-Ky McKeon Here it is - the Field of 68. It sucks we had so many bid stealers, as this happens to be the best bubble in many years. Pour one out for Indiana State. For what it’s worth, Michigan State should be out, but I think the Committee will keep them in, Also, would not be shocked to see St. John’s get in over Oklahoma. If the Committee wants to pick nits, Texas A&M’s four bad losses are a good scape goat. NOTE: if Temple comes back to beat UAB, here is the contingency: 1-12: Same 13: Yale, Charleston, Vermont, Morehead State 14: Akron, Oakland, Colgate, South Dakota State 15: Western ..read more

Ky McKeon Another bracket update. I hate to say it, but I am scared the Sycamores will be left out. The Committee has historically prioritized Q1 wins and forgiven bad losses. I can see them pulling a fast one and putting Texas A&M in the Field. If you’re an ISU fan like me, root for FAU and Dayton to win their respective conference tourneys ..read more

-Ky McKeon Per usual, this is all correct. Marquette has been properly seeded this time ..read more

-Ky McKeon EDITOR’S NOTE: Marquette was mistakenly made a 5-seed (blame faulty sorting). Eagles should be around the 2-seed line. This will be corrected in future versions. First bracket of the season. No notes. Here we go ..read more

INTRO February is usually the worst month of the year, but thankfully a mild winter and a terrific tandem of road trips has helped ease the 28-day (29 this year… crap) blues. Jim and I took a trip to Dayton and Terre Haute earlier this month to catch some sick Sycamore and fantastic Flyer action. This past weekend my wife and I visited two friends in the nation’s capital, checking off Georgetown and Maryland games in the process. The following is a non-standard recount in reverse order about the places I visited and the games I attended. MARYLAND Pre-Game D.C. is a cool city for a variety of r ..read more

-Jim Root Welcome back, basketball fans! It’s Year IX (that’s nine, for you haters of Roman numerals - do they still teach those in school?) of the Quick Peek at Futures, and the change in my approach has been steady but clear. In the beginning (God voice), I would carefully pick out a couple top teams, a few mid-priced squads, and lightly sprinkle some longshots and cross my fingers. Now, it has become more of a portfolio approach: scoop up a wide array of bets at strong prices (some before portal movement and NBA Draft decisions, some after) and aim for overall value. I shape the “portfolio ..read more

-All Three Weavers As our traditional previews continue to reside in The Almanac for a second straight year, this will serve as our hub for our 2023-24 Preseason Top 40. We’ll be counting down one team per day for the next 39 days, ending with #1 (maybe Mizzou?! It’s not Mizzou). This page will include the teams and a link to each tweet thread that contains our thoughts on the squad. Only a few more months until tip-off, folks! 40. Ole Miss Tweet thread detailing our thoughts HERE 39. UCLA Tweet thread detailing our thoughts HERE 38. Xavier Tweet thread detailing our thoughts HERE 37. Miami FL ..read more

Ky McKeon Here we go… no explanations, just the bracket ..read more

Ky McKeon Road Trip I’ve put off writing this recap for nearly a week but feel compelled to memorialize one of my few road trips of the 2022-23 college basketball season. The wife and I hit the road from Chicago on Sunday, January 15th and drove 320 miles to my folks’ house in St. Louis to stay the night. The next morning, we traveled 238 miles to stay with friends in Overland Park, KS (suburb outside Kansas City). On Tuesday we set off for the Little Apple, the glorious town of Manhattan, KS, where the K-State Wildcats call home. Following a wild OT affair with KU, we embarked the next morni ..read more

-Ky McKeon I went to Portland, Oregon for the 2nd Phil Knight Invitational; it had been five long years since last stepping foot in the Rose City. In 2017 I made the pilgrimage to PK80 with ole Matt and Jim as simple fans, but for PK85 I was a big, bad, cool media guy.   Rather than recap individual games in detail (there’s plenty of good write-ups out there), I want to run through all 16 teams and give some takeaways. The tournament was split into two brackets, the Phil Knight Invitational and the Phil Knight Legacy. North Carolina was the presumed favorite in the Invitational and Duke ..read more