For all the speak of what a topsy turvy, backwards, and unpredictable season we’ve had, the Pac-12 has had the same three teams sitting atop it from the opening weekend. I find this to be a relatively surprising fact because its never quite felt like that, has it?
Goose brought to my attention that Colorado could finish anywhere from second to ninth with just two weeks remaining. This fact, however, did not surprise me. It rather embodies the aforementioned predictability of the conferences top three teams who’ve stood atop Mount Scott for 8 weeks now with footing about as secure as Ben Howland’s job. Which isn’t even to say that it’s a foregone conclusion that Howland is gone but rather that it’s the most confusing coaching situation in America that probably should not be followed from the perspective of
BruinsNation.
So what am I getting at?
I’m attempting to make the point that, amongst teams outside of UCLA, Arizona, and Oregon, Colorado is in the most auspicious position of them all. I say this because on my other tab I have up the RPI rankings and for as confounding a situation as Selection Sunday is, rarely are the computers ignored. But now I find myself a little irritated as I couldn’t find a tidy list of the highest rated RPI teams to be left out of the NCAAs. Instead, the best I could find was
this Sporcle game which was trying to make me
name the 40 highest rated snubs of the past seven years. I didn’t have the time or the patience to complete the quiz but I did notice that there were only nine high major teams to make the list. If one of you does complete this can you screen shot the final answers? I’ll do the same if I get around to it.
So back to my assertion of auspicious positioning. If we’re to believe in such things as sorting hats and Bracketologists, then the
Bracket Project Matrix should be taken pretty seriously. It aggregates just about every conceivable bracket projection out there and spits out the average seeding of teams listed. Colorado is projected to dance in all 87 brackets and do such at the average seed of 9.2. Exhale, enjoy this moment, and know that this could all be yours by handling business.
That’s exciting.
That’s exciting because the Buffs have some winnable games in their near future which isn’t to account for anything as foregone; but it is an opportunity to toe Mount Larry and indeed march into Vegas with some momentum and a shot at finishing higher than fifth in conference for the first time since 2004.
I repeat: that’s exciting. But you really don’t need me to tell you that. I mean you
really don’t need me to tell you that as I was made acutely aware of the exciting times surrounding CU hoops two weeks ago. Great atmosphere – again, as you already know – and I’m excited to gain some comparative perspective as I’m heading to Los Angeles this upcoming Saturday for Arizona’s visit to Pauley and UCLA’s second home sellout of the season.
And for the last time, you don’t need me to tell you these are exciting times. Because the calendar is approaching it’s third month, the mad one.
[insert Harlem Shake beat drop, here]
Go nuts.
