Bracket Selection TODAY at 5:00!!!

Just a reminder to everyone that the bracket selection is today at 5:00 Pacific time. Broadcast live on ESPN News.

There will be a viewing party at the Chiles Center Hall of Fame Room for season ticket holders. The team is there with most of the athletics staff too... if you are around and a season ticket holder, you should definitely try and make it out!

What are the chances of Portland and FSU being in the same bracket?

Well, anything can happen.

Here's a question... do they try and pair the "weakest" #2 seed with the "best" #1 seed? Or does geography dictate the pairings once the #1 seeds are chosen.

Stonehouse wrote:Just a reminder to everyone that the bracket selection is today at 5:00 Pacific time. Broadcast live on ESPN News.

There will be a viewing party at the Chiles Center Hall of Fame Room for season ticket holders. The team is there with most of the athletics staff too... if you are around and a season ticket holder, you should definitely try and make it out!

Anyone who is going there, please talk to the players (or coaches) about Michelle if you get a chance, and report back.

None of the probable #2 seeds are anywhere near us. Since we're 4th in the RPI, it seems a reasonable possibility that FSU, as the top #2 seed, would come our way. That's kind of what happened between us and Stanford last year.

harryb wrote:None of the probable #2 seeds are anywhere near us. Since we're 4th in the RPI, it seems a reasonable possibility that FSU, as the top #2 seed, would come our way. That's kind of what happened between us and Stanford last year.

Yeah, it depends on whether we are #3 or #4. over all.

We do have a games-against-common-opponents edge on UCLA. I'd say the odds are 50-50 that we will see FSU.

Stonehouse wrote:Here's a question... do they try and pair the "weakest" #2 seed with the "best" #1 seed? Or does geography dictate the pairings once the #1 seeds are chosen.

Although I don't know for sure, I believe the Women's Soccer Committee tries to set up the four #1 seeds based on ranking them internally 1 through 4. I believe they try to do the same thing for the four #2 seeds. I'm less confident about the #3 and #4 seeds. I know they reserve the right to rank or not rank the pods internally and suspect they use a hybrid approach. I also believe that, to the extent they rank the pods internally, the place them using a systematic approach so that the fourth #1 seed would play the first #2 seed and so on, as you've suggested might be the case.

Based on what I've read, the Committee places the seeds within the bracket and then starts assigning the other 48 teams to positions based on geographic considerations. Where that might change is if the Committee has not ranked teams within one or more of the pods, in which case for that pod the Committee might have more geographically-based leeway.

If the Committee actually seeds all sixteen in order, even though only disclosing the pod seedings, here is my prediction for the little it's worth:

1. Stanford
2. North Carolina
3. Portland
4. Florida State
5. UCLA
6. UCF
7. Boston College
8. South Carolina
9. Florida
10. LSU
11. Notre Dame
12. Virginia Tech
13. Wake Forest
14. Penn State
15. Maryland
16. Santa Clara

Regarding at large selections, my prediction again for what little it's worth is that the Committee will select the top 44 RPI-ranked teams that are not automatic qualifiers. One possible shakeup I see is that Indiana (51) might get in and Michigan State (42) might get bumped out. But, I think that's unlikely.

Ahhh... very nice UPSF. Thanks for the clarification!

* * *

Just for fun... my guess for our pod is:

Portland
Oregon State
Boise State
BYU

Cpthomas, you think FSU has a shot at a 1 seed? I am not expecting that, though it would be nice.

FSUfan wrote:Cpthomas, you think FSU has a shot at a 1 seed? I am not expecting that, though it would be nice.

I'll let UPSF speak for himself, but you do have a result against common opponent to cling to (UNC)

Last year with Notre Dame, one result was all it took for ND to get seeded past each of the top 4

FSUfan wrote:Cpthomas, you think FSU has a shot at a 1 seed? I am not expecting that, though it would be nice.

Yes, I've been pondering the UCLA or FSU question. I hate to say it but I also can imagine both of those teams getting a #1 seed. You also have a better NCRPI that UCLA (and Portland). I'm guessing that UCLA and FSU play in the quarters, if they get there.

Something else I'm really interested in is to see what the Committee does with UCF.

Of course, with 2 results against UNC, it might complicate using that consideration.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:

FSUfan wrote:Cpthomas, you think FSU has a shot at a 1 seed? I am not expecting that, though it would be nice.

Yes, I've been pondering the UCLA or FSU question. I hate to say it but I also can imagine both of those teams getting a #1 seed. You also have a better NCRPI that UCLA (and Portland). I'm guessing that UCLA and FSU play in the quarters, if they get there.

Something else I'm really interested in is to see what the Committee does with UCF.

UCF is a great issue. #4 NCRPI and #9 in the RPI, they are hard to ignore. They beat FSU and UF, which got them in the position they are.

The thing is, the rest of their schedule doesn't impress much.

They have done everything they need to do according to the traditional rules, but they might be the poster child for what's wrong with RPI ratings.

By guess? The NCAA will bite the bullet ad they will be a #9 or #10 seed over all.

It's a 2 seed, with UCLA getting the 1 seed.

up7587 wrote:It's a 2 seed, with UCLA getting the 1 seed.

I saw that. I still think we got a nice draw. There's a potential rematch with UW in the second round who we're very familiar with, but, would still be a tough game. We can take UCLA and make it back to the Final 4. I like our chances if we play to our potential...

I'd like another chance to smack UCLA. They've had our number since we beat them in the 2005 College Cup.

It looks like FSU got the easiest bracket at a glance.

It'll be interesting to do the math on that.

Did anyone find a link to the bracket with ESPN News? I was looking right after the broadcast and I didn't see anything yet...

Can anyone give me any explanation for us as a 2 seed below UCLA? Makes no sense to me.

pms268 wrote:I'd like another chance to smack UCLA. They've had our number since we beat them in the 2005 College Cup.

Me too. Ironically, we may have the chance to smack them in both women's soccer and men's basketball soon...

ekrauss wrote:Can anyone give me any explanation for us as a 2 seed below UCLA? Makes no sense to me.

It's based on RPI. Frankly, we didn't schedule enough tough opponents to compete with a pretty loaded Pac-10. They played more teams that made the tourney than we did.

FANatic wrote:We got a #2 seed?

In the end seeding doesn't matter as much as who wins this thing, right? Remember, we went into our first national championship only ranked #7 at the end of the season. Now, we're ranked #2, but, we've played less teams ranked in the top 5 than we did then... I felt the same way at the beginning of the season as I do now. With our schedule, we really won't know how good this team is until the tourney.

onetouchfutbol wrote:

ekrauss wrote:Can anyone give me any explanation for us as a 2 seed below UCLA? Makes no sense to me.

It's based on RPI. Frankly, we didn't schedule enough tough opponents to compete with a pretty loaded Pac-10. They played more teams that made the tourney than we did.

That's what I was afraid of. My wife was pointing out a few times this season that our opponents were a little weak...I mean the scores we were racking up on some of them gave that away. That being said, I have confidence that we're a College Cup team.

Santa Clara got a 4 seed, and San Diego is in.