toughest road to the Final Four

[moqui]

Louisville gets credit for surviving the loaded Midwest Regional . . . but most of the load was in the other half of the bracket. If you compare teams by the average KenPom rankings of the opponents you get, you see that Wichita State has had by far the most difficult road (as you would expect with a 9 seed):

UL 71.25 average opponent ranking (NC A&T 221, CSU 30, Oregon 27, Duke 7)
SU 60.75 (Montana 158, Cal 56, Indiana 3, Marquette 26)
UM 39.5 (SDSU 130, VCU 16, Kansas 10, Florida 2)
WSU 18.25 (Pitt 11, Gonzaga 4, LaSalle 52, OSU 6)

 

[jdubs30]

I was thinking about this today, eyetest for me says Michigan had the toughest road. Surpised ot see that WSU's was that much higher.

 

[RF2044]

Louisville gets credit for surviving the loaded Midwest Regional . . . but most of the load was in the other half of the bracket. If you compare teams by the average KenPom rankings of the opponents you get, you see that Wichita State has had by far the most difficult road (as you would expect with a 9 seed):

UL 71.25 average opponent ranking (NC A&T 221, CSU 30, Oregon 27, Duke 7)
SU 60.75 (Montana 158, Cal 56, Indiana 3, Marquette 26)
UM 39.5 (SDSU 130, VCU 16, Kansas 10, Florida 2)
WSU 18.25 (Pitt 11, Gonzaga 4, LaSalle 52, OSU 6)

That actually makes sense, given that they were the lowest seed.

 

[MadNY3]

Louisville gets credit for surviving the loaded Midwest Regional . . . but most of the load was in the other half of the bracket. If you compare teams by the average KenPom rankings of the opponents you get, you see that Wichita State has had by far the most difficult road (as you would expect with a 9 seed):

UL 71.25 average opponent ranking (NC A&T 221, CSU 30, Oregon 27, Duke 7)
SU 60.75 (Montana 158, Cal 56, Indiana 3, Marquette 26)
UM 39.5 (SDSU 130, VCU 16, Kansas 10, Florida 2)
WSU 18.25 (Pitt 11, Gonzaga 4, LaSalle 52, OSU 6)

Michigan's was much tougher than ours. VCU in round two? KU and Florida? Damn impressive.

Of course, them as I hope we anaconda them this weekend with the Zone.

 

[BuffOrange]

Michigan's was much tougher than ours. VCU in round two? KU and Florida? Damn impressive.

Of course, them as I hope we anaconda them this weekend with the Zone.

Worth noting that the VCU game was in Detroit. I'd imagine Cal wouldn't be more than a slight dog if they played VCU at home. And Indiana would be favored over Kansas on a neutral floor. Ya I'd say they had a tougher road (mostly because Florida > Marquette) but not by a ton.

 

[longtimefan]

Louisville gets credit for surviving the loaded Midwest Regional . . . but most of the load was in the other half of the bracket. If you compare teams by the average KenPom rankings of the opponents you get, you see that Wichita State has had by far the most difficult road (as you would expect with a 9 seed):

UL 71.25 average opponent ranking (NC A&T 221, CSU 30, Oregon 27, Duke 7)
SU 60.75 (Montana 158, Cal 56, Indiana 3, Marquette 26)
UM 39.5 (SDSU 130, VCU 16, Kansas 10, Florida 2)
WSU 18.25 (Pitt 11, Gonzaga 4, LaSalle 52, OSU 6)

I prefer Pomeroy's ratings to most of the others. But, his system tends to overrate Pitt (and Wisconsin). And, I don't understand Gonzaga being that high, either.

 

[wink91wink]

Gonzaga was highly overrated, and I don't think anyone really considered them a threat to win it all. I would say Michigan had the toughest, Cuse 2nd, WSU 3rd, and Louisville 4th.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I don't know if it was our defense or what, but I am convinced Montana and Cal were the two worst teams in the tourney. Then again, Indiana and Marquette had even less chance to beat us than Cal did so I dunno.

 

[All4SU]

I think you have to drop the high number. Does it really matter if Team A played #221 or the Team B played # 187? Unless a team is playing a higher seed in round 1, I think you can drop the first round and begin the comparison at round 2.

 

[heresjohnny88]

I don't know if it was our defense or what, but I am convinced Montana and Cal were the two worst teams in the tourney. Then again, Indiana and Marquette had even less chance to beat us than Cal did so I dunno.

Montana was REALLY bad. We lucked out getting them as a 13 seed. We played well that night, but I mean...they were just awful. Cal was definitely not a great team, but they weren't terrible either. Pretty decent draw for the Cuse overall.

 

[moqui]

I think you have to drop the high number. Does it really matter if Team A played #221 or the Team B played # 187? Unless a team is playing a higher seed in round 1, I think you can drop the first round and begin the comparison at round 2.

drop the high number & WSU's road was even tougher, and SU's becomes the easiest

 

[wink91wink]

drop the high number & WSU's road was even tougher, and SU's becomes the easiest

I would much rather play CSU, Oregon and Duke than California, Indiana, and Marquette.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Montana was REALLY bad. We lucked out getting them as a 13 seed. We played well that night, but I mean...they were just awful. Cal was definitely not a great team, but they weren't terrible either. Pretty decent draw for the Cuse overall.

I think the bracket committee threw Cuse a bone w/ Montana because they sent us all the way out to San Jose. Even though seeding was a mess in some brackets, I believe the committee tried to compensate in other ways. See Oregon as a way underseeded 12 BUT playing in San Jose in the same pod w/ Okie State, St Louis and New Mexico State.

I also think Cal is/was alot better than we made them look and could've given some other 4/5 teams a bit more trouble.

 

[BuffOrange]

I would much rather play CSU, Oregon and Duke than California, Indiana, and Marquette.

I think it's close, but playing in their equivalent of Albany & Buffalo definitely puts it over the top. Granted they earned those locations, but it still should be factored in if we're talking easier road.