Blogging for LSC 432

When I first looked through the LSC 432 syllabus, I was kind of glad to see blog posts incorporated as part of our grade. I enjoy writing in blog form like that, and have done it in the past both on this blog and for Fansided, an online site featuring sports content. I once wrote an article about former Wisconsin Badger star Sam Dekker twisting his ankle shortly before the 2014/15 season (the year Wisconsin advanced to the national championship game). Flash forward to March of that season, and the headline I used along with my pic appeared in a video Sports Illustrated did on Sam Dekker. 

All of this occurred before this class began, but it helped me understand how important it was to just get content out there, as you never know who could be reading. I'm currently working two jobs plus school, so I probably wouldn't have been writing posts if I wasn't forced to do so in this class, despite the fact that I like doing it. I'm pleased that we were able to do this and fine tune our blogs to look more professional (even though mine, admittedly could probably still use some work)

Most of the feedback I got on my blogs stressed adding links for better search engine optimization and even when I thought I had added enough, I still needed to add more, so that's something I plan to fix in the future.

I also began looking at this more from the audience point of view and tailored my blog for that. I started to think, well, if I was reading this, what would I want to know, and I think that will help as I move forward with my blog. I do plan on continuing to write like this, because as I mentioned before, it's great to just get content out there for potential employers to see. So here's to continued improvement, and thanks for a great semester!

Milwaukee Bucks offseason preview

The 2014/15 Milwaukee Bucks were one of the biggest surprises in the NBA. After finishing 15-67 the previous year, the Bucks righted the ship and finished 41-41 even after losing the #2 overall pick, Jabari Parker to an ACL tear early in the year. But this past season, the Bucks took a step back and finished with a record of 33-49. There were some bright sports, most notably the development of the Bucks' big three - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, and Khris Middleton - but the season was largely a disappointment. So where should the Bucks go from here?

One of the reason for the Bucks' struggles this season was the inability to shoot from beyond the 3 point arc. The Bucks 34.5% 3 point shooting was good for 22nd in the league. Apart from the shooting woes, the Bucks struggled defensively and their biggest free agent signing in years, Greg Monroe, did not fit in well with the rest of the young Bucks core.

The Bucks need to move on from Greg Monroe and find someone else to take over at that position. There are plenty of teams who could use someone with Monroe's skill set, just not the Bucks. Of course, Miles Plumlee came on strong at the end of last year, and seemed to develop good chemistry with Giannis who will be the team's point guard moving forward. However, I think he's a best suited for a role off the bench. His contract is up this year and he will be a restricted free agent, but if the Bucks can sign him to a reasonable deal - somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years and 20 million, I'd be okay with him returning as a backup.

As for finding a starter, I think the Bucks should use their #10 pick in the draft on a center prospect like Jakob Poetel, Skal Labissiere, or Henry Ellenson - all of whom are expected to be taken anywhere from 5th to 15th. Of course this could all change if the Bucks get lucky in the NBA draft lottery and move up to a top 3 pick (sidenote - I detailed how the NBA lottery works last week if you missed it).

So with the Bucks picking up a center in the draft, and retaining Plumlee, that leaves us with the question of what to do with John Henson. This is where it gets fun - I think he would be a perfect fit for the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors could lose their rim protector Bismack Biyambo in the offseason and Henson could slide right in to that spot. In exchange for Henson the Bucks would receive Terrence Ross.

Ross is a 6-7 guard/forward who can defend and is a career 38% 3 point shooter - the type of player the Bucks desperately need. Henson is slated to begin the first of a 4 year 44 million dollar contract extension next season while Ross will begin the first of a 3 year 31.5 million contract extension. The money and cap hit is essentially the same on both sides, making this much more likely to become a reality. Both players are also young(24) and have yet to hit their prime. I think it's a deal worth looking into for the Bucks.

How does the NBA lottery work?

With the 2015-16 NBA regular season now in the books, it's time to look ahead at what comes next. For some teams, the NBA Playoffs are right around the corner, but for others, the focus will now turn to the NBA draft and the NBA draft lottery. The draft lottery can change a team's fortunes in a hurry with a bit of luck, but how exactly does it work?

