Wrestleknownothing

The 1981 190 bracket gets a -80.5 using my metric. But that is a little meaningless as three of the seeded wrestlers lost to non-semifinalists and were eliminated after going 0-1. Back then only the losers to the semifinalists/finalists made the consolation bracket. Without the opportunity to wrestle back it is really hard to compare across eras.

For context I think the 2006 157 bracket finished at -32.5 for the top 8. By my metric (which is just one way to view this) there are 17 more busted brackets above.

I think this was one of the first things I did in 2021 when I first started gathering data. I only looked at 2010-present (because that was all I had). At that time the 2016 174 bracket was the most busted by far using my criteria. And that is still true. To do this I calculated the difference between the seed and the finish for the top 8 seeds in every bracket. For finishes outside of the podium I used the mid-point of the range. For a bloodround finish (9-12) a wrestler gets credit for finishing 10.5. Going 0-2 put you in the 25 to 32 range so you get credit for 28.5. And so forth. The #2 seed (Brain Realbuto - Cornell) and the #4 seed (Ethan Ramos - North Carolina) both going 0-2 really killed this bracket. But with only 3 of the top 8 finishing on the podium, it was an uphill fight regardless.

As acclaimed as the 2008 149 bracket is, it is not the highest sum of career points. That is still to come.

There'd be days like this, momma said...

2008 is missing from your poll.

Nope. Chris was in this bracket. Nick bumped up to 149 in 2014.

While it did not make the poll list, with two of the top 15 all-time NCAA point scorers in the bracket, the 2014 group of 141lbers tops the all-time NCAA career point scoring list.

The 2019 133 bracket is the highest scoring of the quarter century at 604 total career NCAA points. While Fix took five tournaments to amass his leading total of 90, even if you only took his first four tournaments, the gap to second place (2012 - 550 points) is too large for it to matter. On the flip side, Pletcher was robbed of a tournament where he was likely to score 15 - 25 points.

Yikes. Now you are comparing US citizens to the Taliban. You really will say anything without thinking first.

Oh, you and your fever dreams. I never said any of those things. Besides this isn't 1776 amd the governmemt is not a six week ocean journey away. If you think citizens with guns stand a chance against a tyrannical goverment then you are naive. Guarding against tyranny is an antiquated and silly notion in the US any more.

Not at all. But I will claim you are not bright enough to understand that the Switzerland example demonstrates that the US population is not responsible enough to own guns.

You claim boredom because you know you are outgunned. Pun intended. And Switzerland is the perfect example of why the US should limit guns, because we do not have the Swiss culture. Instead of using Switzerland as the example of why gun ownership should be more prevelant in the world, the world uses the US to show why it should not. The US has massively more gun violence than Switzerland. If we cannot use them responsibly, and we cannot, then we should not have them.

Do teams ever decline to host? I also notice no Illinois or Wisconsin on the list.

No, it does not. 73% of mass shooting incidents, and 63% of deaths, in the developed world happen in the United States were gun ownership dominates. From 2000 - 2022 there were 109 mass shooting incidents in the US. The next largest number in a developed and developing countries was France with 6. 59% of guns used in mass shootings are either borrowed or stolen from friends and family. Assault weapons, the most unnecessary of all rifles, have taken over the mass shooting market. From 2005-2009 they accounted for 5% of incidents. From 2010-2014 they accounted for 13% of incidents. From 2015-2019 they accounted for 54% of incidents. From 2020-2024 they accounted for 49% of incidents.

I am not saying this makes "the best", but the 2002 bracket scored the most career NCAA points (571), followed closely by the 2006 bracket (570). The 2002 vs 2006 bracket career points (some points could have been scored at other weights). Sorry about the ugly pivot table, but it was the best I could do on short notice. *All points normalized to today's scoring rules. Oh, and there are almost certainly mistakes, so if you find any let me know.

There are lies, damn lies and statistics. The murder rate she claims for DC is a damn lie. And anyone who thinks Islamabad accurately counts citizens murder by the government doing the murdering is a damn moron. Now, DCs murder rate is absolutely too high, as is the murder rate everywhere in the US. The number of guns citizens own is alao too high. Those two are related.

There, but for the grace of data, go I.

Tell me more about this Amish rakefighting.

Twice as many divers?

As a swimmer I was trained to hate divers... But God help me, I love the Triple Lindy.

Maestro. You are a very talented man. Captured beautifully. Though my wife was a little freaked out.