Too bad the inverted Pythag line in the southeast bracket didn't amount to much chaos, that really did some damage to a few of my brackets. The analysis was sound anyway.

Too bad the inverted Pythag line in the southeast bracket didn't amount to much chaos, that really did some damage to a few of my brackets. The analysis was sound anyway.

Apeman...I posted my Keeper bracket. It's under 2011 Resources.

Apeman...I posted my Keeper bracket. It's under 2011 Resources.

thanks for all your work, Pete. When will you post your final four and champion predictions? I am cramming and would love that info and would, as you say, love for you to do the heavy lifting on this one. Thanks.

thanks for all your work, Pete. When will you post your final four and champion predictions? I am cramming and would love that info and would, as you say, love for you to do the heavy lifting on this one. Thanks.

No doubt this will once again be a "wild and crazy ride!" This is why WE all need to get some sleep to prepare for the madness that will ensue this weekend with the upsets upon us!

Go Belmont, Utah State, Gonzaga, Michigan State so we can root for the underdogs!

No doubt this will once again be a "wild and crazy ride!" This is why WE all need to get some sleep to prepare for the madness that will ensue this weekend with the upsets upon us! Go Belmont, Utah State, Gonzaga, Michigan State so we can root for the underdogs!

Pythag curves of each region shows why Southeast so strange, East and West so hard:

I’ve been griping about that Southeast region for three days. But I didn’t really have any hard numbers to back up my impression that it unusually weak and just, well, strange. Now I have some evidence. I compared the Pythag values of the top 14 seeds for each of the regions and here’s what I found:



Check out the gold line. That’s the Southeast (color coded for Pitt). You see that the top two seeds are weaker than all the other regions, the three through six seeds are the third worst, the seven and eight seeds are the worst, and ODU is the third worst nine seed. That’s amazing. But then we get to the double- digit seeds: MSU is the second best ten seed, Gonzaga is the best 11 seed, and Utah State and Belmont are clearly the best 12 and 13 seeds. So what’s a bracketeer to do? On the one hand, you could conclude that Pitt is so weak they’re ripe for an upset. But on the other hand, none of the single digit seeds seem equipped to spring a surprise. Do you pick MSU, Utah State or Gonzaga out of this bracket?

Compare the Southeast to the West. Duke is the second best Pythag one seed in the West, yet SDSU is the best two seed, Texas is the best four seed, Arizona is the second best five and Cinci is the best six. Okay, so the seven through nine seeds aren’t anything to write home about, but that’s a lot of good high seeds for Duke to have to fight through. Meanwhile, the East is probably the most balanced from the one to nine seeds, while the Southwest sags from the fourth seed to the seventh. In fact, the Kansas bracket has the toughest tandem of two and three seeds.

It’s eerie how these regional curves pretty well dramatize the dilemmas I wrestled with in settling on my Keeper bracket.
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Pythag curves of each region shows why Southeast so strange, East and West so hard: I’ve been griping about that Southeast region for three days. But I didn’t really have any hard numbers to back up my impression that it unusually weak and just, well, strange. Now I have some evidence. I compared the Pythag values of the top 14 seeds for each of the regions and here’s what I found: <IMG SRC=/ blog/ regioncomps.gif> Check out the gold line. That’s the Southeast (color coded for Pitt). You see that the top two seeds are weaker than all the other regions, the three through six seeds are the third worst, the seven and eight seeds are the worst, and ODU is the third worst nine seed. That’s amazing. But then we get to the double- digit seeds: MSU is the second best ten seed, Gonzaga is the best 11 seed, and Utah State and Belmont are clearly the best 12 and 13 seeds. So what’s a bracketeer to do? On the one hand, you could conclude that Pitt is so weak they’re ripe for an upset. But on the other hand, none of the single digit seeds seem equipped to spring a surprise. Do you pick MSU, Utah State or Gonzaga out of this bracket? Compare the Southeast to the West. Duke is the second best Pythag one seed in the West, yet SDSU is the best two seed, Texas is the best four seed, Arizona is the second best five and Cinci is the best six. Okay, so the seven through nine seeds aren’t anything to write home about, but that’s a lot of good high seeds for Duke to have to fight through. Meanwhile, the East is probably the most balanced from the one to nine seeds, while the Southwest sags from the fourth seed to the seventh. In fact, the Kansas bracket has the toughest tandem of two and three seeds. It’s eerie how these regional curves pretty well dramatize the dilemmas I wrestled with in settling on my Keeper bracket.