In most sports organizations, like the NFL or MLB, the team with the worst regular season record is awarded with the 1st pick in the draft, while the team with the 2nd worst record is awarded the 2nd overall pick and so on and so forth. The NBA is different. In an effort to prevent teams from "tanking" and losing on purpose just to get a better draft pick, the NBA implemented the Draft Lottery in 1985.

The early version of the lottery featured random drawings of envelopes from a bin. Each envelope would feature one of the non-playoff teams on the inside. The first envelop drawn would receive the 1st pick in the draft, the second envelope drawn would receive the 2nd pick and on and on it goes. This system ensured that every non-playoff team would have an equal chance of winning the top pick in the draft. In 1987, the NBA amended the lottery to select only the first 3 picks in the draft. Starting with the 4th pick, teams would be placed in order of worst record to best - the usual draft format.

In 1990 the NBA implemented the weighted lottery which is still in use today. Ping-pong balls labeled 1-14 are placed in the lottery machine and mixed for 20 seconds before the 1st ball is drawn. After the first ball is drawn, the balls are mixed for another 10 seconds and the next ball is drawn. This process repeats itself until 4 balls have been drawn. The numbers on the balls drawn act as a combination, and in order drawn does not matter (i.e. a drawing of the 1-2-3-4 balls in that order is the same as drawing the 4-3-2-1 balls in that order). With 14 different balls, that leads to 1001 possible combinations. 1 combination is disregarded, while the other 1000 combinations are distributed to the 14 teams. In the chart below you can see how many combinations are awarded to each team.

Seed	Chances	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th
1	250	.250	.215	.178	.357
2	199	.199	.188	.171	.319	.123
3	156	.156	.157	.156	.226	.265	.040
4	119	.119	.126	.133	.099	.351	.160	.012
5	88	.088	.097	.107		.261	.360	.084	.004
6	63	.063	.071	.081			.439	.305	.040	.001
7	43	.043	.049	.058				.599	.232	.018	.000
8	28	.028	.033	.039					.724	.168	.008	.000
9	17	.017	.020	.024						.813	.122	.004	.000
10	11	.011	.013	.016							.870	.089	.002	.000
11	8	.008	.009	.012								.907	.063	.001	.000
12	7	.007	.008	.010									.935	.039	.000
13	6	.006	.007	.009										.960	.018
14	5	.005	.006	.007											.982

For example, if the NBA gave the Bucks a combination of 5-6-7-8 and the first numbers drawn matched that, the Bucks would receive the #1 overall pick (I can dream, can't I?) After the balls are drawn they are returned to the machine and another four balls are drawn. If the combination drawn matches one from a team that has already been chosen, or if it matches the combination that was thrown out, the balls are returned to the machine and the process is repeated until a winner is found.

After the No. 1 pick is determined, the same process is repeated for the second and third pick. Once the top-three picks are determined, the rest of the draft goes in reverse order in terms of win-loss record.

The actual draft lottery is not televised and as a result people throw around conspiracy theories about how "rigged" the NBA draft is. According to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports the opposite is true:

The NBA uses a representative from the accounting firm Ernst and Young to oversee the process, which is conducted just before the TV broadcast of the event. The ping-pong selection is done in a separate room, and inside the room are NBA officials, reporters, Denise Pelli from Ernst and Young, representatives from each of the 14 lottery teams, a ping-pong machine operator and timekeeper. The people in the room are sequestered without communication devices until the No. 1 pick is revealed on the TV broadcast. Here is a video from last year's lottery. The league uses a ping-pong machine designed by Smartplay International, which makes lottery equipment for clients all over the world. Smartplay weighs, measures and certifies the ping-pong balls before the drawing, according to the NBA.

