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NCAA Basketball Tournament 2013: Never Forget That Seeds Lie

USA TODAY Sports

As I do every year, I'd like to remind you to write in the Pomeroy Rating for each team on your bracket. That is, if you're old school like me and still print out a bracket. I'm not advocating you go chalk with the Pomeroy Ratings--they aren't gospel and there are other factors worth considering, including, yes, your own eyes.

That said, the Pomeroy Ratings offer a quick glance at potential places for opportunity in your tourney pool. Because the selection committee weighs RPI so heavily, the gap between teams may be smaller or larger than the seeds imply. Here are some matchups to consider:

Midwest

No. 6 Memphis [KP: 39] vs. No. 11 Middle Tennessee [32] or No. 11 St. Mary's [22]

No. 8 Colorado State [24] vs. No. 9 Missouri [18]

No. 7 Creighton [15] vs. No. 10 Cincinnati [40]

East

No. 3 Marquette [25] vs. No. 14 Davidson [59]

No. 6 Butler [52] vs. No. 11 Bucknell [62]

South

No. 6 UCLA [44] vs. No. 11 Minnesota [23]

No. 7 San Diego State [26] vs. Oklahoma [51]

West

No. 8 Pittsburgh [7] vs. No. 9 Wichita State [33]

On a side note, below you'll find Nate Silver's Final Four odds for the East Region. Interesting that the Pack is the fifth-most likely team to make it to Atlanta despite its seed. Or maybe it isn't since only the four teams with better odds here are higher in the Pomeroy Ratings. And hey, 19-1 ain't so bad! That's just like hitting a two-outer on the river. People do that at the World Series of Poker all the time!