Four seeds are 83-23 all-time against 13 seeds. Six seeds are 71-33 against 11 seeds.
And yet, five seeds are now 70-36 all time against 12 seeds. For whatever reason, they fair ever-so-slightly worse than six seeds, and much worse than four seeds. I don't know if anyone understands why, but everyone knows it is.
Richmond just became the 36th by upsetting Vanderbilt. With Morehead State knocking of Louisville to become the 23rd thirtween seed to win, that gives us an awesome 12 vs. 13 match-up on Saturday.
So, we are now one fourth of the way through the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Other than those two upsets, contained to the same 16th of the bracket, we haven't had any real upset damage. But, nearly every game has been great down to the finish. Off to a good start.
Here's your quick guide to the late games, with stats, start times, names you should know, odds, and staff picks for every evening game Tournament. Once again, stats courtesy of KenPom.com and odds courtesy of BetVega.com.
|
5:50 |
(2) Florida |
(15) UC Santa Barbara |
|
LINE |
-901 |
+674 |
|
PACE |
63.9 Pos/G |
65.4 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
19 (15/37) |
129 (155/118) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
32 Vernan Macklin (11.3 O Reb%) |
33 Orlando Johnson (34.8% Shots) 21 James Nunnally (55.3 eFG%) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
25 Chandler Parsons (19.5 D Reb%) 1 Kenny Boynton (1.6 Fouls/40) 11 Erving Walker (1.9 Fouls/40) 23 Alex Tyus (10 O Reb%) |
0 Jaime Serna (6.1 Block%) 55 Greg Somogyi (16.6 Def Reb%) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
92% |
8% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
72 |
58 |
Fan Match: 15th best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Florida
|
6:15 |
(3) BYU |
(14) Wofford |
|
LINE |
-417 |
+358 |
|
PACE |
71.1 Pos/G |
64.5 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
14 (8/38) |
84 (42/192) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
32 Jimmer Fredette (36.1% Poss) |
42 Noah Dahlman (131.4 ORtg) 50 Terry Martin (37% Min) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
0 Brandon Davies (5.6 Fouls Drawn/40) 41 Chris Collinsworth (Not an NFL wide receiver.) |
1 Cameron Rundles (13.4 TO Rate) 5 Jamar Diggs (3.4 Steal%) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
86% |
14% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
82 |
71 |
Fan Match: Tenth best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: BYU
Fittz: BYU
Griffin: BYU
London: BYU
Perryman: BYU
Ponting: BYU
Starkey: Wofford
|
6:20 |
(3) Connecticut |
(14) Bucknell |
|
LINE |
-578 |
+472 |
|
PACE |
66.3 Pos/G |
66.3 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
16 (20/31) |
91 (135/65) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
15 Kemba Walker (30.9% Poss) |
31 Mike Muscala (8.4 Block%) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
14 Joe Willman (17.4 Def Reb%) 21 G.W. Boon (11.0 TO Rate) |
|
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
85% |
15% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
72 |
62 |
FanMatch:11th best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
UConn
|
6:27 |
(4) Wisconsin |
(13) Belmont |
|
LINE |
-186 |
+169 |
|
PACE |
57.6 Pos/G |
69.1 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
9 (2/64) |
17 (112.8/90.5) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
30 Jon Leuer (32.2% Shots) 11 Jordan Taylor (8.1 TO Rate) |
3 Kerron Johnson (Nations Best Steal%) 23 Scott Saunders (7.9 Fouls Drawn/40) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
5 Ryan Evans (20.6 Def Reb%) 40 Jared Berggren (54.1 eFG%) |
21 Ian Clark (60.9 eFG%) 34 Mick Hedgepeth (12.9 O Reb%) 14 J.J. Mann (49.0 eFG%) 2 Blake Jenkins (49.5 eFG%) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
