Elite 8 matchups and more bracket imbalance

Much like the coaches creating game plans, I didn't have much time to write full previews for the Elite 8 games. Instead, I'll post head-to-head NEM charts for each of the four games. As usual, these are 5-game running average total NEM values, intended to smooth out the game-to-game variation.

Also, I mentioned earlier that the right side of the bracket (East and South regions) have been much better than the left side (Midwest and West). These charts show this has generally been the case through the entire season and not just during the tournament.

East and South regional teams

Midwest and West regional teams

As these numbers show, the difference during the first three rounds of the tournament has been largely on defense. Only Butler's -21.0 defensive NEM during the tournament has kept the gap respectable.