It's great to have the coaches poll competing in the Machines/Poll Division. I'm sticking, this year, to systems that have ratings, for which I can factor in game locations. (I compute a unique home field adjustment for each system.) That's also why I haven't done Bennett rankings in the past (they don't publish ratings, only rankings).
Round One Stanford Auburn TCU Florida State Penn State Wake Forest Rutgers West Virginia UCF Murray State FGCU Florida Ohio State Cal Wisconsin South Carolina Duke Oklahoma State Clemson Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Northwestern Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Denver North Carolina Round two Stanford Florida State Penn State Florida West Virginia UCF Ohio State South Carolina Duke Clemson USC Texas A&M UCLA Virginia NC State North Carolina Round three Stanford Penn State Florida South Carolina Duke Texas A&M Virginia NC State Round four Stanford South Carolina Duke Virginia Round five Stanford Duke Winner Duke
Machine Division Entry based on Top Drawer Soccer Ranking. 11/6/17 version Like the entry based on the United Soccer Coaches Poll, there were a few first round matches that the TDS ranking shed no light. Four such first round matches were involved (all with lower ranked teams.) Guidance was attempted from previous iterations of the ranking where one of the teams may have been mentioned, otherwise I took the highest RPI team. If I got it right for half of the four matches, that means that the total error in the final score will be a negligible 2 or less points. 1st Round Stanford Hofstra Arizona Florida State Penn State Georgetown Rutgers WVA UCF Tenn South Florida Florida Ohio State California Wisconsin South Carolina Duke OK St. Alabama Texas USC Rice Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Butler Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Colorado UNC 2nd Round Stanford Arizona WVA Georgetown Florida UCF Ohio State South Carolina Duke Texas USC Texas A&M UCLA Virginia Princeton UNC 3rd Round Stanford Georgetown UCF South Carolina Duke Texas A&M UCLA UNC 4th Round Stanford South Carolina Texas A&M UNC Semi Finals Stanford UNC Champion Stanford
Cool! Can you send me or point me to the Bennett rankings? .... And any other rankings or pools of which you may be aware??? Thanks! If we have enough rankings and polls, we could then separate out the different types and the analysis would be different.
Here's a link to Bennett. I see they now are publishing "power" ratings. Unfortunately, I don't like to determine the game location adjustment based on only one year's data, so have at it in using their rankings. I'll be very interested to see how Bennett comes out, especially as compared to the 5 Iteration ARPI and Massey.
A summation for the moment. As of 2:00 AM Eastern on 11/8 we have 11 individual entries and 6 Machine/Poll/Ranking entries. (I expect about 15 to 20 more individual entries) Right now for the individual entries, Duke is picked to take it all on 5 entries, Stanford on 4, and 1 each for USC and UNC. On the Machine/Poll/Rating side 5 entries have Stanford as the winner and one system has UNC. Anything can happen!
Thanks, I'll work on that tomorrow. Unlike your more nuanced efforts, with these ranking lists (polls or otherwise) I construct the bracket simply by choosing the higher ranked team as the winner. (I wouldn't no how to make any adjustments for home field or other factors.)
Round 1 Stanford Auburn TCU Florida State Penn State Georgetown Rutgers West Virginia UCF Tennessee South Florida Florida Ohio State Santa Clara Wisconsin South Carolina Duke Missouri State Alabama Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA N Western Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Colorado UNC Round 2 Stanford Florida State Georgetown West Virginia UCF Florida Santa Clara South Carolina Duke Texas USC Notre Dame UCLA Virginia NC State UNC Round 3 Florida State West Virginia Florida Santa Clara Texas USC Virginia UNC Round 4 Florida State Santa Clara USC Virginia Round 5 Florida State Virginia Final Virginia
Actually- you were the second to pick Rutgers over Stanford in the final four Right you are, Bigwest. I missed that.
My crazy "upset" picks: 1. FSU beats Stanford in 3rd round but doesn't go farther; 2. Wake Forest and "lowly" WSU do some damage and make deep runs; 3. Clemson somehow beats Duke in PKs in 2nd round but that's as far as they go; 4. UVA and USC make it to College Cup. 5. UVA wins with their alleged "less talented" group this year. A lot depends on teams building some momentum, gaining confidence game to game, staying healthy/no injuries, etc UVA is well coached, controls games, doesn't give up many goals, gets its fair share of shots every game, etc.
