Thursday, March 13, 2008

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - March 13

The Breakdown
We hate to say we told you so, but....when we took Syracuse out of our bracket almost two months ago (January 14th to be exact), we did so because we thought that their end-of-the-year schedule was ultimately going to be too much for the young Orange squad to handle. We took a lot of criticism for sticking to our prediction and refusing to put them back in the field ever since then (even after some good wins), but as it turned out, everything played out just as we thought. 'Cuse's tourney hopes were officially extinguished by Villanova on Wednesday in the opener of the Big East tournament, as 'Nova caught fire in the second half and cruised to an 82-63 victory. The blowout win was obviously a huge resume booster for the Wildcats, who may now be just a good showing against Georgetown away from locking down a bid. If 'Nova doesn't play well against the Hoyas, they are going to have to pull hard for Memphis, Xavier and BYU to win their conference tournies and hope that no more huge upsets occur to feel safe on Sunday.

Out This Bracket
Sacred Heart

In This Bracket
Mount St. Mary's

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

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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 - Mount St. Mary's

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

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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, Mount St. Mary's (Play-In Game), Alabama State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)


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

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

so what does New Mexico have to do to get into the bracket? Is a trip to the MWC finals necessary or will a win over Utah be enough

Bracketology 101 said...

They need to beat UNLV in the semis to be considered ahead of the Rebels and get a bid. It's tough to envision a scenario where 3 MWC teams get a bid with BYU, UNLV, and New Mexico being those 3 teams.

Anonymous said...

Well tomorrow's going to be the big day for FSU... It doesn't really matter because we won't win, but I think it's crazy that some people are saying that FSU has to win the ACC championship to get in. I think a win over #1 UNC would give them a definite lock. Add to that 20 wins, wins over Clemson, Miami, @Miami, UAB, Florida, and Minnesota, and a hot streak of winning 7 out of the last 8 games. Anyways, like I said, it doesn't really matter because they won't win... but if they did... : )

By the way, bracketology, have you ever thought of predicted all the seeds and selections for the NIT? I think that would be really interesting also.

Anonymous said...

tough question for you.......if MD wins tonight and then again tomorrow night against Clemson, and then lose a close one to Duke on Saturday...what chance do you think they have of making the field....the reason I think they have a good chance is b/c of their win at UNC, and the fact that all their losses in conference were close, there were no blowouts, which shows a)they can beat a great team AWAY from home and b)they always keep it competitive...

your thoughts appreciated

Anonymous said...

I have a hard time seeing how Baylor and Texas A+M get in. Both of their out-of-conference schedules were weak, which doesn't help.

Baylor was 5-8 down the stretch.
A+M was 2-5 in their last 7 conference games (beating Baylor at Waco in one)

A+M still has the chance to pad with a good Big-12 tournament. The loss to Colorado crushes the Bears.

I'd like to see VCU get in...they are a fun team to watch and play tough, close games. Unfortunately, ASU will likely get the nod, even with one of the worst non-conf SOS' and finishing the season 5-10.