high school. I picked them to be a Sweet 16 team before the year and cannot go back now.  

• Big Ten — Picked every team to win first round match-up, but none to make the Final Four. Known for it's grind-it-out style, the B1G contains excellent guard play. Aaron Craft (Ohio State), Victor Oladipo (Indiana) and Big Ten Player of the Year Trey Burke (Michigan) all need to help control the pace for their team. Guard play is essential to tournament success.

• If I needed to make a guess or felt completely lost, I determined a winner using Strength of Schedule. After SoS, I went to allowed points per game and PPG differential. If I still struggled to decide a winner, I went with the team who had a player leading them in both PPG and assists per game.  

• Cinderella (If I had one) — I chose St. Mary's to be victorious in both their play-in round game and a match-up with Memphis. I like St. Mary's going to Australia to recruite players who have experience in national competition. Patty Mills, now with the San Antonio Spurs, led St. Mary's to a Sweet 16 appearance a few years back. An upset relies heavily on Aussie guard Matthew Dellavedova's offensive presence. Also relentless on-ball defender, Dellavedova has not shot well in previous tournament appearances.

Fred:

• Jordan Adams, second on UCLA in scoring, was able to provide 15.3 points per game. His injury can have a dramatic effect on the first round where UCLA is ranked 6th and Minnesota 11th. I can see Minnesota upset UCLA with their balanced scoring and tremendous rebounding.

• Zeller will be a tough matchup for every team, but Adreian Payne will be the difference maker for Michigan State.

• San Diego State, how can you not love them? I’m forced to since my brother is an alumni and it’s the only place I go to watch college basketball live. This pick is from the heart, not the mind. I’m not worried about the statistics, nor am I worried about what implications this pick may have on the rest of my bracket. I put my soul into this pick, and I’m sticking with it.

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Brackets Take NCAA Tournament To Greater Heights

The piece of paper that puts the NCAA Tournament over the top. (cuindependent.com)

The design of the NCAA Tournament already makes it the greatest sports tournament (notice I said tournament and not event, so calm down, Super Bowl) in the country.

The single-elimination style brings intensity and drama like none other. The inclusion of 68 teams, instead of 16 or two, draws fans from all across the country as every team from blue bloods to NCAA Tourney first timers have an equal shot to win a title. Cities are filled with sellout crowds of fans watching and praying their team advances to the next day or weekend. I believe 10 straight hours of basketball on four networks mean the television ratings do pretty well, too.

But there's something about the tournament that puts the event over the top; that sheet of lines, numbers and college names that can make your day or break your heart. The bracket.

Millions of people will ignore work, family and any friends who aren't college basketball analysts and find any means necessary to attempt to correctly predict the tournament outcome. It consumes fans. "Which No. 12 seed will upset a No. 5? How many No. 1 seeds will make the Final Four? What Cinderella team will carry my bracket and the slipper all the way to the winner's circle? Maybe I should just resort to picking teams based on which mascot would win in a fight like Kathy from HR, who somehow has won the last two years?"

It gives you a reason to fully invest in a game between Butler and Bucknell when you have not watched a single moment of either team's games all year. Maybe you've never heard of the school, but that doesn't mean you won't promise to donate to Albany if it can somehow pull off that second-round (Round of 64 - I hate the new wording) upset to throw you into the lead in your pool. Every game becomes important because every game now has meaning to you and your bracket.

All the planning and research goes into picking the perfect upsets and the correct Final Four teams and yet eventually a school will break your heart. Your Final Four team will lose in the Sweet 16 and that Cinderella you have dancing into the second weekend gets dropped by a buzzer-beater on the first afternoon of games and the dream of perfection is over as reality sets in. You believe you can find the perfect bracket, but somehow it is always out of reach. You might as well be searching for the Fountain of Youth or a lost city of gold. It's painful, but it's also a thing of beauty.

The beauty of the bracket also lies in the days before the tournament begins. Anticipation is high for the first game to tip and you spend the four days not just waiting for games, but studying and preparing for them. The work begins long before the game clock counts down, for your bracket is first priority. At that moment, your bracket is perfect because it cannot be proven otherwise. You have fully convinced yourself Indiana will make it out of the East region and Belmont will upset Arizona, and for all you know that is what will happen.

The NCAA Tournament would still have upsets, buzzer-beaters and Cinderellas without brackets. The suspense would still be high and the stakes even higher. But no where else do you find people possessed with the motivation to predict the outcome of a tournament and so dedicated to follow it through and see how right they were. The bracket portion of the event has grown to being nearly as large as the games themselves. The No. 1 talking point this week in offices and among friends is "how is your bracket doing?"

The NCAA Tournament would do just fine without brackets, but it wouldn't be as good. The bracket connects us to the entire tournament, not just the region your favorite team plays in, and really gives fans the complete experience. Without a bracket, many people wouldn't stay up late on Thursday night to watch New Mexico against Harvard, but it might turn out to be one of the best games of the tournament. The tournament is the biggest stage because millions of people are watching nearly every game, and a big thanks to that is the existence of the bracket.

That sheet of lines, numbers and team names will most likely break your heart. It will sometimes make you a winner. But one thing is for sure, having a bracket to fill out makes the NCAA Tournament experience even better.


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