Bracketology 101's First Field of 65 - Nov. 26

After a long vacation, several hollow promises of pre-season picks, and some fun message board banter about the future of Bracketology 101, here - finally - is our first bracket projection of 2006.

We apologize to our readers for its tardiness, and want to let all of you know that we appreciate your patience. Unfortunately, we began this site two years ago as something to do in out spare time, but in recent months, our lives have interfered with our ability to make time for predictions and projections. Without getting into too much detail, Craig is currently completing Marine fleet aviator training, which will culminate in a tour of Iraq in September. As he moves up in rank in the military and continues his flight training, his availability to contribute to the site has greatly decreased, and has caused us to re-evaluate what we wanted to do with Bracketology 101.

We originally thought of selling the site to another aspiring bracketologist (interested, pokerplayer?) , but ultimately decided that some Bracketology 101 is better than no Bracketology 101 at all. Each week throughout the course of the season, we (Chris) will post our updated Field of 65. We will also try to answer as many comments and e-mails as possible. Other than that, however, the editorial content on the site (Games To Watch, Top 10 Lists, etc.) that we posted daily last year will be pretty limited. The bracket itself will be our main focus. That's our plan - and we plan on sticking to it.

Thanks again for understanding. We're glad to have you aboard for what's shaping up to be another unpredictable, exciting college basketball season.

Enjoy the games,

Chris
Bracketology 101

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Here is Bracketology 101's first Field of 65:

Last Four In
West Virginia, New Mexico, Xavier, Arkansas

Last Four Out
Wake Forest, Houston, Florida State, Iowa State

Conference Breakdown
Big East (8), ACC (7), SEC (6), Big Ten (5), Big XII (4), MVC (4), Pac-10 (4), MWC (3), A-10 (2)

America East - Albany

ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Clemson, Boston College

Atlantic Sun - Lipscomb

A-10 - George Washington, Xavier

Big East - Pittsburgh, Marquette, Syracuse, UConn, Georgetown, Villanova, Louisville, West Virginia

Big Sky - Northern Arizona

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma State

Big West - CS-Fullerton

Colonial - Old Dominion

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Penn

Metro Atlantic - Marist

MAC - Ohio

MCC - Oral Roberts

MEAC - Delaware State

MVC - Wichita State, Missouri State, Creighton, Southern Illinois

MWC - San Diego State, Air Force, New Mexico

Northeast - Robert Morris

Ohio Valley - Tennessee State

Pac-10 - UCLA, Washington, Arizona, Oregon

Patriot - Holy Cross

SEC - Florida, LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas

Southern - Wofford

Southland - SE Louisiana

SWAC - Alabama A&M

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky

WAC - Nevada

WCC - Gonzaga

The Seeds

The 1s
UCLA, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Florida

The 2s
North Carolina, LSU, Ohio State, Alabama

The 3s
Marquette, Duke, Texas A&M, Washington

The 4s
Memphis, Wisconsin, Syracuse, UConn

The 5s
Nevada, Wichita State, Maryland, Gonzaga

The 6s
Georgia Tech, Butler, Georgetown, Michigan State

The 7s
Texas, Arizona, San Diego State, Michigan

The 8s
Illinois, Virginia, George Washington, Oklahoma State

The 9s
Kentucky, Missouri State, Villanova, Clemson

The 10s
Creighton, Oregon, Tennessee, Boston College

The 11s
Southern lllinois, Louisville, Air Force, West Virginia

The 12s
Old Dominion, New Mexico, Xavier, Arkansas

The 13s
Winthrop, Western Kentucky, Oral Roberts, Ohio

The 14s
Albany, Penn, Holy Cross, Marist

The 15s
Northern Arizona, Lipscomb, Robert Morris, Wofford

The 16s
CS-Fullerton, Tennessee State, SE Louisiana, Delaware State (Play-In Game), Alabama A&M (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
This Week's Bracket - Nov. 26

Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

We're Still Alive...

Just wanted to let all of our readers know that we still exist and that we will have our first bracket of the year up shortly (hopefully before Thanksgiving). Even though out first predictions are not usually out until mid-to-late November, we had planned on posting a bracket a little earlier this season. Unfortunately, Craig has been swamped with Marines work and Chris has been trying to balance college basketball watching with teaching high school English, so we simply haven't had enought time to post anything as of yet.

Hope everyone has enjoyed the games thus far. It's certainly been a good couple of weeks for the little guy (Oral Roberts, Vermont, Winthrop and Sacred Heart in close losses, etc.) and for upsets (most recently Nebraska over Creighton). Hopefully, that parity will continue the rest of the way.

Keep visiting and we'll have our bracket up soon (we promise)...

Chris and Craig
Bracketology 101