-Jim Root

Bracketing at the Weave is BACK! With some of our other responsibilities, bracketology has taken a “brack” seat (starting hot with horrendous puns), but considering it was my first college basketball love (and that I still treat Selection Sunday as the highest holiday), I could never quit it altogether. Plus, we never even had a bracket in 2020, so you must forgive me for wanting to speculate early.

This is my first stab at the field since the NCAA announced the move to an All-Indiana schedule, thus removing geography from consideration in the bracketing process. That should make things easy, but the conference imbalance at the top of the S-Curve insisted on making placements a challenge. The Big Ten and Big 12 occupy eight of my top 12 slots, and ensuring the “regions” don’t have any overlap at the top is one of the principle remaining rules.

Still, I ended up with a balanced and intriguing bracket – thoughts on teams and placements below the bracket. This is almost exclusively a “if the season ended today” bracket, primarily because I wanted to enjoy the reality where Duke, Michigan State, and Kentucky are all bystanders…

Thoughts:

1. Count me in for a second Gonzaga vs. Iowa matchup in the Final Four - the first in Sioux Falls was a delight to watch.

2. UConn is back in the Big East, so why not match them up with another old Big East foe in Rutgers?

3. Sorry Michigan fans - I can’t imagine it’s exciting to see “16 - UMBC” lurking opposite you in Round 1.

4. Duke and Michigan State have sad resumes right now (Michigan State’s best win: @ Duke), and that’s not even mentioning the disastrous state of affairs around the Kentucky program.

5. A first round matchup between Wisconsin and North Texas might not hit 100 combined points.

6. Not having to worry about the bracketing rule of placing BYU at a Thursday/Saturday site is a nice small relief.

7. UCLA versus Pittsburgh has a fun “Ben Howland Was Here” element to it — especially as Mr. Howland watches from his couch.

8. Iowa’s path could be paved with outrageous frontcourts: UC Irvine is massive, Utah State has Neemias Queta and other giants, Illinois has big Kofi waiting. Illinois and Iowa only play once in the regular season, so they could theoretically meet in the Sweet 16 without breaking any rules.

9. Richmond’s Princeton offense against FSU’s switching and heavy denial could be a treat. Back door cuts for days, and a center who can pull FSU’s massive middle men out to the perimeter.

10. We nearly had a four-bid Mountain West and a three- (or four-) bid Atlantic 10, with Colorado State, VCU, and Saint Bonaventure lurking just outside the field. Those three will be key to watch over the next few weeks - they HAVE to avoid bad losses in league play.

11. How about a Missouri vs. Kansas national title game? WHO SAYS NO?? (Gonzaga and Baylor, that’s who)