Friday, September 16, 2005

TBB Lexicon

The Bracket Board Lexicon

Blue Pegasi: Also known as the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, MTSU
sports one of the most inane mascots on the planet. Hence, they are referred to as the Blue Pegasi. How “Blue Raiders” become manifested as “Goofy Winged Horses” is beyond my comprehension.

Bubble Boys. A Seinfeld reference, here meaning teams that are “on the bubble” for the NCAA Tourney. I break these boys down weekly once we get into conference play.

ESPN All-Stars
. AKA Duke. If there is any explanation needed, then you are a Duke fan.

Great Red Pterodactyl, The (aka “Everyone’s Favorite Pterosaur”). WKU center Elgrace Wilborn.

Lockbox. A conference-by-conference list of NCAA hopefuls. Teams are color coded by their safety status in the weekly bracket. Teams listed in all caps with black text have achieved “lock” status…in other words, they cannot miss.

One Stop Shop. All thirty conference tourney brackets in one place on this site.

OOWP. Opponents’ Opponents Winning Percentage.

OWP. Opponents Winning Percentage.

S-Curve. All 65 teams are ranked and then placed into the bracket. That ranking is called an S-Curve.

Shooter McGavin. AKA J.J. Redick. Winner of last year’s Villain Award.

RPI. Ratings Percentage Index. A tool used by the NCAA Selection Committee.

SOS. Strength of Schedule.

Toppers, Tops. Short forms of the more formal “Hilltoppers.”