Welcome back to your favorite college hoops poll (I hope). Same concept as always, so the rest of this is mostly cut and paste:
Vote for the 8 teams you think will be in this year’s elite 8. The 20 choices (max allowed in the poll format) are the top 19 in the current AP poll (i.e., before the new one comes out tomorrow at noon), plus an “other” choice. If you pick “other”, please declare who you have in mind. This poll will close Tuesday Feb 21 at 12 noon eastern.
If you like, go back and check how you did come March 26. I’m mostly curious to see how knowledgeable college hoops fans think the tourney is going to play out, as the season plays out, and in particular how results change as we get more info.
Previous poll linked here if you want to see results / how you voted:
This year’s tournament will be dominated by the Big 12. Houston, in my personal belief, is overrated and will get upset in the sweet sixteen, along with Baylor. Otherwise, the final four will most certainly include two or more of the following. Kansas, Alabama, Purdue, UCLA.
Chances are I am completely wrong, but I see these four as the most likely to stay consistent throughout the rest of the year. Although I am concerned over UCLA’s consistency, Purdue and Alabama’s rough stretches are occurring at the right time for me to not be concerned and actually reinforced in my beliefs that the bounce back will occur into the tournament.
Not saying you are wrong and of course anything is possible but I think in this field Houston plays such a different way with multiple weapons that they will go far in the tourney
The poll is a little different for me now that the committee has released its preliminary Top 16 (and now that we’re closer to guessing seeds even without that). I’m not going to pick a team to the Elite 8 if they’re not a Top 4 seed, even if I think they’re otherwise one of the top 8 candidates. The difficulty of their path to the Elite 8 matters too much.
While it’s difficult to pick which 5-seeds or worse will reach the Elite 8, it is very likely that at least one will. Since the field expanded in 1985, the Elite 8 has had at least one 5-seed or worse in 34 of the 37 tournaments.
So, good point. Should I change the poll criteria next time – maybe go with top 19 in bracket matrix, plus other? Or stay as is? (sorry for the poll within a poll)
Keep as is, for consistency of your season-long comparison exercise. This minor change in how I choose my vote is just part of the natural progression.