 This season, the Bucks are tied with the Sacramento and Denver for the 8-9-10 slots with a 33-49 record. When a tie occurs, the chances among all teams are split evenly if possible. if there is an uneven amount of combinations to be distributed, a coin-flip determines who will get the extra combination. Typically the 8th team gets 28 combinations, the 9th pick 17 combinations, and the 10th pick 11 combinations. In this case the 8 and 9 teams will receive 19 combinations and the 10th team will receive 18 combinations.
According to Brewhoop, the league is expected to hold the coin toss for these picks sometime on Friday. Lets hope the Bucks can get lucky and get the 8th best chances of winning the lottery. The 2016 NBA draft lottery will occur on Tuesday, May 19th.

Will Nigel Hayes return for his senior season?

Now that the college basketball offseason is upon us, our attention turns to underclassmen that could potentially declare for the upcoming 2016 NBA draft. One of those underclassmen is Wisconsin Badgers star Nigel Hayes. Along with Bronson Koenig, Hayes was one of two starters to return this past season from the team that made it all the way to the national championship game last April. Without players like Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser and others, Hayes became the focal point of every opponents' defense and had to assume a bigger leadership role this year.
It was clear Hayes wasn't quite ready to become the focal point of the offense early on, but once Greg Gard took over and installed the swing offense, Hayes found his rhythm. He put up a respectable 15.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 3.0 apg this past season but saw his efficiency dip. In 2014-15, Hayes shot 39.6% from behind the arc and hit 49.7% of his shots overall. This season his numbers dipped drastically - he shot 29.3% from behind the arc and only 36.8% overall. Whether this drop was caused by the defense keying in on him, or if he was just uncomfortable with his new shooting mechanics (He changed the over last summer to try and get his shot up quicker), I'm not sure, but his draft stock has taken a hit because of it. There is no room for an undersized power forward who can't shoot in today's NBA. His shooting troubles are why I think he will ultimately return to Madison for his senior season.
Let's walk through Hayes decision anyways. On Tuesday Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard announced that Hayes had submitted his name to the NBA draft advisory board. The NBA draft advisory board gives players feedback on where they can expected to be drafted and what they can improve on. Players have until April 11th to submit their name and feedback must be given by the 21st.
The next step, should Hayes decide to, is do declare for the NBA draft. A player can declare for the draft and still return to school, but only if they do not hire an agent. The deadline for declaring is April 24th. If Hayes doesn't declare by then, then one could assume he didn't hear what he wanted to from the NBA draft advisory board. I would expect him to declare and at least test the waters or push off making an actual decision until later - it is a pretty important decision after all.
If he does declare, then the NBA combine will follow on May 13-15. Typically only 60 players get invited to this event and if you don't get invited (Hayes might not) then you're probably better off returning to school and trying to raise your draft stock for the next year. Players have 10 days until after the combine to determine if they will actually declare for the NBA.
None of this is even taking into account was Hayes would rather do. If he returns to school and gets hurt, his draft stock could be even worse. Or maybe Hayes is okay with playing next season in the NBA development league or playing in Europe. He would get a paycheck going down either of those roads, and Nigel is no fan of the NCAA.
Ultimately, it's his decision and he has to make it. I don't think he gets drafted but If he wants to collect a paycheck and try and make it to the NBA through the D-league or Eurpoe I can't blame him. He could be a potential first round pick next year though, which is worth a lot more guaranteed money then playing in Europe or the D-League. As a Badger fan, I hope he chooses the latter option because next year's team could be special if Hayes returns.

Milwaukee Brewers Season Preview

On June 28th, 2014 after the Brewers defeated the Colorado Rockies 74, they stood atop the NL Central with a record of 51-32. It all went downhill from there. The Brewers collapsed in the second half of the season with a 31-48 record that left them just two games above .500 and sitting at home for the playoffs yet again. The Warning signs were there that this team and it's roster were barely held together by tape and with no real change the following offseason, the results last season were predictable. The Brewers began the 2015 campaign by going 4-17 out of the gate and never recovered, limping their way towards a 68-94 record. That performance, combined with the atrocious farm system led to the firing of GM Doug Melvin before season's end.
Baseball season is back and that means another summer of tailgating, listening to Bob Uecker on the radio, and Brewers baseball. So what can we expect from the team this year?


