re: College Basketball Live just said LSU is fighting for a 1 seed

I expect LSU to be a 2/3 seed.

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please stop with the conspiracy theories. The March Madness Committee is a group of different people from different areas of the country that look DEEP at many factors and metrics. It's not just one dude setting all the seeds, where bias could be a factor.

With the way to committee is structured and the way metrics play a big role, it would be very difficult for bias to truly affect seeds in the NCAA tourney.

If we get knocked down a bit, it would be due to the OOC losses early in the year. The FSU, Okla State, and Houston losses hurt. We really don't have any other OOC wins that are overly impressive. Now, we have huge wins in the SEC, so hopefully that will overcome the OOC losses, but the OOC losses exist and the committee will have to include that in their evaluation.

Regardless, we should get a high seed and have a good shot at the Sweet 16, at least.

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It's not a conspiracy theory to say "I wonder". But, in case you haven't noticed, politics rule the day. I know no one wants to hear that, and I'm not saying every single person on any committee is biased or corrupt, but to pretend that these people are all straight down the middle is extremely naive.

you don't have to be from a particular place, or a fan of a particular team, to have bias. The bias is toward the "establishment". This goes for sports, politics, everything. There is a built in desire by the NCAA to have the best possible scenario for attracting the most attention to their tournament. That's how they make money. Again, that doesn't mean they ALL think this way, but it is a very real factor.

There is always a way to overcome that bias, by making such a strong case for yourself, as a team, that the NCAA can't afford to ignore you, or they make any bias they have even more transparent.

Now, I'm not saying LSU deserves to be a #1 seed. Right now, I'd say they don't. But I think they can play their way in IF they get a lot of help, because of how hard it is to move past the blue bloods.

would not be ideal if auburn ends up as an 8/9

Well said, this team don't need the pressure of being a 1 or 2 seed. Team needs to continue to
grind it out and stay humble. If they can do this, team can go deep in tournament.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but he No 1 seed doesn’t necessarily guarantee the most favorable bracket, does it? That will depend on individual matchups. I do understand the advantages going in, though

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Correct me if I’m wrong, but he No 1 seed doesn’t necessarily guarantee the most favorable bracket, does it? That will depend on individual matchups. I do understand the advantages going in, though

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Generally, I think they try to paid the "best" #1 seed with the "worst" #2 seed. In that bracket you also likely see the best #3 and the worst #4. Still, all theses teams are so close that the difference between the best #2 and worst #3 is minimal.

Palm has LSU as a #2 in Gonzaga's West bracket. Though he doesn't say it, I suspect that means he has LSU ranked as the second lowest #2. That's because I would bet he has UVA as his #1 overall seed followed by Gonzaga.

There are no easy paths in the NCAAT. However, I would LOVE it if LSU was in this bracket. Assuming they could get by #15 Wright St., they would face off vs. Iowa or Oklahoma. Both have been very inconsistent. Iowa is kind of a mirror image of LSU in that they have played a ton of close games and use the FT line as big part of their offense.

Assuming you could get to the Sweet 16, Michigan St. would likely be waiting. Izzo is a tremendous NCAAT coach (particularly when he has teams that people are sleeping on). But Mich. St. is getting killed with injuries right now. You can never count them out, but they are going in the wrong direction.

At the top Gonzaga certainly has great experience and solid players. But they essentially take a two month vacation away from big time competition when they enter conf. play. So, IMO, we never really know just how good they are entering March. While it's changing, one thing you still worry about is Gonzaga getting "out-athleted". LSU has one of the most athletic teams in the country. LSU doesn't always play with great situational awareness (in fact, they often play with no situational awareness), but they have guys who can just flat out beat you one on one. Vs. teams like Duke, UK, UNC, LSU's advantage gets negated. But I don't think Gonzaga is one of those teams.