2024-25 Bracket Matrix thread

[Sean Miller Fan]

Thursday BM update

10 seed

1st in Last 4 Byes

In 74 of 77 brackets.

UNC right below us. Next 2 games are huge.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

BTW, did anyone notice that in today's Bracketology update our pal Joe Lunardi has Pitt as the last four in. But he also has Pitt not playing in the first four, he has them in the field as a 10 seed. And he has UCF playing in the first four, even though UCF is not on his list of last four in. Or last four byes. Or first four out. Or next four out.

And it's still that way right now as I am typing this. So apparently not only does he not show his picks to anyone before he posts them to look for stupid mistakes like this, but no one at ESPN pays any attention at all to the bracket after he posts it.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

BTW, did anyone notice that in today's Bracketology update our pal Joe Lunardi has Pitt as the last four in. But he also has Pitt not playing in the first four, he has them in the field as a 10 seed. And he has UCF playing in the first four, even though UCF is not on his list of last four in. Or last four byes. Or first four out. Or next four out.

And it's still that way right now as I am typing this. So apparently not only does he not show his picks to anyone before he posts them to look for stupid mistakes like this, but no one at ESPN pays any attention at all to the bracket after he posts it.

I didn't see it but he does this weird thing where he updates his bracket and then sends out a tweet, which doesn't show the whole bracket but just gives some general info like Last 4 In, how many bids per conference and the tweet never matches his bracket.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

BTW, did anyone notice that in today's Bracketology update our pal Joe Lunardi has Pitt as the last four in. But he also has Pitt not playing in the first four, he has them in the field as a 10 seed. And he has UCF playing in the first four, even though UCF is not on his list of last four in. Or last four byes. Or first four out. Or next four out.

And it's still that way right now as I am typing this. So apparently not only does he not show his picks to anyone before he posts them to look for stupid mistakes like this, but no one at ESPN pays any attention at all to the bracket after he posts it.

Yeah, I caught it. That is a pretty bad mistake to leave up all day long.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Jerry Palm update:

Last 5 in:

Pitt
Wake
Texas
UNC
New Mexico

Huge week for Pitt vs fellow bubble teams.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Bracket Matrix Monday Update

Last 6 In

Pitt
Texas
New Mexico
UNC
Ohio State
UCF

First 7 Out
Wake
ASU
Indiana
Nebraska
BYU
Xavier
SMU

Pitt is in 82 of 85 brackets. The 1st team out is Wake, who is only in 23 brackets so there is quite a bit of distance as the bubble is weak right now.

Pitt/UNC and Pitt/Wake are massive bubble games. If Pitt wins both, they probably make the NCAAT if they hold serve the rest of the way. Not only are those important Q1 and Q2 wins but you are denying fellow bubble teams from getting a quality win.

Big bubble game Saturday. BYU @ UCF in that classic Big 12 rivalry.

 

[SteelBowl70]

Latest Lunardi today
Pitt remains last 4 byes
UNC remains last 4 in
SMU and Wake next 4 out

What bothers me at this point is that the brackets become very transactional. So every result moves teams one data point from where the last bracket was. Given Pitt has Wake, UNC and SMU in their next 4 games, they need to win at least one of them and beat UVA to stay in the field.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Latest Lunardi today
Pitt remains last 4 byes
UNC remains last 4 in
SMU and Wake next 4 out

What bothers me at this point is that the brackets become very transactional. So every result moves teams one data point from where the last bracket was. Given Pitt has Wake, UNC and SMU in their next 4 games, they need to win at least one of them and beat UVA to stay in the field.

Lunardi is very transactional but he isnt a good bracketologist. That said, I would have Pitt/Wake/UNC/SMU all very close. Like if Wake or SMU were to beat Pitt, I would have a hard time putting Pitt in over them if the remainder of the season played out as normal. I am huge on head to head. The committee isn't though.

Pitt @ Wake
Stanford @ SMU

2 huge bubble games tomorrow. A Stanford win moves them into that "Next Four Out" category and they have a favorable schedule. SMU and Stanford show you how much coaching means. 2 of the best 3 or 4 coaches in the league.

 

[Blair_45]

Jerry Palm on CBS today in his updated bracket has Pitt as the last 11 seed in the tournament before having to play in Dayton as one of the first four. He has Wake Forest right behind Pitt exactly has his first team in the first four. So needless to say this game tomorrow for Pitt is big. I still think they should be in even with a loss tomorrow at Wake. But winning this game would be huge as well and really put the Panthers in good shape moving forward of getting in the NCAA Tournament barring a complete and total collapse.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Jerry Palm on CBS today in his updated bracket has Pitt as the last 11 seed in the tournament before having to play in Dayton as one of the first four. He has Wake Forest right behind Pitt exactly has his first team in the first four. So needless to say this game tomorrow for Pitt is big. I still think they should be in even with a loss tomorrow at Wake. But winning this game would be huge as well and really put the Panthers in good shape moving forward of getting in the NCAA Tournament barring a complete and total collapse.

The way things are right now, Pitt is kind of stuck in that they cant really move up much but also cant move down much without overperforming or underperforming.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The way things are right now, Pitt is kind of stuck in that they cant really move up much but also cant move down much without overperforming or underperforming.

I wonder if you realize that you could say that about literally every other team in the country?

Every team that does not over or under perform what they have done to date is not going to move much on "the list". The only way that teams move up is by playing better. What causes teams to move down is playing worse. It really isn't any more mysterious than that.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Palm update: 2nd to Last team in the field

5 Star Bracketology update: Last team in the field.

Big Underdog Bracketology: 3rd team out.

In my "10 game stretch" post, I said they had to go at least 4-6 to be on the bubble. We are 2-5. If we beat UVa and then lose to UNC and SMU, we would be 3-7 and out for the time being, not really that close to being in. We'd probably have to finish 6-1 to get in.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Fox update:

First Four Out

2025 NCAA Tournament projections: Bracketology and March Madness predictions | FOX Sports

FOX Sports college basketball bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy offers up his latest NCAA Tournament projections, with Indiana and Arkansas on the bubble.

www.foxsports.com

SMU
Pitt
UNC
Xavier.

Wake last team in.