Projected lineup:
SS Jonathan Villar
C Jonathan Lucroy
LF Ryan Braun
1B Chris Carter
3B Aaron Hill
RF Domingo Santana
2B Scooter Gennett
CF Keon Broxton

Starting Rotation:
RHP Wily Peralta
RHP Jimmy Nelson
RHP Taylor Jungmann
RHP Chase Anderson
RHP Matt Garza


If you don't recognize a lot of the above names, don't worry, there has been a ton of turnover from last years team. New GM David Stearns was busy in the offseason trading away players like Adam Lind, Khris Davis, Francisco Rodriguez, Jean Segura and others after the team had already traded away Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers, and Gerrardo Parra during the season. It was clear the Brewers needed to rebuild their roster and acquire young talent to restock the farm system in order to compete in the future.
The Brewers actually had one of the best offseasons in all of baseball, not by improving the team on the field, but by replenishing the farm system with talent. One year ago, the Brewers farm system was one of the five worst in all of baseball, now it's one of the top 10 and some might even say top 5. This was all without trading arguably their best chip in Jonathan Lucroy. Lucroy had a down year in 2015 and struggled with some injuries but because he is only owed about 10 million for this season and the next, a genuine steal if he can perform like he has in the past. It's almost a 100% certainty Lucroy will be traded at some point this season, maybe even before then. Until he is, the Brewers need to hope he remains healthy and performing at a high level to increase his trade value.

If you were hoping for the Brewers to surprise some people this year, you'll probably be disappointed. The Brewers infield has to be one of the worst in the majors. Aaron Hill,who was acquired in the Jean Segura trade from the Dbacks is on the wrong side of 30 and posted a .230/.295/.345/.640 (batting average/on base %/slugging %/ on base + slugging) slash line. That's not very good. Jonathan Villar is one of the players acquired from Houston in the Carlos Gomez trade. He's 25 and has limited playing time in the big leagues. He has posted a career .236 average in 638 plate appearances (about a full season's worth) and strikes out a ton. Scooter Gennett can hit right handed pitching but struggles vs left handed pitching and isn't the best defender in the world. Chris Carter has a powerful bat but not much else. He hit 37 home runs in 2014 with the Astros but is a career .217 hitter and strikes out more that Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars.

In the outfield, the Brewers of course have Ryan Braun, who had a bounceback year last year, but still hasn't returned to his MVP level, and I'm not convinced he ever will. He has dealt with a ton of nagging injuries throughout his career, and of course was suspended for PED use in 2013. Braun will move back to left field this season, which should suit his defensive abilities a little better. Domingo Santana was acquired through the Carlos Gomez trade and played 38 games for the Brewers last year. He showed promise which for a guy getting his first real chance in the majors (he had only played in 20 games the previous two seasons with Houston) that's about all you can ask for. Keon Broxton was acquired from the Pirates in exchange for Jason Rogers. Broxton only had 2 AB's with the Pirates but does have some speed and has shown an ability to take walks in spring training. I would expect an average around .250 or so with an OBP above .300, nothing special but solid.

Four of Milwaukee's starters return from last year, Peralta, Nelson, Jungmann, and Garza. Garza had a horrible 2015 and will look to rebound this season. Best case scenario is that Garza performs well enough to become a trade asset, though it's unlikely given he has 25 million remaining on his contract through the next two years.Young starters Peralta (26), Nelson (26), and Jungmann (26) will form the core of the Brewers rotation this year. Peralta struggled last season dealing with a strained left oblique, but was inconsistent even before the injury. The Brewers need him to get back to the form he showed in 2014 when he won 17 games and posted an ERA of 3.53. All three starters figure to be a part of the Brewers long-term plans, so while the team might struggle, let's hope they don't. Chase Anderson is the newcomer to the rotation. Anderson was the other acquisition from Arizona along with Aaron Hill the the Jean Segura trade. He posted solid lines last year but nothing too impressive with a 4.30 ERA in 27 starts, though it was only his second year in the big leagues.

