-The projected conference champions are teams that are either currently in first place, or tied for it via the loss column. They are in ALL CAPS.
-I’m not necessarily trying to guess the committee, but I’m using the criteria the committee uses to select and seed the teams as if I were a committee member.
-The teams are not bracketed. I know it is fun to see them in the bracketed format, but I don’t think it is any more revealing than simply seeing their ranking on the seed list. If anything, it is less precise since a good number of teams are moved up or down a seed line in order to meet the bracketing rules and/or to keep them close to home.
-The locations of the teams seeded #4 or better are in parenthesis, as are the regional locations for the #1 seeds.
There are more notes below the seed list…..
1. MIAMI, FL (Austin, Arlington)
2. MICHIGAN STATE (Auburn Hills, Indianapolis)
3. Indiana (Dayton, Washington DC)
4. GONZAGA (San Jose, Los Angeles)
5. FLORIDA (Austin)
6. SYRACUSE (Philadelphia)
7. Duke (Philadelphia)
8. Michigan (Auburn Hills)
9. KANSAS (Kansas City)
10. Arizona (Salt Lake)
11. Wisconsin (Dayton)
12. Butler (Lexington)
13. Louisville (Lexington)
14. Georgetown (San Jose)
15. Oklahoma State (Kansas City)
16. NEW MEXICO (Salt Lake)
17. Kansas State
18. Marquette
19. Colorado State
20. OREGON
21. San Diego State
22. Pittsburgh
23. Minnesota
24. VCU
25. Ohio State
26. Illinois
27. Oklahoma
28. WICHITA STATE
29. Cincinnati
30. Ucla
31. Saint Louis
32. Unlv
33. Notre Dame
34. Colorado
35. NC State
36. MEMPHIS
37. North Carolina
38. La Salle
39. Creighton
40. Charlotte
41. Boise State
42. Missouri
43. BELMONT
44. BUCKNELL
45. MIDDLE TENNESSEE
46. Temple
47. Villanova
48. Ole Miss
49. AKRON
50. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
51. Arizona State
52. Virginia
53. Saint Mary’s
54. LOUISIANA TECH
55. MONTANA
56. STEPHEN F AUSTIN.
57. DAVIDSON
58. MERCER
59. VALPARAISO
60. NORTHEASTERN
61. HARVARD
62. LONG BEACH
63. NIAGARA
64. STONY BROOK
65. BRYANT
66. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
67. NORFOLK STATE
68. SOUTHERN
NOTES
NEXT IN LINE: Iowa, Wyoming, Maryland, California, Baylor, Saint John’s, Southern Miss, Indiana State, UMass, Stanford, Air Force, Kentucky, Iowa State, Eastern Kentucky
-Kentucky is way out of my bracket. I barely had them in it before, and without Noel, they appear to have gone from being a bubble team to being a team that’s way outside the field. They are currently out (IMHO, they’re way out) and must play their way back in.
-I have Duke much lower than I think the real committee will. The reason is they have no true road wins against anyone that is solidly in the field. Of the road wins they do have, they struggled to beat weak teams such as Wake Forest and Boston College. I know that it is hard to win on the road, especially against tournament teams, but every single team I have ahead of them has managed to do it. Even their neutral floor wins against Louisville, Minnesota and VCU are good, but they don’t necessarily scream #1 seed to me.
-I really like how Saint Louis and Colorado State are playing, and expect them to be higher on Selection Sunday than where I currently have them. They deserve more recognition than what they’re getting.
-I think Indiana State has played their way out. Five sub 100 losses is a lot to overcome. I think they’ll need to win the Missouri Valley Tournament.
-Memphis doesn’t have a lot of big wins, but they do have a few decent ones.
-Temple is still impossible to place. Their last five games have been decided by just one point.
-I don’t know if the committee will like Belmont or Bucknell as much as I do, especially with Belmont losing earlier in the week, but I can’t seem to get them any lower in my rankings. I just feel they’re better than all the teams I have behind them.
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