Photo courtesy of Alabama 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 68
(1) Alabama vs. (8) Maryland
How Alabama Got Here: 58-6 win over (16) New Mexico State
How Maryland Got Here: 35-13 win over (9) Air Force
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young followed up his five-touchdown performance vs. New Mexico State with a four-touchdown performance.
Young finished 23-for-40 with 367 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception.
Running back Brian Robinson Jr. led the Crimson Tide in both rushing and receiving yards. He ran for 97 yards on 17 carries and had 78 receiving yards on two receptions.
Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, former Alabama quarterback and current Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa had himself a day, as well.
Tagovailoa was 27-for-38 with 308 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
Running back Tayon Fleet-Davis had 78 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
Maryland wide receiver Rakim Jarrett led all receivers with 120 yards and a touchdown on five receptions.
There were eight total touchdowns in this one — four by each team. So the difference in this one were the field goal units.
Thankfully for Maryland, it was 3-for-4, while Alabama was 1-for-3.
We know the result of every matchup in this tournament. This is probably the biggest upset in the entire tournament. Maryland wins, 37-31.
In 100 simulations, Alabama won 69 of them by an average margin of 34.7-27.4.
Winner’s Next Matchup: Winner of (4) UCLA vs. (5) Florida
Tomorrow’s Matchup: (1) Ohio State vs. (9) 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, Northern Illinois, Florida Atlantic, Stanford, Tulane, Colorado, Wyoming, Middle Tennessee, Rutgers, Miami University, Indiana, Louisville, Georgia Tech, East Carolina, West Virginia, Central Michigan, Missouri, Syracuse, Tulsa, Western Michigan, Utah State, Liberty, UTSA, Boston College, Nevada, South Carolina, Army, Washington, Air Force, Virginia Tech
ROUND 2
Toledo, Alabama
REMAINING TEAMS BY CONFERENCE:
American: 5/11 (highest remaining: 2. Cincinnati)
ACC: 8/14 (highest remaining: 1. Clemson)
Big 12: 8/10 (highest remaining: 1. Oklahoma, 1. Oklahoma State)
Big Ten: 9/14 (highest remaining: 1. Ohio State, 1. Michigan)
Conference USA: 3/14 (highest remaining: 6. Western Kentucky)
Independents: 2/7 (highest remaining: 1. Notre Dame)
MAC: 1/12 (highest remaining: 13. Kent State)
Mountain West: 3/12 (highest remaining: 5. Boise State)
Pac-12: 8/12 (highest remaining: 2. Utah)
SEC: 10/14 (highest remaining: 1. Georgia)
Sun Belt: 5/10 (highest remaining: 5. Appalachian State)