There have been plenty of upsets and interesting non-conference results in the two weeks since our last bracket, and those results are reflected in our latest Field of 68. While there were only two changes in terms of teams in the field, the biggest differences came in how many bids some conferences received and how some big-name programs were seeded.The two teams that were bumped from this week's bracket were both from the ACC. Virginia's head-scratching home loss to Seattle knocked them out, and Maryland, whose so-so resume caught up with them, dropped from the last team in to the second team out. Replacing them in the bracket are Drexel and Cincinnati. The Dragons' upset of Louisville and the Colonial's strong conference RPI (10) earned them a bid, while the Bearcats' still unblemished record earned them a spot.
There were a lot of teams that moved up or down several seed lines in this week's bracket. Baylor's six seed line drop and Michigan State's five seed line drop were the biggest downgrades, while Tennessee, Kansas State, and Richmond each fell three lines. The biggest jump was made by Texas (6 seed lines), while Missouri, UCF, Washington State, and Butler each moved up three lines.
Note: Bracket is based on games played through Monday, Dec. 27.
Bracket Breakdown
Last Four In
Northwestern, St. Mary's, Drexel, New Mexico
First Four Out
Oklahoma State, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia
Next Four Out
St. John's, Dayton, Northern Iowa, Virginia Tech
"First Four" Games
Northwestern vs. St. Mary's, Drexel vs. New Mexico, Montana vs. Morgan State, American vs. Jackson State
---------------------------------------------------------------
Conference Breakdown
Big East (9), Big Ten (7), Big XII (6), ACC (5), SEC (4), MWC (4), Pac-10 (3), A-10 (3), Colonial (2), C-USA (2), Horizon (2), WCC (2)
America East - Vermont
ACC - Duke, Boston College, North Carolina, Miami (FL), Florida State
Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville
A-10 - Temple, Richmond, Xavier
Big East - Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Connecticut, Villanova, Louisville, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Cincinnati
Big Sky - Montana
Big South - Coastal Carolina
Big Ten - Ohio State, Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern
Big XII - Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Baylor
Big West - UC-Santa Barbara
Colonial - Old Dominion, Drexel
Conference USA - UCF, Memphis
Horizon - Butler, Cleveland State
Ivy - Princeton
MAAC - Fairfield
MAC - Kent State
MEAC - Morgan State
MVC - Wichita State
MWC - San Diego State, BYU, UNLV, New Mexico
Northeast - Quinnipiac
Ohio Valley - Murray State
Pac-10 - Washington, Washington State, Arizona
Patriot - American
SEC - Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Vanderbilt
Southern - Wofford
Southland - Stephen F. Austin
Summit - Oakland
Sun Belt - North Texas
SWAC - Jackson State
WAC - Utah State
WCC - Gonzaga, St. Mary's
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Seeds
The 1s
Duke, Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse
The 2s
Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Connecticut, Kentucky
The 3s
San Diego State, Villanova, Texas, Missouri
The 4s
Temple, Purdue, Louisville, BYU
The 5s
Notre Dame, Minnesota, Kansas State, Tennessee
The 6s
UNLV, Texas A&M, Illinois, Wisconsin
The 7s
Michigan State, Boston College, Old Dominion, West Virginia
The 8s
UCF, Memphis, Florida, Washington
The 9s
Vanderbilt, Butler, Washington State, North Carolina
The 10s
Wichita State, Richmond, Gonzaga, Arizona
The 11s
Baylor, Miami (FL), Florida State, Xavier
The 12s
Cleveland State, Cincinnati, Northwestern vs. St. Mary's (FF), Drexel vs. New Mexico (FF)
The 13s
Utah State, UC-Santa Barbara, Princeton, Kent State
The 14s
Oakland, Fairfield, Coastal Carolina, Jacksonville
The 15s
Wofford, Vermont, Quinnipiac, Murray State
The 16s
Stephen F. Austin, North Texas, Montana vs. Morgan State (FF), American vs. Jackson State (FF)
The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)
Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com or send us a tweet at twitter.com/Bracketology101.
It's been almost a month since our Preseason Field of 68, and as expected, there are a ton of changes to our latest bracket. Putting together the field before most teams have started conference play is still tough, but this bracket is how we see things right now.
To view or download Chris, Craig, and Matt's complete tournament brackets, click on the title of this post.
As expected, the bubble picture cleared up a bit on Friday. San Diego State and Georgia Tech both locked down their bids, while Virginia Tech and Florida moved closer to the bubble and onto our Last Five In list. We used a Last Five In list today (instead of the traditional Last Four In list) because those five teams are the only ones who we could see not making the final bracket if things break a certain way over the weekend.
All eyes were on the Big East tournament on Wednesday, but the league's two most interesting bubble teams didn't offer much excitement. South Florida was down double-digits at the half and eventually lost by 20 to Georgetown, and Seton Hall scored just 21 points and shot 34 percent from the field in a 68-56 loss to Notre Dame. Luke Harangody had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win for the Irish, who have now won five in a row to move up to a 9 seed in our latest bracket. South Florida and Seton Hall, meanwhile, saw their bubbles officially burst as a result of their losses, and they fell to the Next Four Out and Last Four Out lists, respectively.
Where are all the bid stealers? Two nights after top-seeded Northern Iowa punched its dance ticket, and one night after top-seeded Old Dominion earned the Colonial's automatic bid, Butler destroyed Wright State 70-45 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the final of the Horizon conference tourney.
