Bracket Matrix
March is upon us, which means Bracket Matrix is set to become one of the best sites on the web. If you missed last week’s ‘Bubble Watch,’ this is a comprehensive list of mock tournament brackets assembled by national and personal outlets, providing a detailed look at potential standing.
The site’s home page is a cumulative bracket with average seeding from each outlet. Unfortunately, this week’s template is built by 105 teams as opposed to 115 a week ago.
Regardless, the site still lists Arizona State as one of the teams in the field of 68.
As of March 2, the Sun Devils averaged out as a No. 11 seed, ranking as high as No. 7 in a bracket completed by TRMD Index. However, ASU was left out of 32 of the 105 brackets – the most by any at-large team – as opposed to last week when it ranked in 83 of 115.
Without a doubt, Thursday’s results had something to do with it. Not only did the Sun Devils lose to Oregon, Washington – one of ASU’s best wins – fell from Quadrant 1 to Quadrant 2 with an upset defeat to California.
This brought ASU from four to three Quadrant 1 wins, removing it from the company of teams like Duke, Michigan State and Virginia with at least four wins and a winning record against the quadrant. That’s likely the separation necessary to overcome four losses in Q3 and Q4.
If ASU can bounce back tomorrow night, that should negate some concerns from Thursday’s results. Washington is now ranked No. 32 in the NET standings, so they can still jump back in Q1 with a strong finish.
However, the Pac-12 is under a lot of criticism after the struggles of its two top teams. That can only be fixed by strong performances this week and the Pac-12 Tournament.