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Joe Lunardi Bracketology

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DUBrave5

New member
I know a lot of people say whatever to Joe's Bracketology, I just thought it was interesting to see Creighton on the front page of the College Basketball section of ESPN and then to see Creighton being one of the "Last Four In" seeded as a #11 team in the East Region and have UNI as the MVC representative with a #13 seed in the West Region. Does he really think the Valley has a chance of having 2 teams in?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology
 
I think he has UNI winning the valley tourney in his latest bracket, probably because they are the #1 seed in St. Louis. Valley has a chance for two teams if Creighton doesn't win the tourney and at least makes it to Saturday or Sunday.
 
The best chance for 2 is to have anyone BUT Creighton win the tourney and they probably need to make the championship game, IMO.
 
bigdaddystuck said:
The best chance for 2 is to have anyone BUT Creighton win the tourney and they probably need to make the championship game, IMO.
Click to expand...

Yes, for the Valley to get two teams in, it doesn't matter who that other team is. However, Lunardi for some reason had UNI as that other team instead of Bradley!

I don't understand why. ;)
 
the current bracketology, updated yesterday, has Creighton out. However, late last night on sportscenter, he put them back in after a couple of teams were knocked off early in their conference tourney. i.e. Arizona
 
Today's updates.......

Bracketology
(12) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Purdue
(12) Creighton vs. (5) Illinois
Last four in: Penn State, San Diego State, Creighton, New Mexico

Frank Burlison, FOX Sports
(11) Northern Iowa vs. (6) Utah
Waiting to get in: Creighton, Dayton, Auburn, Saint Mary's

Jerry Palm
(12) Northern Iowa vs. (5) UCLA
(11) Creighton vs. (6) West Virginia
Last four in: Creighton, Penn State, San Diego State, Saint Mary's

Bracketography
(12) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Illinois
(12) Creighton vs. (5) UCLA
Last four in: San Diego State, South Carolina, UNLV, Creighton

Tim Gardner, USA Today
Creighton: IN Bluejays slide back into the field with a good Top-100 record and 11-1 down the stretch. But like UNLV, they could get passed by.

Andy Glockner, SI
SITTING AND WAITING
In an unusual twist, especially for a mid-major, Creighton (26-7, 14-4; RPI: 42, SOS: 109) has seen its fortunes improve after getting blasted by Illinois State in the Valley semis. Creighton had won 11 in a row before that, tied for the Valley crown, and have beaten New Mexico and Dayton in nonleague play. A comparison with Utah State, should the Aggies need an at-large, would be very interesting, and one that Creighton looks like it should win.
 
Glockner's analysis is especially interesting. New Mexico being a bubble team might hurt Creighton's chances, but at the same time may help them even more the farther New Mexico goes.

So I will root for New Mexico to win the MWC championship even though I despise their coach ten times more than some unruly Creighton fans! :D

Edit: Scratch that. New Mexico lost last night and is probably NIT bound. Might help to actually look at the scoreboard before I post! :D
 
Joe Lunardi is a fraud. I talked to Scot Van Pelt of ESPN last year in Vegas during the Sweet 16, and he said Lunardi was a joke and that people from the selection committee call Lunardi during and immediately after the pairings are done. It was actually quite entertaining hearing Van Pelt slam people who are employed (well, semi-employed) by his network. He also added that the Big 10 sucks (he's a Maryland grad).
 
BradleyBrave said:
Joe Lunardi is a fraud. I talked to Scot Van Pelt of ESPN last year in Vegas during the Sweet 16, and he said Lunardi was a joke and that people from the selection committee call Lunardi during and immediately after the pairings are done. It was actually quite entertaining hearing Van Pelt slam people who are employed (well, semi-employed) by his network. He also added that the Big 10 sucks (he's a Maryland grad).
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What about Lunardi is a joke according to Van Pelt?

Im not doubting your story but Van Pelt is basically a fan like the rest of us.
 
Now is about the time of year Lunardi becomes useful only for his inside connections. As I stated before, his real value is in January and February. Pretty much anyone can do his job now. Of course, I can do it a little better than anyone :)
 
BradleyBrave said:
Joe Lunardi is a fraud. I talked to Scot Van Pelt of ESPN last year in Vegas during the Sweet 16, and he said Lunardi was a joke and that people from the selection committee call Lunardi during and immediately after the pairings are done. It was actually quite entertaining hearing Van Pelt slam people who are employed (well, semi-employed) by his network. He also added that the Big 10 sucks (he's a Maryland grad).
Click to expand...

FYI, ESPN this morning mentioned that he "picked" all 65 teams perfectly last year. Not quite! As you said BradleyBrave, he gets a phone call about 11 in the morning (give or take an hour or two) with the final pairings. That's why ISU "disappeared" from his bracket last year after he had them in all week. And yet he gets credit for "correctly" guessing that ISU would be one of the four last teams out.

Perhaps he heard something about Creighton already from the committee since he slid them back in his bracket without them even having played a game for almost a week now! Good for us, but many of us could have guessed Creighton may be in based on the relatively few upsets involving bubble teams we have seen this week.

Well right or wrong, cheat or not, I hope Lunardi is right, but we'll know in about 50 and a half hours from now! :D
 
Creighton slipped back in because they spent the last couple of days as 2nd team out, and 2 teams ahead of them (Arizona, UNLV) lost the last couple days.

His shifts don't happen until Sunday morning :)


That being said, his job IS to predict what the committee will do, so if he has inside info to use, he might as well use it.
 
leebiddlecome said:
What about Lunardi is a joke according to Van Pelt?

Im not doubting your story but Van Pelt is basically a fan like the rest of us.
Click to expand...

Sure he's a fan, but Van Pelt works at the network. I am not sure anyone on this board does (but I might be wrong). He thinks it's BS that this Philadelphia businessman gets credit for being this bracket 'genius', when all he is doing is speculating for weeks like all of us, and then 'magically' gets everything right the day of the event. The guy called him a joke, I am just repeating what he said. I happen to agree with him.
 
BradleyBrave said:
Sure he's a fan, but Van Pelt works at the network. I am not sure anyone on this board does (but I might be wrong). He thinks it's BS that this Philadelphia businessman gets credit for being this bracket 'genius', when all he is doing is speculating for weeks like all of us, and then 'magically' gets everything right the day of the event. The guy called him a joke, I am just repeating what he said. I happen to agree with him.
Click to expand...

I realize I came off sounding confrontational, I didn't mean too. I just didn't know if Van Pelt had any "inside" knowledge as to what made him a fraud.

I didn't realize he got calls right before the selection show. I actually like Jerry Palm's predictions better.

Lunardi works at St. Joseph's College doesn't he?

I actually like Van Pelt more than a lot of the ESPN guys. He's basically a sports nerd and doesn't claim to be anything more than that.
 
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