The Solar Belt Convention Match has an outrageous bracket

Everybody loves an underdog story in March. The NCAA Match has change into an establishment within the sports activities world due to the upsets every year. Followers of all totally different groups come collectively to observe a scrappy underdog nobody had heard of two weeks in the past take a Blue Blood right down to the wire.

These upsets assist put groups, and typically a complete convention, on the map. So you possibly can perceive why a mid-major convention would possibly wish to put a thumb on the dimensions a little bit to assist its greatest groups attain the Huge Dance.

The Solar Belt Convention introduced in August it might change the convention match format. Based on the press launch the adjustments have been an effort to “prioritize the worth of the 18-game convention regular-season.” In real-world phrases that meant giving the groups that completed the common season with the perfect information a bye deep into the convention championship. This, in and of itself, isn’t uncommon. Loads of conferences enable their high groups a straight go into the quarterfinals. However that’s the place the SBC made issues a bit extra fascinating.

As an alternative of going with a extra conventional 14-team bracket the place even the worst of groups would solely have to get sizzling for a day or two earlier than having an opportunity at dealing with off towards the convention’s greatest workforce, the Solar Belt has created an absolute gauntlet for groups. It seems to be extra like rising up via the ranks of Mortal Kombat than a basketball match.

The highest two seeds within the convention get a QUINTUPLE bye!

An 11-seed would want to win seven video games in a row. Seven straight days of successful basketball with no break. The underside 4 groups could possibly be on a five-game win streak earlier than taking part in a totally recent and rested high seed. That is Edge sending the final man over the ropes of the Royal Rumble simply to flip round to a Randy Orton RKO.

The factor is, that is completely genius.

Not solely is it only a ridiculous bracket positive to get everybody’s consideration, it is going to completely assist the convention on the subject of the NCAA Match.

Profitable a convention common season championship is actually arduous. Mid-Main groups should survive the early season matchups towards a litany of Energy Convention opponents then flip round and battle daily inside their very own convention. The groups that win the common season titles in Mid-Majors are genuinely good groups. However in contrast to their extra well-known counterparts, which means completely nothing. One dangerous night time within the convention match nearly definitely ends the season.

So doing what the Solar Belt has accomplished considerably improves the percentages of among the finest groups truly successful the convention. Due to this fact sending a convention’s greatest consultant to the NCAA Match.

Some could take a look at this alteration and see it as an answer with no downside. How typically does the perfect workforce not win anyway? Nicely, it seems, fairly a bit. Final yr alone 11 groups exterior of the High 2 within the common season convention rankings received a convention match, with 5 of these groups ending with a report at or beneath .500 in convention. That’s loads of upsets and loads of conferences most likely aggravated at its NCAA Match illustration.

To additional drive dwelling the purpose, solely two of these 11 groups reached the spherical of 32 with the typical shedding margin of 21 factors within the spherical of 64. These aren’t enjoyable video games. Of the 5 groups that made the match with convention information at or beneath .500, one misplaced within the play-in spherical and didn’t see the spherical of 64. The remaining 4 have been blown out by a mean of 27 factors.

Faculty basketball tournaments are nonetheless unpredictable and any workforce on any given night time… blah blah blah.

That is giving followers precisely what they need. Most faculty basketball followers love seeing upsets within the NCAA Match. However discovering out that 17-18 Montana State knocked off Montana to win the Huge Sky championship is, effectively, principally a footnote.

Actually, the perfect case state of affairs is a type of 4 backside groups within the Solar Belt truly does go on a run. The school basketball world would like to focus in on the Solar Belt for a few days in early March as they find out about Coastal Carolina stunning the convention and reaching the quarterfinals. However for the Solar Belt’s sake, they’d a lot moderately see an truly good workforce win the automated bid.