Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - March 12

The Breakdown
After a wild set of games on Monday, it turned out to be a pretty quiet Tuesday - just the way teams on the bubble like it. In the biggest game of the night, Butler avoided Monday's mid-major upset bug and kept the Horizon a one-bid league by beating Cleveland State by 15, and favorites Western Kentucky and Oral Roberts earned automatic bids by winning the Sun Belt and Summit, respectively.

The real fun starts up again Wednesday as the Big East, A-10, Pac-10, and MAC open tournament play. The headliner, of course, is the Syracuse-Villanova 8-9 game at the Garden. The loser of that game is toast, and thanks to the events of Monday night, the winner (especially if it's Villanova) still might need to knock off Georgetown in the quarters to be safe. In the Pac-10, Arizona faces Oregon State in an obvious must-win, and in the A-10, Dayton faces Saint Louis and St. Joseph's takes on Fordham. A win by the eighth-seeded Flyers sets up a potential win-and-your-in showdown with Xavier in the quarters on Thursday. In the MAC, the storyline remains Kent State and its quest for an automatic/at-large bid. The Golden Flashes, whose resume took a slight hit Monday with St. Mary's' loss, face the winner of Wednesday's Toledo-Bowling Green game on Thursday.

Two more automatic bids will be handed out Wednesday. In the Northeast, Sacred Heart shoots for its first ever NCAA bid against Mount St. Mary's, who last made the dance in 1999, and in the Big Sky, top-seeded Portland State faces Northern Arizona.

Out This Bracket
None

In This Bracket
None

Last Four In
South Alabama, Massachusetts, Oregon, Villanova

Last Four Out
Syracuse, Ohio State, VCU, Temple

Next Four Out
Mississippi, New Mexico, Virginia Tech, Maryland

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

America East - UMBC

ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Miami-FL

Atlantic Sun - Belmont

A-10 - Xavier, Massachusetts

Big East - Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Marquette, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Villanova

Big Sky - Portland State

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State, Indiana

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

Big West - UC-Santa Barbara

Colonial - George Mason

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent State

MEAC - Morgan State

MVC - Drake, Illinois State

MWC - UNLV, BYU

Northeast - Sacred Heart

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

Pac-10 - UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, USC, Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon

Patriot - American

SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Arkansas

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Stephen F. Austin

Summit - Oral Roberts

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky, South Alabama

SWAC - Alabama State

WAC - New Mexico State

WCC - San Diego, Gonzaga, St. Mary’s

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Seeds
The 1s
North Carolina, Memphis, Tennessee, UCLA

The 2s
Kansas, Texas, Georgetown, Duke

The 3s
Wisconsin, Xavier, Louisville, Stanford

The 4s
Notre Dame, Connecticut, Purdue, Drake

The 5s
Michigan State, Indiana, Vanderbilt, Washington State

The 6s
Marquette, USC, Butler, BYU

The 7s
Gonzaga, Clemson, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh

The 8s
Oklahoma, Kansas State, West Virginia, Baylor

The 9s
Miami-FL, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Kent State

The 10s
St. Mary's, UNLV, Illinois State, Davidson

The 11s
Arizona State, Arizona, Arkansas, South Alabama

The 12s
Massachusetts, Oregon, Villanova, San Diego

The 13s
George Mason, Western Kentucky, Oral Roberts, Stephen F. Austin

The 14s
Cornell, New Mexico State, UC-Santa Barbara, Siena

The 15s
Winthrop, Portland State, Belmont, Austin Peay

The 16s
UMBC, American, Morgan State, Sacred Heart (Play-In Game), Alabama State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)














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