Yep, it really was a great week for us so far, and I am greedily hoping for more! At this point, I would argue this is our dream scenario:
(A) Jump to the first #2 seed so we can theoretically get UConn (the presumed last #1) in our region.
(B) Get a First Weekend location in St. Louis, which would be secured by accomplishing (A). This one even more specifically involves our fellow prospective #2 seeds, #3 seeds and #4 seeds losing so no one can pass us, too.
(C) Slide up from the #4 seed to the #3 seed in the BTT, allowing us to avoid Michigan until the brackets are likely finalized while still getting two chances at Quad 1 or even Quad 1A wins.
For those to happen, we need the following results this week. Ones that have already happened are in green or red depending on if they went our way or not. Numbers below are current Bracket Matrix seeds in our "general seeding neighborhood" to give context for why we would prefer a certain result. Needless to say, some are much more realistic than others, lol...
Update after last night:
Monday, March 2
#3 Iowa State loses at #1 Arizona (ISU is currently the top #3 seed and a real threat to move up)
Tuesday, March 3
#2 Florida loses vs. Mississippi State (this was never likely, lol)
#2 Illinois wins vs. Oregon
#3 Nebraska loses at UCLA (an Iowa win plus Illini win on Sunday now gets us the #3 seed in the BTT, plus Huskers are St. Louis competition)
#3 Texas Tech loses vs. TCU (TTU probably wouldn't have passed us, but you never know!)
#4 Kansas loses at Arizona State (this was REALLY helpful, as they were creeping up and could prefer St. Louis)
#4 Alabama loses at Georgia
#4 Virginia loses vs. Wake Forest (not that big of a deal, as UVA isn't too close to getting above the #4 line)
Wednesday, March 4
#2 Houston loses vs. Baylor
#3 Purdue loses at Northwestern
Thursday, March 5
#2 Michigan State loses vs. Rutgers (lol)
Friday, March 6
N/A
Saturday, March 7
#1 UConn wins at Marquette (we want them to remain a #1 seed)
#2 Florida loses at Kentucky (this one is HUGE if we have any hope of being the first #2)
#2 Houston loses vs. Oklahoma State
#3 Iowa State loses to Arizona State (keep that train rollin', ASU!!)
#3 Purdue loses vs. Wisconsin
#3 Texas Tech loses at BYU (this is less important after they already lost to ASU)
#4 Kansas loses to Kansas State
#4 Alabama loses vs. Auburn
#4 Virginia loses to Virginia Tech
Sunday, March 8
#1 Michigan wins vs. #2 Michigan State (assuming MSU beats Rutgers, this is huge to keep them definitively below us)
#2 Illinois wins at Maryland
#3 Nebraska loses vs. Iowa (this is the final result that gets us out of the #4 seed in the BTT, given Nebraska's earlier loss to UCLA)
Probably will not see much movement until Saturday, but then prepare yourselves for a roller coaster of a weekend. With that said, I will be keeping my eye on that Rutgers/MSU game and maintaining a fool's hope that the Scarlet Knights can shock the world!!
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