Photo courtesy of Kansas State athletics
Introduction
We’ve created a 130-team bracket using ESPN’s FPI as our ranking system.
“But, anyone can create a bracket, how will the games be simulated?” Great question; NCAA Game Sim was used.
For each game on the bracket, the matchup was simulated once and every day a write-up will be done.
For the matchup, player statistics will be simulated and included in the write-ups.
Finally, thanks to the NCAA Game Sim premium membership, we’ll show the results of doing 100 simulations all at once. This is to see if a given result was more towards the expected side or if a given result was more towards the upset or luckier side.
All of the results have been simulated and tabulated, so at the time of writing the introduction, the results are already in.
This is designed to be fun, so please enjoy.
From Georgia to Massachusetts, here’s the 130-team bracket:
Match 37
(5) Kansas State vs. (12) Northwestern
The battle of the purple wildcats!
Just looking at the box score, Northwestern’s offense had an uncharacteristically good day.
Quarterback Ryan Hilinski was 19-for-28 with 250 yards passing and two touchdowns. Jacob Gill, the contest’s leading receiver, set career-highs for both receptions and receiving yards — three and 96, respectively.
Unfortunately for Northwestern, Kansas State had a similarly awesome day offensively.
Quarterback Skyler Thompson was 27-for-31 with 274 yards and three touchdowns.
Running back Deuce Vaughn had 158 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 21 carries.
In the battle for purple wildcat supremacy, it was Thompson and Vaughn who carried Kansas State past Northwestern, 41-21.
In 100 simulations, Kansas State won a whopping 95 of them by an average score of 38-11.9.
Winner’s Next Matchup: (4) Oregon
Tomorrow’s Matchup: (5) Mississippi State vs. (12) Northern Illinois
Updated Bracket
Teams Lost, In Order:
PLAY-IN
Massachusetts, Connecticut
ROUND 1
Akron, New Mexico State, Florida International, Temple, New Mexico, Bowling Green, Rice, Vanderbilt, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State, Arkansas State, Charlotte, Southern Mississippi, Ohio, Kansas, Duke, UNLV, Georgia Southern, UTEP, South Alabama, San Jose State, South Florida, Arizona, Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech, Ball State, Minnesota, Navy, Nebraska, Buffalo, Troy, Colorado State, North Texas, Eastern Michigan, Northwestern
REMAINING TEAMS BY CONFERENCE:
American: 8/11 (highest remaining: 2. Cincinnati)
ACC: 13/14 (highest remaining: 1. Clemson)
Big 12: 9/10 (highest remaining: 1. Oklahoma, 1. Oklahoma State)
Big Ten: 11/14 (highest remaining: 1. Ohio State, 1. Michigan)
Conference USA: 6/14 (highest remaining: 6. Western Kentucky)
Independents: 4/7 (highest remaining: 1. Notre Dame)
MAC: 7/12 (highest remaining: 9. Toledo)
Mountain West: 7/12 (highest remaining: 5. Boise State)
Pac-12: 11/12 (highest remaining: 2. Utah)
SEC: 13/14 (highest remaining: 1. Georgia, 1. Alabama)
Sun Belt: 5/10 (highest remaining: 5. Appalachian State)