Seth's 2024 Bracket Assist Tool
I hustled this time and got it done. It's here. Update (6PM): NIT teams now added.
What is it? There's overboard, there's way overboard, and then there's the way I approach NCAA brackets, which is to create an entire team scouting tool with vast amounts of information at the push of a button. And team-matching colors too.
I've adapted this from the spreadsheet I use for basketball previews, since I've found the best way to understand how teams will match up is to know who's on the court, how they play, and what to watch out for.
The new feature this year is you can type shortcuts in the yellow box to bring up teams instead of having to spell them exactly right. "PU" brings up Purdue, "Zona" gets you Arizona, "UH" brings up Houston, etc. You can also search by Region and Seed; "East 1" brings up UConn and so forth. Also you can bring up teams by their scores against Michigan football in 2023, and other easter eggs. There's a tutorial, but it's pretty intuitive.
What about for people who don't have excel?
The Excel version is the only one with all the features. There's a much dumbed down Google Sheets version, and I've kept the Text Only version going as well. Each of those links lets you download your own copy.
Most of the data are from Kenpom and Torvik, with the injuries from a combination of lists, my favorite being covers.com, but they miss injuries to lower seeds and recent things. Kenpom is good at highlighting a player who missed a game. Distance factor was calculated by putting the schools' addresses into Google Maps Formulas by Digital Inspiration. The shot charts are data from Hoop-Math. The last piece then is playing around a ton on Synergy to understand what kinds of shots and plays each player makes. Knowing how much their shots are contested is a big deal, especially because teams lie with assists.
How are those lines calculated?
Kenpom, Torvik, and Ed Feng's The Power Rank all produce metrics that are some form of "How many points will they score/be scored upon by an average team?". I average those out, adjust them for the opponent's tempo, and spit them back out in points terms.
What other sites do you recommend?
The list from 2022 is still good, except I no longer have access to Hoop-Lens, since Jay Cipoletti doesn't respond to any new subscribers. If you have an account you'd be willing to share that would be most helpful.
Who are you taking?
I haven't made my bracket yet. But we can discuss in the comments.
Well done brother!
Thank you Seth! I've won my pool 2 of the past 5 years using your tool. Your tool really is magnificent.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:48 AM ^
That's what she said...
Thanks Seth.
When I downloaded the sheet, the Choose a Team in cell B3 was not a list. I had to manually make it so.
For anyone else experiencing this issue, here's how to fix on your end:
1) Click into cell B3
2) On the Data tab of the ribbon, click Data Validation
3) In the dialogue window, select "List" from the "Allow:" drop down menu
4) For "Source", enter "='Team Sheets'!$A$2:$A$88"
Cheers!
March 19th, 2024 at 10:25 AM ^
Feature not a bug. It's not meant to be a list. It triggers a vlookup that matches what you typed to a team. So if you type in "27-20" you will get Alabama, etc. The other team search area is a list of you want one but I got rid of data validation for the main selection box on purpose so you could write "UConn" and get Connecticut, or UH to get Houston, UNC for North Carolina, etc. It makes navigation must faster imo, and I wanted that because I found when I used it I wanted to flip to another team quickly.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:42 AM ^
Fair enough, but just FYI it can be both! I made it a list (per my above comment) but I can still type in a selection and it'll trigger the vlookup.
March 21st, 2024 at 12:20 AM ^
What happens if you type in "45-23"?
March 19th, 2024 at 10:07 AM ^
Nerd. But he’s our nerd and we love him.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:24 AM ^
Thank you seth. This has been my go to resource for my family's annual mm bracket pool. Helpful to differentiate a bracket from everyone else who just go with vegas + a few upsets.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:30 AM ^
It's out and it's glorious. I hope those who were most anxious find this somehow satisfying.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:44 AM ^
Not sure how difficult this would be to add, but maybe a button that flips the team and opponent boxes so you can quickly look at the matchup from both perspectives.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:53 AM ^
The man!
March 19th, 2024 at 10:58 AM ^
/ those who know me, know this to be the most hypocritical thing ever
March 19th, 2024 at 11:11 AM ^
I played myself
March 19th, 2024 at 11:48 AM ^
Thanks Seth! This always helps with the games where I'm not real familiar with the teams.
March 19th, 2024 at 12:19 PM ^
You should sell this
Creating good online content is literally my job. But I do put a tip jar on it because I work 3 days and nights straight to pump it out in time.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:59 PM ^
You deserve plum bread for this, and you just might get some.
March 19th, 2024 at 12:43 PM ^
Best thing about this tool isnt developing a bracket IMO. The best thing is using it as a betting guide to spot the games where the line doesnt reflect the data.
And then betting accordingly. Bigger the gap, the bigger the bet.
As the resident MGoCSURam Alumni, who are you taking to come out of the pool of 8 First Four 10 & 16 seeds? Of course I’d like to see CSU beat UVA and make it firmly in the field of 64 but crazy shit happens on neutral courts in the tournament.
Also given Brian’s penchant for Niko Medved to be the desired choice for the new HC, is there a particular aspect of his in-game coaching ability you’re looking out for? If you need some fun, light reading, I believe I have quite the drunken post-game rant after the 2022 UM-CSU first round matchup in the comments of that front page post for those interested in visiting memory lane.
Go Rammies!
I have the Rams (or Virginia, you can't say on the ESPN bracket) rolling through Texas AND Tennessee. I have Creighton coming out of that bracket. I hate most of that bracket so Nedved could make a run.
Hmm, I can't find an entry for 30-24.
EDIT: damn, I was wrong. It has their NIT seeding.
42-27 and 45-23 also work.
This is really cool.
Do I have to request edit access to use it? I can't get it out of view only mode nor change the Purdue or TCU teams.
This is so helpful.
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