For our first-season pairings, I'm keeping it simple by using prestige, with recent success as a tiebreak.
Season 49 Challenge Power Rankings:
Pac 10:
1. Stanford (A+, NT in last 5 seasons, NT Championship Game twice in last 3)
2. Arizona (A+, NT in last 6 but no Elite Eights in last 3)
3. USC (A, 10 straight NTs, second round or better in 3 of last 4)
4. UCLA (A, 11 straight NTs, first-round exit in 4 of last 5)
5*. Cal (B+, no postseason last year but 6 NTs in 7 previous)
6*. Oregon (B+, PIT, NT 2nd, miss, Elite Eight in last four, more coming with crazy 793 OVR this year and no seniors)
7. Fresno St. (B+, Elite Eight last year but PIT, PIT, miss before that)
8. Hawaii (B)
9. Washington (C, roger's in his third season, school has no postseason in last 7 but finished 16-12 last year)
10. Arizona St. (C, aubie's in his second season, school has no winning seasons in last 5 or postseason in last 15)
11. Washington St. (C, Sim)
12. Oregon St. (C- Sim)
Big 12:
1. Kansas (A+, Sweet 16 last year, Elite 8 or better 3 of last 4, NT last 10 years)
2. Texas (A+, ump's in his third season (NT champ game last year), school has an NT win in the last 7 seasons and postseason in 30 of the last 32. Last NC was in season 41)
3. Oklahoma (A-, NT in 4 of last 5, postseason in 21 of last 22, RPI 16 last year)
4. Oklahoma St. (A-, NT in 4 of last 5, nothing before that for a long time, RPI 32 last year and only went to an A- because of the draft)
5. Missouri (B+, NT in last 3 seasons, second round last year)
6. Colorado (B+, last four: win in NT, win in NT, miss, miss)
7. Nebraska (B+, PIT Final Four last year, NT in 3 of last 5)
8. Texas A&M (B+, first-round NT exit in last 3 seasons, slip's in his third season)
9. Iowa State (B)
10*. Kansas St. (C)
11. Texas Tech (C+)
12*. Baylor (B-)
*Switched for scheduling convenience.
3/26/2011 4:58 PM (edited)