61% |
49% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
66 |
63 |
FanMatch: Best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: Wisconsin
Griffin: Wisconsin
Perryman: Wisconsin
Ponting: Wisconsin
Starkey: Wisconsin
Fittz: Belmont
London: Belmont
|
8:20 |
(7) UCLA |
(10) Michigan State |
|
LINE |
+103 |
-117 |
|
PACE |
66.2 Pos/G |
65.8 |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
55 (90/33) |
42 (63/32) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
34 Joshua Smith (20.0 Off Reb%) |
1 Kalin Lucas (29.1% Shots) 23 Draymond Green (23.6 Def Reb%) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
23 Tyler Honeycutt (1.9 Fouls/40) 22 Reeves nelson (22.9 Def Reb%) 11 Lazeric Jones (25.3 Asst Rate) |
15 Durrell Summers (14.4 TO Rate) 34 Korie Lucious (33.3 Asst Rate) 25 Derrick Nix (6.0 Fouls Drawn/40) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
43% |
57% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
65 |
63 |
FanMatch: Eighth best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Fittz: Mich St
Griffin: Mich St
London: Mich St
Perryman: Mich St
Starkey: Mich St
Code: UCLA
Ponting: UCLA
|
8:45 |
(6) Saint John’s |
(11) Gonzaga |
|
LINE |
Pick |
Pick |
|
PACE |
67.2 Pos/G |
67.6 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
35 (47/35) |
28 (49/28) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
12 Dwight Hardy (84.8% Min) |
0 Robert Sacre (71.1% FT Rate) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
32 Justin Brownlee (3.6 Block%) |
41 Steven Gray (3.1 Steal%) 20 Elias Harris (53.6 eFG%) 35 Sam Dower (57.8 eFG%) 13 Kelly Olynik (61.8 eFG%) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
48% |
52% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
68 |
69 |
FanMatch: Fourth best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: St. John's
Perryman: St. John's
Ponting: St. John's
Starkey: St. John's
Fittz: Gonzaga
Griffin: Gonzaga
London: Gonzaga
|
8:50 |
(6) Cincinnati |
(11) Missouri |
|
LINE |
Pick |
Pick |
|
PACE |
64.2 Pos/G |
72.2 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
23 (53/16) |
36 (30/54) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
23 Sean Kilpatrick (26.7% Shots) |
11 Michael Dixon (4.3 Steal%) |
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
3 Dion Dixon (2.0 Fouls/40) 34 Yancy Gates (21.0 Def Reb%) 1 Cashmere Wright (30.8 Assist Rate) |
12 Marcus Denmon (8.4 TO Rate) 24 Kim English (2.7 Steal%) 21 Laurence Bowers (7.7 Block%) 23 Justin Safford (17.2 Def Reb%) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
58% |
42% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
71 |
69 |
FanMatch: Third best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: Missouri
Ponting: Missouri
Starkey: Missouri
London: Missouri
Fittz: Cincinnati
Griffin: Cincinnati
Perryman: Cincinnati
|
8:57 |
(5) Kansas State |
(12) Utah State |
|
LINE |
-137 |
+123 |
|
PACE |
68.0 Pos/G |
63.7 Pos/G |
|
KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF) |
31 (55/27) |
18 (57/8) |
|
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS |
0 Jacob Pullen (6.8 Fouls Drawn/40) 24 Curtis Kelly (6.0 Block%) 33 Wally Judge (6.4 Fouls Drawn/40) |
42 Tai Wesley (64.2 True Shoot%) 3 Brockeith Pane (59.7 FT Rate)
|
|
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS |
32 Jamar Samuels (10.7 O Reb%) 12 Nick Russell (18.8 Asst Rate) |
21 Morgan Grim (53.8 FT Rate) |
|
KenPom Chance of Win |
39% |
61% |
|
KenPom Predicted Score |
62 |
64 |
FanMatch: Fifth best game of the day.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: Utah State
Fittz: Utah State
Griffin: Utah State
London: Utah State
Perryman: Kansas State
Ponting: Kansas State
Starkey: Kansas State