The Bullpen might be in disarray especially after Will Smith tore his LCL trying to take off a shoe (CLASSIC Brewers). Smith was really the only left handed option in the pen would have probably assumed the closing role along with flamethrowing Jeremy Jeffres. Now? I worry about our bullpen's ability to get left handed hitters out in late game situations. However if Smith stayed healthy, he likely will have been on his way out of town in a trade, so while this hurts the team on the field, it hurts even more because he has lost his trade value.

Overall, This will season be a struggle, but the season wont be defined by the Brewers performance in terms of wins and losses, rather by the performance of the young prospects both in the majors currently and those in the farm system. It'll be interesting to see if players like SS Orlando Arcia, SS Yadiel Rivera, OF Brett Phillips, OF Trent Clark, and others make it to the big leagues this season. I fully expect the Brewers to battle the Rebs for last place in the NL Central and am expecting something in the neighborhood of 60-65 wins for this club.

2016 NCAA tournament: How the bracket was built

 March Madness is finally here! Since the brackets were revealed on Sunday night, there has been a lot of talk about what the Selection committee did wrong. While I can't sit here and defend some of the decisions they made in their seed list, like which teams made it into the tourney and which teams didn't, I can take a look at the seed list and piece together how they built the bracket from that. 

Typically, the question of "did the committee create match-ups for ratings purposes" gets brought up every year. While most assume that is the case, it Ideally never happens like that. Take for example, the potential Indiana/Kentucky match-up in the second round. By following the bracketing rules, it's easy to see that this was not created for ratings or anything like that, but just by the rules and how they are set up. There is one puzzling case, however, and that lies with yet another potential Virgina & Michigan State match-up which I discuss below.

I won't give an in-depth description of the bracketing rules here, as this will already be a long-enough post, but anyone interested can read them here. Today I will go through the seed lines 1-8/the top 32 teams on the seed list. Before the games start on Thursday, I will go through seeds 9-16, so stay tuned for that! On to the bracket building!

KANSAS - Sent to closest Region (Chicago and Louisville almost equidistant apart - committee opted to send them to Louisville) Not sure why they did this as Louisville is closer to Virginia and would have made more sense for them. The only reason I can come up with is that the committee realized that Michigan State (the top 2 seed) would be sent to Chicago. Perhaps they tried to avoid the #1 overall seed facing the top #2 seed in the regional final? Sent to closest pod site (Des Moines)

NORTH CAROLINA - Sent to closest remaining region (Philadelphia). Sent to closest pod site (Raleigh)

VIRGINIA - Sent to closest remaining Region (Chicago). Sent to closest pod site (Raleigh- site now full)

OREGON - Sent to last remaining Region (Anaheim). Sent to closest pod site (Spokane)

MICHIGAN STATE - Sent to closest Region (Chicago). Sent to closest pod site (St. Louis)

OKLAHOMA - Can't be sent to Chicago because of Kansas (same conference). Sent to closest remaining Region (Anaheim). Sent to closest pod site (Oklahoma City)

VILLANOVA - Can't be sent to Philadelphia (Played 3 home games at regional site). Sent to last remaining region (Louisville). Sent to closest pod site (Brooklyn)

XAVIER - Sent to last remaining region (Philadelphia) Sent to closest pod site (St. Louis - site now full)

WEST VIRGINIA - Can't be sent to Louisville because of Kansas (same conference) or Anaheim because of Oklahoma (same conference).  Sent to closest remaining region (Philadelphia). Sent to closest pod site (Brooklyn - site now full).

MIAMI (FL) - Can't be sent to Philadelphia because of UNC (same conference). Can't be sent to Chicago because of Virginia (same conference). Sent to closest remaining region (Louisville). Sent to closest pod available (Raleigh, St. Louis, and Brooklyn sites already full – sent to Providence)

UTAH – Can’t be sent to Anaheim because of Oregon (same conference). Sent to last remaining region (Chicago). Sent to closest pod site (Denver).

TEXAS A&M – Sent to last remaining region (Anaheim). Sent to closest pod site (Oklahoma City – site now full).

