2016-2017 Pre-season Bracket

With less than 3 weeks to go until the season tips off, it's time to get back to bracketology.  Before I give my pre-season bracket, let's take a look at my pre-season projections from last year and see how they stacked up to the final bracket.

1's: Kansas, Villanova, Arizona, Virginia - not too bad here, two correctly seeded and a third the eventual champ, and a #6.
2's: North Carolina, Kentucky, Baylor, Maryland - still close to the right track with a 1-seed, a 4, and two 5's.
3's: Iowa State, Gonzaga, Duke, Wisconsin - here's where things start to go wrong, but still all teams that made the tourney: two 4's, a 7 and an 11.
4's: Texas, Wichita State, Georgetown, Notre Dame - swing and a miss with Georgetown, otherwise two 6's, and an 11
5's: Arkansas, West Virginia, Michigan State, Oregon - nobody close here, one not even a bubble team and three badly under-seeded powerhouses
6's: Oklahoma, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Tulsa - to be fair, I would have gotten 3 of 4 if not for Louisville's self-imposed ban.  OK State whiffed on their season, and unlike all other bracketologists, I believed in Tulsa from the very beginning!
7's: Boise State, San Diego State, Utah, VCU - ouch, missed 3 of 4 here, and Utah outperformed everybody's expectations, not just mine!
8's: Temple, Butler, Xavier, Cincinnati - surprisingly close on this line with two 9's and a 10 (and Xavier a #2)
9's: Colorado State, North Carolina State, Connecticut, Davidson - just one of 4 made it, but on the right seed-line!
10's: Northern Iowa, Valparaiso, Indiana, Pittsburgh - should have been 4 for 4 if not for Valpo's conference tourney choke
11's: Purdue, Texas A&M, LSU, Old Dominion - those first two ended up pretty good, and the last two not so much...
12's: Providence, Stanford, Saint John's, Miami (FL), Ole Miss, Iona - 3 for 5 here as we move out of the at-large field
13's: Georgia State, Stephen F. Austin, Murray State, Central Michigan
14's: Harvard, High Point, Wofford, North Carolina Central
15's: Northeastern, UC Irvine, Albany, South Dakota State
16's: Florida Gulf Coast, Eastern Washington, Lafayette, New Mexico State, Alabama State, Saint Francis (PA)

FFO: Illinois, Ohio State, UCLA, Georgia
NFO: Memphis, Dayton, Syracuse, Massachusetts

I believe I counted 39 correctly selected teams, which I think is pretty good for not having played any games yet.  Let's see how these pre-season picks look this coming March.

1's: Villanova, North Carolina, Xavier, Oregon
2's: California, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan State
3's: Kansas, Miami (FL), Virginia Commonwealth, West Virginia
4's: SMU, Dayton, Oklahoma, Texas
5's: Butler, Virginia, Wisconsin, Purdue
6's: Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame
7's: San Diego State, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut
8's: Indiana, Utah, Pittsburgh, Princeton
9's: Seton Hall, Michigan, Maryland, Alabama
10's: Duke, Temple, Providence, Georgia Tech
11's: Vanderbilt, Houston, Gonzaga, Illinois, Oregon State
12's: Baylor, Cincinnati, Monmouth, Arkansas-Little Rock, Valparaiso
13's: UNC Wilmington, UAB, East Tennessee State, South Dakota State
14's: Wichita State, Akron, Stephen F. Austin, Stony Brook
15's: Texas Southern, Morehead State, Winthrop, Long Beach State
16's: Cal State Bakersfield, Weber State, Boston University, Norfolk State, Wagner, North Florida

FFO: Kentucky, Syracuse, Saint Joseph's, Clemson
NFO: USC, Saint Bonaventure, Georgetown, Georgia