Bracket Watch: The S curve is back, and that’s a beautiful thing

In “Rattlestar Ricklactica,” the best episode in Season 4 of “Rick and Morty,” our titular heroes discover Snake Planet. The world has a culture and a history very similar to Earth’s, including a snake president, a snake Pentagon and even a snake M.I.T. This leads to a bravura sequence in which we spend a few minutes on the planet entirely in the snakes’ language, which is of course simply a bunch of hissing. And in the episode’s crowning achievement, we are introduced to Snake Jazz:

It’s a brilliantly stupid gag, and our demented brain couldn’t help but hear those smooth serpentine sounds when the NCAA announced last Friday something we’ve always wanted: This year’s tournament will be seeded using the S-curve.

It works like this. The selection committee will rank every team in the field 1 to 68. Teams will then be bracketed by snaking through that seed list. For example, the No. 1 overall seed would be matched up with the weakest No. 2 seed (the No. 8 overall seed), the strongest No. 3 (No. 9 overall) and the lowest No. 4 (No. 16 overall). The No. 2 seed would get teams No. 7, 10 and 15 overall. This proceeds throughout the field. If you’ve ever done a snake draft in a fantasy league, you get the idea.

There has been a common misconception that the selection committee has always bracketed the tournament this way. But geography has been the biggest factor for placement, with the top 16 teams often going to the regions closest to their campus. That has created some situations that weren’t exactly equitable. In the most prominent recent example, No. 1 overall seed Duke was paired up with No. 6 overall Michigan State in the 2019 East Regional. The reasoning for this was that East Lansing, Mich., was 110 miles closer to East Region site Washington, D.C. than it was to Kansas City, Mo., where by the S-curve the Spartans should have been seeded as the No. 2 seed to North Carolina. Michigan State beat Duke in the Elite Eight.

Or look to 2013, when No. 1 overall seed Louisville was paired with No. 6 overall seed Duke when it should have drawn No. 8 Ohio State or, at worst, No. 7 Georgetown. Louisville won the national title, at least in our memories, beating Duke in the regional final. But the Cardinals didn’t get much of an advantage for being the top team in the field.

With this year’s tournament being played entirely in and around Indianapolis, geography no longer matters. Thus the committee will use the S-curve as its main philosophy. This makes things easier on bracketologists — ahem — and also could provide an edge for the top teams. Let’s say Gonzaga is the No. 1 overall seed, as it currently is in our bracket. The Zags could face the 16th-best team (in the committee’s eyes) in the Sweet 16 and the No. 8 or 9 team in the Elite Eight, should the seeds hold.

Of course, there’s a big ol’ asterisk involved with the use of the S-curve. The committee still has to adhere to the other bracketing principles regarding conference opponents and rematches.

Those principles will force some shuffling off a true S-curve, especially with so many teams from the Big Ten stuffing the seed list. For example, our No. 3 overall team, Villanova, should have drawn Texas, a team the Wildcats already beat, as the No. 2 seed in its region. But the N0. 5 overall seed, Iowa, can’t play in the same region as No. 4 overall seed Michigan. So we swapped Iowa and Texas, giving Villanova a tougher potential Elite Eight matchup on paper.

Look, some of the complaining in the past about geographical placement causing tough matchups was just that: complaining. To win the NCAA Tournament, you have to beat some great teams. Still, those teams that have proved themselves as the best throughout the regular season ought to be rewarded with a slightly more advantageous path. It’s only fair. In theory, it should make for a better tournament. Perhaps even a stronger Final Four. And all that jazz.

Some other notes on our bracket, just 52 days from Selection Sunday:

• After several of the contenders for a top seed lost in the past week, we had moved Iowa up to the 1 line. That was, until about 10:45 p.m. Thursday, when the Hawkeyes were stunned at home by Indiana. Villanova moved to the top line, and the upset also got the Hoosiers out of our First Four and bumped Rutgers into it. That shows how volatile things will be in the Big Ten.

• In case you missed it, the NCAA announced earlier this week the adjusted schedule and venues for March Madness. A Sweet 16 played exclusively in Hinkle Fieldhouse and Bankers Life Fieldhouse, two of the best basketball arenas on the planet, sounds heavenly. We asked NCAA officials whether the No. 1 overall seed would get its first choice of courts. There has been no discussion of that. Instead, we were told, where a team plays will be decided by TV windows and arena availability in those time slots. So that makes it pretty pointless to prognosticate where these games will be held. All Elite Eight games will be in Lucas Oil Stadium.

• Still no word on region names, so we’ll continue with our whimsical Hoosier State monikers for another week. The potential Final Four matchups would pit the Bird Region vs. the McGinnis Region and the Wooden Region vs. the Robertson Region based on our seed list, which you can find below. An asterisk denotes projected conference autobid winner.

• Questions? Gripes? Bring them to the comments section, and I’ll try to be a reply guy.