DUKE – Can’t be sent to Philadelphia because of North Carolina (same conference). Can’t be sent to Chicago because of Virginia (same conference). Can’t be sent to Louisville because of Miami (same conference). Must be sent to only remaining region (Anaheim). Sent to closest pod site available (Raleigh, Brooklyn, St. Louis all full – sent to Providence – site now full).

CALIFORNIA – Can’t be sent to Chicago because of Utah (same conference). Anaheim is already filled by Duke, but Cal couldn’t play there anyways because of Oregon (same conference). Sent to closest remaining region (Louisville). Sent to closest pod site (Spokane – site now full)

KENTUCKY – Anaheim already filled by Duke, but couldn’t be sent here anyways because of Texas A&M (same conference). Kentucky would have been sent to Louisville but Iowa State must be in a different region than fellow conference members Kansas (Louisville), West Virginia (Philadelphia), or Oklahoma (Anaheim) so Iowa State must be sent to Chicago leaving Kentucky to be sent to the last remaining region (Philadelphia). Sent to closest remaining pod site (Des Moines – site now full)

IOWA ST. (See Kentucky) Sent to Chicago. Sent to last remaining pod site (Denver).

Note: 5 seeds must be placed in same 1^st/2^nd round sites as the 4 seeds. Those sites are Denver, Des Moines, Spokane, and Providence.

INDIANA – Sent to closest pod site (Des Moines) which feeds into the Philadelphia regional.

PURDUE – Because Baylor played Kansas 3 times during the regular season they cannot meet until the Elite Eight, so they must be placed in a different region. Baylor also cannot be placed as the 5 seed with Iowa State as the 4 because they met twice in the regular season. This leaves only Providence for Baylor. Providence was the closest remaining site for Purdue – now sent to next closest site (Denver) which feeds into the Chicago regional.

MARYLAND – because Baylor must be place in Providence, Maryland sent to last remaining site (Spokane) which feeds into Louisville regional.

BAYLOR – (see Purdue) sent to Providence which feeds into the Anaheim regional.

Note: 6 seeds must be placed in same 1^st/2^nd round sites as the 3 seeds. Those sites are Oklahoma City, Providence, Brooklyn, and Denver.

TEXAS – Sent to closest pod site (Oklahoma City) which feeds into the Anaheim regional. Oklahoma is the 2 seed in this region so the teams could meet in the Sweet Sixteen, but since they only played twice in the regular season/conference tournament, it’s allowed.

NOTRE DAME – Sent to the closest remaining pod site (Brooklyn) which feeds into the Philadelphia regional.

ARIZONA – Closest remaining pod site is Denver. Utah is the 3 seed in that pod and the teams played only once in the regular season/conference tournament so this would technically be allowed, but the committee opted against this and sent them to Providence which feeds into the Louisville regional.

SETON HALL – Sent to last remaining pod site (Denver) which feeds into the Chicago regional.

Note: 7 seeds must be placed in same 1^st/2^nd round sites as the 2 seeds. Those sites are St. Louis (twice), Oklahoma City, and Brooklyn.

WISCONSIN – Sent to closest pod site (St. Louis). Michigan State and Xavier are both 2 seeds in St. Louis and because Wisconsin has played Michigan State twice, they cannot be in the same pod. Therefore, Wisconsin was sent to the other St. Louis pod featuring Xavier, which feeds into the Philadelphia regional.

DAYTON – Sent to closest pod site (St. Louis) which feeds into the Chicago regional.

IOWA – Brooklyn and Oklahoma City both about the same distance from Iowa. Committee opted to send them east to Brooklyn to make travel easier for Oregon St. Brooklyn feeds into the Louisville regional.

OREGON ST. – Sent to last remaining pod site (Oklahoma City) which feeds into the Anaheim regional.

Note: 8 seeds must be placed in the same 1^st/2^nd round sites as the 1 seeds. Those sites are Raleigh (twice), Des Moines, and Spokane.

