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NCAA Bracket Printable

March 12, 2012 by · Comments Off on NCAA Bracket Printable 

NCAA Bracket Printable, Just like the games they play, there are winners and losers when the NCAA builds the bracket. No one lost more than Drexel, which suffered a three-point loss in the Colonial title game. The Dragons played a weak nonconference schedule, and they were penalized for it, but they didn’t get any credit for being the regular-season champion of a conference that accounted for a quarter of last year’s Final Four.

No one is a bigger winner than N.C. State, which not only found its way into the field, but avoided a play-in game in Dayton. Of course, CBS did make the Wolfpack wait until the absolute, final moment. As for the rest of the bracket…

Snubbed

1. Drexel: More than ever, the message from the committee was about nonconference scheduling. Drexel played only one nonconference game against a team that made the NCAA tournament.
2. Miami: The ACC gets five teams in, but not a sixth. Who knows what would have happened if Durand Scott hadn’t been suspended Friday night, when the Hurricanes lost to Florida State?

3. Washington: The Pac-12 was dismal this year, beyond awful, but the regular-season champion of a BCS conference used to consider an NCAA tournament bid a birthright.

Dark Horses

1. Belmont (Midwest 14): It’s hard to get a read on the Bruins, who opened the season with a one-point loss to Duke at Cameron. They haven’t beaten anyone better than Marshall, but basketball stat nerds love them.
2. New Mexico (West 5): The Mountain West doesn’t get much credit, but it was ridiculously deep this year, with the Lobos, UNLV, San Diego State and Colorado State. The Lobos were the best of the bunch.

3. Florida State (East 3): The way the Seminoles played in Atlanta, they showed they can beat anyone (as long as anyone doesn’t have John Henson, anyway). But they’re certainly comfortable in games that come down to one possession.

Overrated

1. Connecticut (South 9): Kemba Walker isn’t coming through that door. Don’t pick a team a year late. Not the same team, not by a long shot.
2. Baylor (South 3): Stayed in the headlines by opening 17-0, but hadn’t beaten anyone good until a Big 12 semifinal upset of Kansas. Pretty weak for a 3 seed in an otherwise difficult bracket.

3. Virginia (West 10): Great star (Mike Scott) and great coach (Tony Bennett), but the Cavaliers are 4-6 over their past 10 and struggled to the finish.

(c)2012 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Distributed by MCT Information Services
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