Hoops HD Mock Committee Report – Wednesday, March 9

Click here for Jon Teitel’s interview with UNC-Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt; also click here for Jon’s bracket projection for games played through Tuesday.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, we are on the eve of convening our annual HoopsHD NCAA Mock Selection Committee. The first ballots for at-large teams and Under Consideration have been submitted to our committee chairman Chad Sherwood – without further ado, here are the results:

As you can see, 27 out of a possible 36 teams received 8 out of 10 votes from our committee members to be in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens this weekend. Motions can still be made to remove a team from At-Large to Under Consideration, but it takes 8 out of 10 votes for this to happen. (If you’re Texas Tech, don’t sweat it – I don’t think you’re getting voted down.) 33 more teams received at least 3 votes from Committee members; they have been added to the Under Consideration board. Seven teams that were already regular-season champions were included in the first ballot and promoted up to the At-Large column. In short, 33 teams plus the 23 remaining regular-season conference champions will be competing for the remaining 9 at-large spots plus any other at-large spots that open up as teams earn automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament. There are a minimum number of 9 at-large bids to be filled; the maximum number of at-large bids to be filled is 17 when you account for teams winning the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Pac 12, Big 10, SEC, American, and Atlantic 10 Conferences.

Tomorrow night, we will also be voting on the annual Centenary Award (click here for the background story) – the winner is automatically added to the Under Consideration board and will remain there for the duration of the selection process. We will also begin voting for the 9 remaining at-large spots tomorrow night as well (and perhaps a spot guaranteed to open up in a major conference) – tune in then to see who our Committee has voted into the field.