ESPN
Callahan Bball

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Ok
I might not know my Men's College teams- but I'll give you a run for your moneny with the Women!
Go to ESPN
Fantasy- look to the right for the Women's Challenge

I'll enter the men tourney as well
Stewcall in Virginia
no longer a Rookie!

Thanks for the head's up!!

Can you believe that they move the Women's Championship Game to Tuesday night?

Less competition for resources -- ie, viewers, tv coverage, advertisers, venues, etc??

Pick the higher seeds.
 

Here is a Women's Tournament tip.

For the first two rounds, you cannot go wrong with picking all the top seeds. Very seldom does a top seed lose in the first and second round. It did happen last year, but this was the first time a #16 seed beat a #1 seed. And you can almost guarantee that 3 of the top seeds will make the Final Four. The trick is just which one do you leave out?

Peace

On the subject, I see in the local paper that the folks in Ruston (LA Tech) were somewhat miffed by their #5 seed. This is not my area of expertise, but doing the math:
#6(?) ranking <b>in the country</b>, #5 ranking in the region, there seems to be a bit of a crack. Somebody knowledgeable have an opinion?

RPI Rankings.
 

This might not be the answer you are looking for, but National Rankings have nothing to do with the committee decisions in theory. So maybe their RPI was rather low and other teams showed a better schedule performed more to the committee's standards?

Peace

From a chat with the chairwoman of the selection committee at http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=3224:

<b>Lee (Toledo, OH): How does the 6th ranked team in the country, Louisiana Tech, 29-2, only get a 5 seed in the West region? They should be at least a 3 seed if not higher.

Cheryl Marra: One thing that is important to note, your SOS is very significant. La. Tech did not have a particulary strong SOS to compliment their win/loss record. That was taken into consideration by the committee. That had a lot to do with the non-conference scheduling. </b>

And also of interest:

<b>Fahrunnisa (Los Olivos, CA): Why is UCSB seeded so low (7) when they're number 17 in both AP and ESPN polls?

Cheryl Marra: I think you need to remember that we don't use polls. We do look at SOS and win/loss records and significant wins. We don't look at polls when we make our decision. </b>

SOS = strength of schedule

On the men's side, did anybody see the "reaction" shot of the Pittsburgh team when their 2-seed spot was announced? Not a happy bunch of guys. It was pretty funny. I think one guy clapped. The rest of them looked like, "You gotta be kidding. . ."

Chuck

In the past, each of the top four seeds in each region got to host the first two rounds. Instead of neutral, all 5's through 16's had to play away games. So there were few upsets.

This year, they went with "predetermined sites". They picked out 16 sites ahead of time, home courts for 16 pretty good teams. Now they all host, even if they aren't a 1, 2, 3, or 4. There are some 5's, 6's, and even down to 10's hosting in the first round. I think there might be a couple of 2's that would play second-round away games. Expect more "upsets" based on the seeding this year. Really bad system, IMHO.

I'm there man!

I guess I know the women's game a bit better than the men's! Only one wrong pick so far! My men's bracket I might as well burn!

I missed only two.
 

I missed one less than you did. All I did was basically pick all the top seeds.

Peace

...aahhh, but there were a couple of games that didn't follow the top seed format! But you are right, the difference between the haves and have nots in the women's side is much greater..

Can't find an RPI for women, but
 

LA Tech is in the WAC, not a lot of strength there. On the other hand, they beat Texas Tech who was 7th ranked and got a 2 seed. I guess it's one of those things you have to live with when you play in a mid-major.

Also, didn't LA Tech's coach blast the committee last year? Claimed a gender bias, putting all the male coaches in one region to ensure three women coaches in final four. Maybe a little vengeance this time around by the powers that be.