Author: Scrutinous

Where the Inconceivable is Customary

Perhaps the greatest aspect of March Madness is the improbable upset.    Here are a few examples for you to investigate from within BracketMaster.

  • The 1953 Lebanon Valley College Flying Dutchman reached the Sweet Sixteen.  They are the smallest school by enrollment (425 students) to ever advance that far.  LVC currently competes in Division III and were the 1994 Division III Men’s Basketball Champions.
  • Williams College is another very small school (current enrollment: 2,100) that appeared in the NCAA Tournament just one time.  The 1955 Ephs lost in the first round, but have since established themselves as a fine athletics program, winning the 2003 Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.
  • A #11 Seed is the lowest seed to ever reach the Final Four, and it has happened four times:
    • Still fresh in our memory, last year’s Loyola University of Chicago Ramblers advanced out of a busted-bracket South Region to earn their trip to San Antonio.
    • The 2011 Virginia Commonwealth Rams upset #1 seed Kansas to reach the Final Four in Houston.
    • The 2006 George Mason Patriots downed #1 Connecticut to emerge from the East Region.
    • The 1986 LSU Tigers are the only #11 seed to have beaten their region’s #1, #2, and #3 seeds in the same tournament.

Future Development

Your continued support of BracketMaster will encourage us toward making it even better.  Below are some of the ideas we have for future enhancements.

  • “Create your own Bracket” is a much requested feature that we are investigating.  The mobile interface makes it a challenge to efficiently enter teams, but we are looking into possibilities.
  • Add Conference Record by Round.  For example, the Big East is 9-4 in Final Round games.  This data can be obtained using the Game Search Page, but it might be useful to provide a dedicated space for it.
  • Analysis of winning percentage based on the teams’ distance traveled.  Update: As of release 1.2.7, travel distance is considered in the calculation of Scrutinous Odds used for that auto-pick method and for the simulation engine.  Game travel distance is displayed on the Team Comparison Page, shown when you tap on a team on the Picks Page.
  • Additional team ratings and statistics.  Update: In release 1.2.1, all division 1 team seasons since 1998 were added.  Previously, we only included team seasons of schools that made the tournament.  Additionally, Strength of Schedule (SoS), and the Bart Torvik Power Rating were added to the team pages.
  • Separate the Conference Teams Page into sections for current and past members.  Update: Added in release 1.2.1.  Also added the conference record for all their tournament seasons.
  • Present a search function to view a list of games that meet certain criteria.  For example, all games between #8 and #9 seeds, games between Big Ten and ACC teams, etc.  Update: Added in release 1.2.3.  A consolidated results option may be implemented in the future.
  • Furnish a dark themed interface and allow users to select their preferred theme.
  • Possibly provide a font size adjustment setting.
  • Possibly offer a paid ad-free version.
  • Possibly support other languages (with assistance from the community).
  • Build an app focused on the Women’s National Collegiate Championship.

We’d love to hear your thoughts as well — the best way for you to provide this feedback is on our Request a Feature community forum.  If you would like to monetarily support our future development you can contribute through our About page.  Thank you!