Monday, January 17, 2005

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Jan 17.

Here are Chris and Craig's Bracketology selections for the week of Jan. 17:

A reminder...we make more of a prediction then projection with this picks. You may be asking what is the difference. The other bracketologists out there make projections and tell you who they think would make the tournament if they picked the field today. We do a little bit of that in our picks but we also try to look ahead to March and predict what will happen. That is why we don't have 7 teams in from any major conferences and why we have given many small conferences two spots. That is how things will shake out come conference tourney time when there are upsets in conference tourney's and small conference powers who should be getting the automatic bids start stealing at-large spots. So its not realistic to give 7 conferences all 34 of the at-large bids because it simply will not happen. This is typically what many other bracketologists do and is a major reason why this site was started. Our picks are more realistic and give you better insight into what your team needs to do to make the tourney.

We welcome your comments and responses to our picks and we stand behind them (except for the small conferences-- we put little to no thought into the MEAC's and SWAC's of the college basketball world, but we will once their conference schedule progresses). Keep in mind that these picks were posted Jan. 17 and this week's will surely change them.

Conference Breakdown: ACC (6), Big East (6), Big XII (6), Big Ten (6), SEC (5), PAC-10 (5), C-USA (5), WAC (2), WCC (2)

Last Four In
Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Minnesota, UTEP

Last Four Out
NC State, West Virginia, UAB, Wichita St.

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tie-breaker.

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Miami, Maryland

Atlantic Sun
Mercer

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Big East
Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, UConn, Notre Dame, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Cincinnati, Marquette, Louisville, Charlotte, DePaul

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Princeton

MAAC
Fairfield

MCC
UMKC

MAC
Western Michigan

MEAC
Norfolk State

MVC
Southern Ill.

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Monmouth

Ohio Valley
Samford

PAC-10
Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State

Patriot
Bucknell

SEC
Kentucky, Miss. St., Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Southern

Sun Belt
Ark.-Little Rock

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
UTEP, Nevada

5 comments:

crow930 said...

Does the Big Ten deserve 6 spots??? What about St. Joes, Wichita State or Denver U. You've missed too many mid majors who deserve to be in the tournament before Mich. The same idea goes for Conf USA, Pac 10, and the SEC. Will the mid majors get their due, probably not. But several of the conferences do not deserve the number of spots that they might get.

Bracketology 101 said...

Thanks for the post. Will the Big Ten get six spots in the end? Probably not. The conference just isn't that strong. That said, as of now, it's just too hard to make a case for dropping one of those team out in favor of Wichita St. (best win is against Providence) or St. Joe's (6 losses already, best win vs. UMass, four straight losses in one stretch). Come Selection Sunday, will the A-10 get 2 teams in at the expense of one of the major conferences. Sure. Right now, though, it's hard to put a lot of those mid-majors in based on their bodies of work (or lack thereof) thus far.

Anonymous said...

For next week, these changes should be made.
IN
Villanova - beat No. 2 team in Nation
Wichita St. - Huge win against So. Illinois

OUT
Michigan - Lost at home, at this moment in time, they don't have much of a resume. An RPI of 69
St. Mary's - I know they beat the Zags, but they have an RPI in the 60's and will need to win AT Gonzaga February 3rd to get a spot.

Marquette hangs on by the skin of their teeth.

George Washington is the most overrated team in the nation. They have an RPI of 89 and already 2 loses in a down Atlantic 10 conference. I predict that they will not make the NCAA tournament.

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