Machine Division Bennett "Power Rankings" through 11/5/17 1st Round Stanford Hofstra Arizona Florida State Penn State Georgetown Rutgers WVA UCF Tenn FGC Florida Ohio State Santa Clara Wisconsin South Carolina Duke OK St. Clemson Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Northwest Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Colorado UNC 2nd Round Stanford Florida State Penn State WVA UCF Florida Santa Clara South Carolina Duke Clemson USC Texas A&M UCLA Pepperdine Princeton UNC 3rd Round Stanford Penn State UCF South Carolina Duke Texas A&M UCLA UNC 4th Round Stanford UCF Duke UNC Semi Finals Stanford UNC Champion Stanford
1st Round Duke Oklahoma Clemson Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Northwestern Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NCS Colorado UNC Stanford Auburn Arizona FSU PSU Georgetown Rutgers West Virginia UCF Tennessee South Florida Florida OSU California Wisconsin USC 2nd Round Duke Texas USC Texas A&M UCLA Virginia NCS UNC Stanford FSU PSU West Virginia UCF Florida California South Carolina 3rd Round Duke USC UCLA UNC Stanford West Virginia Florida South Carolina 4th Round Duke UNC Stanford Florida Final Stanford UNC Champion UNC
1st Round Stanford Auburn Arizona Florida State Penn State Wake Forest Rutgers West Virginia UCF Tennessee South Fla Florida Ohio State California Wisconsin South Carolina Duke Oklahoma State Clemson Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Northwestern Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Colorado North Carolina 2nd Round Stanford Florida State Penn State West Virginia UCF Florida Ohio State South Carolina Duke Clemson USC Texas A&M UCLA Pepperdine NC State North Carolina 3rd Round Stanford Penn State UCF South Carolina Duke Texas A&M UCLA North Carolina Quarterfinals Stanford South Carolina Duke UCLA Semifinals Stanford UCLA Champion Stanford
!st Round Stan Hof TCU FL St PSU Wake Rut WVU UCF Tenn FGCU FL Ohio S Cal Wisc SC Duke OK St Clemson Texas USC Baylor ND Tex A&M UCLA NW Pepper UVA Princeton NC ST Col UNC 2nd Stan FL ST PSU RUT UCF FL OHIO ST SC Duke Texas USC TEX a&M UCLA UVA NC ST UNC 3rd Stan PSU FL SC Duke Tex A&M UCLA NC 4th PSU SC Duke NC 5th PSU UNC final PSU
You very cleverly convinced me to embarrass myself. So here's my bracket entry: 1st Round Stanford Hofstra TCU Florida State Penn State Wake Forest LaSalle WVU WSU Tenn FGCU Florida Vanderbilt Santa Clara Wisconsin South Carolina Duke OK St. Clemson North Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Lamar UCLA Northwestern Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Colorado UNC 2nd Round Stanford FSU Wake Forest WVU WSU Florida Vanderbilt South Carolina Duke Clemson USC Notre Dame UCLA Virginia NC State UNC 3rd Round FSU Wake Forest WSU Vanderbilt Clemson USC Virginia NC State 4th Round Wake Forest WSU USC Virginia Semi Finals Wake Forest Virginia Champion Virginia
1st Round Duke Oklahoma Alabama Texas USC Baylor Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Northwestern Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NCS Colorado UNC Stanford Auburn Arizona FSU PSU Wake Forest Rutgers West Virginia UCF Tennessee SF Florida OSU California Wisconsin USC 2nd Round Duke Alabama USC Texas A&M UCLA Virginia Princeton UNC Stanford FSU Wake Forest Rutgers UCF Florida California South Carolina 3rd Round Duke UCLA UNC Stanford A&M Florida SC Rutgers 4th Round A&M SC Stanford UCLA Final Stanford UCLA Champion UCLA
Hey, you're in good company. Maybe you, I, and a few others can console each other as we look up from the bottom of the standings after three or four rounds. BUT...who knows? Hope springs eternal, and you may have the winning bracket!
I always win the toilet seat, least number of points, award in our office march madness pool. My advice pick against my choices from the second round onward and you have a great chance at the prize.
1st Round Stanford Hofstra Arizona Florida State Penn State Wake Forest LaSalle WVA UCF Murray South Florida South Alabama Ohio State Santa Clara Wisconsin South Carolina Duke OK St. Clemson North Texas USC Rice Notre Dame Texas A&M UCLA Butler Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Denver UNC 2nd Round Stanford Florida State Wake Forest WVA UCF South Florida Ohio State South Carolina Duke Clemson Rice Texas A&M UCLA Virginia Princeton UNC 3rd Round Stanford Wake Forest UCF South Carolina Duke Texas A&M UCLA UNC 4th Round Stanford UCF Duke UCLA Semi Finals Stanford Duke Champion Stanford
I am going for the dark horse!! First Round Stanford Hofstra Arizona Florida State Penn State Wake Forest Rutgers West Virginia UCF Tennessee FGCU Florida Ohio State California Wisconsin South Carolina Duke Oklahoma State Clemson Texas USC Baylor IUPUI Texas A&M UCLA Northwestern Pepperdine Virginia Princeton NC State Colorado North Carolina Second Round Stanford Florida State Penn State West Virginia UCF Florida Ohio State South Carolina Duke Clemson USC Texas A&M UCLA Virginia NC State North Carolina Third Round Florida State Penn State UCF South Carolina Duke Texas A&M UCLA North Carolina Quarters Florida State South Carolina Duke UCLA Semis Florida State Duke Champions Florida State