Photo courtesy of Washington 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 64
(8) Washington vs. (9) Illinois
Illinois didn’t really move the ball well in this one.
Quarterback Brandon Peters was 14-for-19 with 176 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
A 73.9% completion percentage is pretty good, but 176 yards doesn’t really jump off the page.
Running back Chase Brown had 62 yards on 18 carries — another mediocre stat line.
But, for Illinois, it did not need to jump off the page offensively. It just needed to not mess it up.
Washington quarterback Dylan Morris threw four interceptions. Overall, he was 15-for-30 with 191 yards.
Running back Sean McGrew did have a solid day — six carries, 62 rushing yards, and a touchdown.
But those four interceptions were killer.
Morris was unable to get out of his own way for the Huskies en route to a 20-17 Illinois victory.
In 100 simulations, Morris performed better on average. As a result, Washington won 61 of the 100 simulations by an average margin of 19.2-15.4.
Winner’s Next Matchup: (1) Ohio State
Tomorrow’s Matchup: (8) Maryland vs. (9) Air Force
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
REMAINING TEAMS BY CONFERENCE:
American: 5/11 (highest remaining: 2. Cincinnati)
ACC: 9/14 (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: 2/12 (highest remaining: 9. Toledo)
Mountain West: 4/12 (highest remaining: 5. Boise State)
Pac-12: 8/12 (highest remaining: 2. Utah)
SEC: 11/14 (highest remaining: 1. Georgia, 1. Alabama)
Sun Belt: 5/10 (highest remaining: 5. Appalachian State)