Bracketology - March 1

It's March 1 so it's time to talk hoops. I am pleased to announce that Matt Borman has been hired as Chop Culture's resident bracketologist. Matt has been projecting the March Madness bracket since 2006. Over the years, Matt has outperformed Joe Lunardi (ESPN), the New York Post, the Sporting News, SI, and CBS Sportsline, among others.

The results of Matt's final bracket from the last four years are as follows (fourth category is Matt's grade according to The Bracket Project Scoring System (bracketproject.blogspot.com), fifth category is where Matt finished in rankings according to all brackets TBPSS found online):

2006 – 61 teams correct, 25 seeds correct, 45 seeds with in 1 line, 278, 17 of 23

2007 – 61 teams correct, 30 seeds correct, 54 seeds with in 1 line, 297, 2 of 30

2008 – 64 teams correct, 24 seeds correct, 53 seeds within 1 line, 293, 49 of 53

2009 – 64 teams correct, 28 seeds correct, 54 seeds within 1 line, 302, 39 of 60

Matt will project the final NCAA Tournament bracket each week, leading up to his final projections on Selection Sunday (March 14). Without further ado, below is Matt's bracket for this week.

Midwest (St. Louis)

1 Kansas

16 Quinnipiac / Lehigh

8 Northern Iowa

9 Louisville

4 Vanderbilt

13 Murray St.

5 Gonzaga

12 UConn

3 New Mexico

14 Oakland

6 Xavier

11 Illinois

7 Baylor

10 Virginia Tech

2 Purdue

15 Morgan St

East (Syracuse)

1 Duke

16 Belmont

8 Texas

9 Utah St.

4 Tennessee

13 Notre Dame

5 Butler

12 Old Dominion

3 Ohio State

14 Akron

6 Richmond

11UNLV

7 Wake Forest

10 Florida

2 Villanova

15 Coastal Carolina

West (Salt Lake City)

1 Syracuse

16 Stony Brook

8 Florida St.

9 Missouri

4 Texas A&M

13 Sam Houston St.

5 Maryland

12 UAB

3 Pitt

14 Wofford

6 Wisconsin

11 Mississippi St.

7 Cal

10 UTEP

2 Kansas St

15 North Texas

South (Houston)

1 Kentucky

16 Jackson St.

8 Georgia Tech

9 Oklahoma St.

4 Temple

13 St. Mary’s

5 Georgetown

12 Cornell

3 Michigan St

14 Weber St

6 BYU

11 Siena

7 Clemson

10 Marquette

2 West Virginia

15 UCSB

Last 5 In: UAB, Illinois, UConn, Notre Dame, St. Mary’s

Last 5 Out: Dayton, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Washington

*Conference champions in bold

Seeds only version:

1s: Kansas, Syracuse, Duke, Kentucky

2s: Purdue, Kansas State, Villanova, West Virginia

3s: New Mexico, Pitt, Ohio State, Michigan State

4s: Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Temple

5s: Gonzaga, Maryland, Butler, Georgetown

6s: Xavier, Wisconsin, Richmond, BYU

7s: Baylor, Cal, Wake Forest, Clemson

8s: Northern Iowa, Florida State, Texas, Georgia Tech

9s: Louisville, Missouri, Utah State, Oklahoma State

10s: Virginia Tech, UTEP, Florida, Marquette

11s: Illinois, Mississippi State, UNLV, Siena

12s: UConn, UAB, Old Dominion, Cornell

13s: Murray State, Sam Houston State, Notre Dame, St. Mary's

14s: Oakland, Wofford, Akron, Weber State

15s: Morgan State, North Texas, Coastal Carolina, UCSB

16s: Quinnipiac / Lehigh, Stony Brook, Belmont, Jackson State