TEXAS TECH – Can’t be sent to closest pod site (Des Moines) because of Kansas – the teams played twice in regular season. Could be sent to either of the Raleigh pods or Spokane. Committee opted to send them to Raleigh in Virginia’s pod which feeds into the Chicago Regional. Honestly, I’m not sure why they chose to send them to this pod, sometimes it’s just a judgement call.

COLORADO – Can’t be sent to Spokane because of Oregon (both teams played twice in regular season). Sent to next closest pod site (Des Moines) which feeds into the Louisville regional.

USC – Can’t be sent to Spokane because of Oregon (both teams played twice in the regular season). Sent to only remaining site (Raleigh). Because Texas Tech was sent to the Raleigh Pod with Virginia, USC was sent to the pod with North Carolina which feeds into the Philadelphia regional.

SAINT JOSEPH'S – Sent to last remaining pod site (Spokane) which feeds into the Anaheim regional.

As you can probably see, geography plays the biggest role in determining where to send teams and the individual match-ups that that creates. Stay tuned for the rest of the seed lines tomorrow!

NCAA Tournament: How the Bracket is Built

Last week I began to take a look at the NCAA selection committee and explain how they put together the seed list of every team in the tournament from 1-68. But what happens after the seed list is compiled? How does the committee build the bracket every year? Keep reading to find out!

Contrary to popular belief, the committee does not create match-ups for ratings purposes. For example, Last year Kansas faced Wichita State in the second round of the tournament. The two schools are both located in Kansas and are only separated by about 160 miles. This game only happened out of pure luck, not because the committee decided it would be a good potential match-up.

Let's walk through the process. The committee begins by placing the top 16 teams into the bracket in the seed list order, i.e. the number 1 overall team gets placed in the bracket first, followed by the number 2 team all the way down to 68. Each of the first 16 teams are placed in the closest geographical region. For example, Last year the top 4 seeds were Kentucky, Villanova, Duke, and Wisconsin in that order. Kentucky was placed in the closest regional site (Cleveland), Villanova was placed in the closest regional site to them (Syracuse), Houston is further away from Duke than Cleveland or Syracuse but because those sites were already filled they were sent to the closest remaining site (Houston), and Wisconsin was sent to the last remaining regional (Los Angeles). This continues until the first 16 teams are seeded.

There is one rule the committee has to follow when placing the first 16 teams into the bracket. Teams from the same conference cannot be placed in the same regional. If a conference has 5 teams in the top 16, the committee must relax the rules, because there are only four regions. Each team is then placed in their first/second round sites, which is again done geographically, keeping in mind that a team cannot play any games in their home court. Marquette for example, will not play any NCAA tournament games in Milwaukee even though it's obviously the closest site because they would be the host school in that scenario.

Once the committee has placed the first 16 teams in the bracket, they will check the relative balance of each of the regions to ensure that one region isn't stronger or weaker than the rest. After they check the balance, every other team is then placed into the bracket.

The way the bracket is set up plays a role in how teams are placed. For example, the 1 and 16 seeds play in the first round and the winner of that game will meet the winner between the 8 and 9 seeds. What this means for bracketing purposes is that the 1, 16, 8 and 9 seeds in a region must be placed in the same first and second round sites.The same goes for the 4, 13, 5, and 12 seeds and so on and so forth. Last year the 4 seeds were sent to play their first and second round games in Portland, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Jacksonville and because they would match-up with the 5 seed in a potential second round game the five seeds must also be sent to those four sites.

The committee follows a few rules when placing the teams in the bracket. First, they try to avoid rematches of non conference games and match-ups from the previous 2 tournaments in the first round. Secondly, teams from the same conference may meet as early as the second round if they played only once during the regular season and conference tournament. If they played twice, they could meet as early as the Sweet Sixteen. Three time, they could meet as early as the Elite Eight.

At no time does the committee change these rules to create a match-up like the Kansas-Wichita St game I mentioned earlier. I wrote an article last year detailing how the bracket was put together if you are interested. Thanks for reading and I hope this helped explain how the tournament bracket is built every year!