Here we go for another season.  Last season we saw affvid lead Menlo to a National Championship and a undefeated record.

Here is the final four:

Palm Beach Atlantic curtismc WIS #2

Elite bigs and above average guard play is what PBA starts the season with.  They should add 2 good perimeter threats as well looking at development, which is super important.  A ridiculous 61 point favorite in their opening game.  PBA will benefit from the strong USA South which has swept the 1 seeds for the past 2 seasons and 11/12 for the past 3 seasons, PBA looks like a strong contender to help extend that streak.

Weaknesses?  Elite speed guards with 75+ spd will cause trouble.  A matchup against a fb/fcp with elite spd guards could be a worry.

Projected record: 23-3 (14-2)
I think Westminister will get the early victory matching up athletially and having a speed advantage.  Westministers depth problem wont be able to be exposed with both running motion/man.  Conf wise its really a toss up, however PBA should finish as the division champ, playing Piedmont and Oglethorpe twice will be tough as well as Aevrett, CNU, and Piedmont once each.

Wisconsin Lutheran irrev0cable WIS #5

Elite ath/spd/def with 2 great rebounders.  Irrev0cable is a great coach recently coming off a NC appearance, he has a squad capable of getting back there.

Weakness?  Perimeter shooter, and I didn't see any obvious candidates who will grow into that role.

Projected record: 24-2 (16-0)
Should have one of the toughest non confs, and should come out relatively alive.  I think the toughest games with the highest potential for a loss are Averett, and Wisconsin Stout.

Cal Tech piman314 WIS #1

The incredible speed, bh, and decent perimter of the Cal Tech guards in this flex/press offense will be devastating and should be the main focus of the offense.  Multiple scorer options on this team, Cal Tech easily has the best guards in the nation, and running the flex allows them to overcome their lack thereof of elite big men.

Weakness?  Previously stated, it is big men, they have some above average if not great options but rebounding is not their forte, really shouldn't be a problem however until those final few games depending on matchups.  Weak schedule will give them a harder run to the championship.  Easily could've managed a top 5 non conf sos to deal with a meager conf.

Projected record: 26-0 (16-0)
Colorado is the only team I'd say has a shot and its still not that great of one, as they aren't going to have any mismatches.

Wisconsin Stout pumphead WIS #18

Elite speed, two great perimeter threats by the end of the season, in the fastbreak, fullcourt press.  Seems like a strong combo in the past few years.  Dependng on how fast he finish developing, Reed Sanders could make a run at the scoring title.

Weakness?  Depth and turnovers.  With a good amount of underclassmen and below average bh this could possibly be a giant disappointment for my prediction, however its a young team and still developing.  pumphead is a top notch coach and should be able to have a recognized NC contender by the end of the season.  A rough non-conf early on though could make it hard to get a good bracket, but I believe Stout will be that high seed not a lot of people expected.

Predicted record: 22-4(15-1)
Yeshia, Wisconsin Lutheran, and Southwestern are my expected non conf losses and wisconsin superiors super class should be able to get the upset.


Personally for my teams I'm ready for the implosion I'm about to have with La Grange with a 2-3-3-5 structure and no depth I'm going to get absolutely murdered in conf play, best chance I got is 9-1 in non conf and sneak 4 wins out in conf play.  South New Hampshire I think I'm 1 season away from being a tournament team with 5-2-2 currently as jr/so/fresh, I think I could possibly snag a PIT bid

for myself? Doom. Not sure how I'll manage it yet, but tea leaves say I'll continue my trend. Going for eight, to sixteen, to second, to ...

Yeah, about beating an of those four? Not with this defense.

Here we go with the midseason report:

Few things to note:

Westminister is really freaking good, I was initially planning on including them in my final four, but left them out for the reason of not having a "true" perimeter player.  However their elite speed has made up for that in Wolfsberger.  Insane rpi at the 1 spot with .7436 and the 7th SOS.  Only loss is to a great squad of tj's.  Should be a candidate for a top seed if they can keep SOS high during conf play.  Would suck for them and whoever they ended up with if they were a 2/3 seed.

kamwilder at Wisconsin Superior has scheduled to genius level with rpi/sos of 2/5 and they have only played sims, great athletic directing over there.  Super sim recruit class is pretty decent and made 1st round appearance with them as juniors.

Oglethorpe is another great squad I left them out do to concerns of bh/passing.  Not much to base on their non conf schedule, but the USA South will show how great they are.

Well here is the previous final four predictions and a re-assesment:

Palm Beach Atlantic
8-2 RPI 32 SOS 89
Games to note: L's verse Westminister and Augustana(IL)  In both games the opponents had great or elite big men to neutralize Rickard.
I think as the season goes on he will be able to lean on Harper and Esparza for more scoring helping Rickard not being the sole focus.
Guessed 9-1 non conf and they went 8-2 pretty spot on.
Still sticking with my prediction here.

Wisconsin Lutheran
6-4 RPI 9 SOS 4
Games to note:  W's against rpi 12,28 L's against 14, 17, 20, 29.
Brutal non-conf realistically they probably faced the hardest schedule, Endicott is probably the reason holding them back.  Still super talented and with that schedule on a generational team could've played much better.  Little surprised on the "weak" offense.  I think that might hurt them.
Predicted 8-2 and they went 6-4.  I think I might have been a little oversold.  irrev0cable is still an elite coach, but I think the talent might not be as good as I thought it was.
If I was to ***** them I would have to say of the 4 I predicted I would knock down WLC for Westminister.  A deep run should still be expected of this team but not sure a final four.

Cal Tech
10-0 RPI 6 SOS 24
Games to note: W's verse 19 and 27th rpi, however both sims.
Pretty easy schedule and a weak conf play, very good chance for undefeated regular season depending on the Colorado matchup.  They are playing as expected.
Predicted 10-0 and thats what we got.
Keeping them penciled in as a final four team

Wisconsin Stout.
8-2 RPI 29 SOS 50
Games to note: W's verse 4 and 9 L's verse 3 and a surprising upset against 163
They were my surprise pick and I think they proved they at least deserved it with their wins over Yeshiva and Wisconsin Lutheran.  I'll chalk the Chestnut Hill loss due to it being a great coach and team just lacking depth/exp.
Predicted 7-3 and they did me one better getting 8-2.
Have them still in the final four.

Other things.  The USA isn't as dominant as the past few seasons only a .6046 non conf rpi and the S. Cal at .5550 is relatively closer than the .1ish lead we've had in the past.

I think we can safely predict an early round exit for Averett at this point.

The moment you have been waiting for!!!  The NT Bracket HERE

If you dont feel like clicking and zooming:

Final Four

1 Cal Tech v. 1 PBAU

2 Westminister v 3 Greensboro

Champ

1 Cal Tech v 2 Westminister

Champ

1 Cal Tech

Greensboro is my "surprise" pick if a 3 seed is allowed as a surprise.

Congrats to Oglethorpe on their NC.  As well as to piman as 34-1 and your only loss is the NC is nothing to sneeze at.

I guess I did well on my surprise pick as Greensboro made the final four.

Interesting season lets see how jobs affect the landscape