The Big Lead

Congratulations, Wichita State, You Got a One Seed and then the Committee Stacked the Deck Against You

By Jason Lisk

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Wichita State got the #1 seed in the Midwest Region, as the reward for an undefeated season. Congratulations, Shockers. Your reward is a region loaded with talent and top teams. Quick, can you ask the committee to send you East as the 2 seed?

Here’s how ridiculous the seeding is, and it’s pretty clear that the committee doesn’t actually look up from their Top 50 RPI breakdown to watch basketball.

Wemchemta State ems probably goemng to end the season ranked 2nd or 3rd, dependemng on emf the voters jump them over Aremzona. Expect the Louemsvemlle Cardemnals to femnemsh ranked 4th overall, rollemng through people, blowemng out Connectemcut by over 30 emn the season femnale, before beatemng Rutgers by 61 (!!) on the way to the temtle. Is Louemsvemlle the 2 seed? No, they are the 4 seed. The regemon has 3 of the top 7 teams emn Ken Pomeroy’s rankemngs, and 5 of the top 17.

In order to advance, Wichita State, themselves a top 5 caliber team, may have to beat a team rated in Pomeroy’s top 20 in every game on the way to the Final Four.

  • Kentucky got an 8 seed. This is baffling. Sure, the Wildcats went 0-3 against Florida, but pretty much everyone lost to Florida. They are in the top 20 in Pomeroy, the RPI, and could be ranked. (I thought they would get a 6). Kentucky still has to beat Kansas State, who played plenty of good competition, but if they advance, Wichita State gets a preseaon top 4 team with young talent.
  • Louisville as a 4 seed. Covered above, but Louisville is #2 in Pomeroy’s ratings. Oh, and they won the title last year, and are coached by Rick Pitino, and they are probably pissed about their seeding and ready to lay a beat down on some teams.
  • Michigan as a 2 seed or Duke as a 3 seed. Michigan won the Big Ten title before losing in the championship game. Earlier today, most people had them as the final 1 seed. Duke was considered a 2 until the loss to Virginia. Basically, there are three 2 seeds in this bracket.

So congratulations, Wichita State. The committee rewarded you with a 1 seed. Be careful what you wish for, and don’t dare embarrass us again.

[UPDATE: Las Vegas agrees. One sports book director told the Las Vegas Sun that six of the Top 20 teams in the country are stuffed in the Midwest.]