TCR Bracketology 9.0: What the committee reveal says about Illinois

On Saturday, the NCAA selection committee released its annual top 16 reveal. They did not have much to say on the Illini, but what they said about other teams can provide some insight into how Illinois will be valued by the committee.

Illinois was 7th, behind a clear top three of Michigan, Duke and Arizona, and then a tight three-way race for the final 1-seed between Iowa State, UConn and Houston. They said the head-to-head win for Iowa State over Houston was “one of the determining factors” in putting them ahead, and that UConn also went ahead of Houston because their three best wins are better than Houston’s three best wins.

Advertisement

Personally, I don’t agree with these decisions: I would have had the order Houston, Iowa State, UConn, and still have Houston above UConn despite their loss to Arizona (I dropped Iowa State behind UConn due to its loss at BYU). I think a very close road loss doesn’t outweigh the better metrics and better Big 12 record (I consider head-to-head more in close calls if the win is either very convincing or on the road), and focusing on the top three wins to separate Houston and UConn is ignoring way too much of the resume: Houston has no losses outside of Quad 1A while UConn lost a home stinker to Creighton, and Houston’s efficiency metrics are well clear of UConn’s.

Despite my disagreements, those statements, if they get applied consistently and not just in specific cases to avoid the ire of blowhard Dan Hurley, tend to favor the Illini. They are in a tight race with Purdue for seeding and a spot in St. Louis, and the head-to-head win in West Lafayette could be an important factor in why the committee has Illinois above them at the moment. Also, if the committee is focusing on the very top end wins, Illinois’ wins at Purdue, at Nebraska, home against Texas Tech and neutral against Tennessee stack up very well against most teams in the 2/3 range. The committee also mentioned how they take injuries into account, particularly in…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tcr-bracketology-9-0-committee-131451316.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-02-23 13:14:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.