I’m realizing now that I might be wrong, but I could have sworn that somewhere, we posted a list of how often participants in our NIT Bracket Challenge picked each team to win it all. Either way, I was asked yesterday for a list of how many brackets had Dayton in the Final Four, and how many had UC Irvine reaching the quarterfinals, and how many picked that Kent State upset in the first round. Of course, I thought to myself. Of course the people want this. Their NIT passion is boundless! Their NIT zeal cannot be contained!!
So. Although we can only aspire to briefly satiate your all-consuming NIT cravings, we can offer you this.
How often everybody picked each team to get to each round:
(Half these teams lost already, but you know that, and you know which half.)
First Round
- 85% SMU, 15% UNI
- 57% Oklahoma State, 43% Wichita State
- 56% Arkansas State, 44% Saint Louis
- 78% North Texas, 22% Furman
- 85% UC Irvine, 15% Northern Colorado
- 73% Georgia Tech, 27% Jacksonville State
- 59% Saint Joseph’s, 41% UAB
- 82% Santa Clara, 18% UC Riverside
- 69% Dayton, 31% FAU
- 53% Middle Tennessee, 47% Chattanooga
- 70% Bradley, 30% North Alabama
- 79% George Mason, 21% Samford
- 79% San Francisco, 21% Utah Valley
- 67% Loyola Chicago, 33% San Jose State
- 71% St. Bonaventure, 29% Kent State
- 78% Stanford, 22% CSUN
Second Round
- 71% SMU, 13% Oklahoma State, 9% Wichita State, 7% Northern Iowa
- 53% North Texas, 21% Arkansas State, 18% Saint Louis, 8% Furman
- 61% UC Irvine, 28% Georgia Tech, 6% Jacksonville State, 5% Northern Colorado
- 49% Santa Clara, 26% Saint Joseph’s, 21% UAB, 4% UC Riverside
- 56% Dayton, 16% Middle Tennessee, 15% FAU, 14% Chattanooga
- 57% George Mason, 26% Bradley, 9% Samford, 8% North Alabama
- 59% San Francisco, 23% Loyola Chicago, 10% Utah Valley, 8% San Jose State
- 55% Stanford, 28% St. Bonaventure, 9% CSUN, 8% Kent State
Quarterfinals
- 49% SMU, 24% North Texas, 7% Arkansas State, 7% Saint Louis, 5% Oklahoma State, 4% Wichita State, 3% Northern Iowa, 2% Furman
- 33% UC Irvine, 28% Santa Clara, 13% Saint Joseph’s, 11% Georgia Tech, 11% UAB, 2% Jacksonville State, 2% Northern Colorado, 1% UC Riverside
- 36% George Mason, 30% Dayton, 13% Bradley, 5% Middle Tennessee, 5% FAU, 5% Chattanooga, 3% Samford, 3% North Alabama
- 36% San Francisco, 30% Stanford, 11% St. Bonaventure, 10% Loyola Chicago, 4% Utah Valley, 3% CSUN, 3% Kent State, 3% San Jose State
Final Four
- 29% SMU, 17% UC Irvine, 12% North Texas, 12% Santa Clara, 6% Saint Joseph’s, 5% Georgia Tech, 4% UAB, 3% Arkansas State, 3% Saint Louis, 3% Oklahoma State, 2% Wichita State, 1% Northern Iowa, 1% Furman, 1% Northern Colorado, 1% Jacksonville State, 0.2% UC Riverside
- 20% San Francisco, 20% George Mason, 17% Dayton, 14% Stanford, 7% Bradley, 4% Loyola Chicago, 4% St. Bonaventure, 2% Middle Tennessee, 2% Chattanooga, 2% FAU, 2% Utah Valley, 1% Samford, 1% CSUN, 1% North Alabama, 1% San Jose State, 1% Kent State
Championship
- 17% SMU, 10% UC Irvine, 9% George Mason, 9% San Francisco, 8% Dayton, 7% Santa Clara, 6% Stanford, 6% North Texas, 3% Saint Joseph’s, 3% Bradley, 3% Georgia Tech, 2% UAB, 2% Loyola Chicago, 2% Arkansas State, 2% Saint Louis, 1% Oklahoma State, 1% St. Bonaventure, 1% Chattanooga, 1% Middle Tennessee, 1% Furman, 1% FAU, 1% Wichita State, 1% Utah Valley, 1% Samford, 1% Kent State, 0.4% Northern Iowa, 0.3% North Alabama, 0.3% Jacksonville State, 0.2% Northern Colorado, 0.2% San Jose State, 0.2% CSUN, 0.1% UC Riverside
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