Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - March 2

The Breakdown
To start things off, we would like to get on our soapbox and let off some steam: There is no way that the Colonial will get three bids. Anyone out there with 3 CAA teams in is being foolish, and is ignoring that fact that the potential Drexel vs. VCU game in the semifinals is an elimination game. The only way that the CAA could get 3 bids is if Hofstra wins the auto bid and somehow the winner of the Drexel/VCU game gets a bid along with ODU. That is still a long shot, though, unless there are no other upsets in conference tournies (Memphis, Nevada, Butler, Xavier all win). Another thing that will be tough to see happening is 8 teams dancing out of the Big East (unless there is an upset conference tourney winner). It is definitely possible after the results of the games so far this week (Syracuse and 'Nova both winning), but once again it is not likely because things would need to break perfectly in the conference tournament.

Now on to the breakdown....

Many may be surprised that we removed Illinois from this bracket. Here is our reasoning behind their exclusion: Illinois has a tough road game this weekend at Iowa, which we are not that confident in them winning. Should they get by Iowa, then they will likely end up a #4 seed in the Big Ten Tourney and likely have to play Purdue in the quarterfinals. We like Purdue's chances in this game on a neutral court. For Illinois to feel completely safe, they need to win their next 3 games (assuming Indiana beats Penn State and gets the 3 seed). Otherwise they will be right on the top of the bubble. Many believe that the Big Ten can not possibly get 6 teams in the field. We still disagree with this sentiment. With Michigan's win against Michigan State, the conference now has 7 teams that have a legitimate shot at a bid. It is all going to come down to the conference tourney.

As previously stated we believe there is no chance for 3 bids out of the CAA, but we have come around to the idea of 2 bids. Should Drexel and VCU meet in the semifinals, then the winner of that game has a good chance of receiving a bid (especially if Drexel wins). Should VCU make it to the finals they would have a good chance at a bid unless numerous bids were stolen in other conference tournies. Right now we are going with Drexel and ODU out of the CAA.

Many posted this week about the merits of FSU getting an at-large bid. They are still very much alive for a bid, but need to win 2 more games to feel somewhat comfortable. We are weary of the game at Miami (who recently beat UVa at home) this weekend, since no conference road game is easy. If they can win that game, then they will have another meeting with Clemson in the conference tourney. If the 'Noles can get by Clemson, they can be seriously considered for an at-large bid.

Here is Bracketology 101's Field of 65 for March 2:

Last Four In
Missouri State, Syracuse, Purdue, Drexel

Last Four Out
Florida State, Illinois, West Virginia, VCU

Next Four Out
Kansas State, Alabama, Appalachian State, Massachusetts

Conference Breakdown
ACC (7), Big East (7), Pac-10 (6), Big Ten (5), Big XII (4), SEC (4), MVC (3), MWC (3), Colonial (2), Horizon (2), WAC (2)
(Teams listed first from multiple bid conferences are automatics.)

America East - Vermont

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

Atlantic Sun - East Tennessee State

A-10 - Xavier

Big East - Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, Notre Dame, Villanova, Syracuse

Big Sky - Weber State

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech

Big West - Long Beach State

Colonial - Old Dominion, Drexel

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Wright State, Butler

Ivy - Penn

Metro Atlantic - Marist

MAC - Kent State

MCC - Oral Roberts

MEAC - Delaware State

MVC - Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State

MWC - UNLV, BYU, Air Force

Northeast - Central Connecticut State

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

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

Patriot - Holy Cross

SEC - Florida, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

SWAC - Jackson State

Sun Belt - South Alabama

WAC - New Mexico State, Nevada

WCC - Gonzaga

The Seeds
The 1s
UCLA, Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin

The 2s
Florida, North Carolina, Georgetown, Southern Illinois

The 3s
Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Virginia

The 4s
Maryland, Washington State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee

The 5s
Virginia Tech, UNLV, Nevada, Duke

The 6s
Texas, Marquette, Oregon, Arizona

The 7s
Kentucky, Boston College, USC, Louisville

The 8s
BYU, Butler, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech

The 9s
Indiana, Stanford, Villanova, Xavier

The 10s
Air Force, Michigan State, Creighton, Old Dominion

The 11s
Texas Tech, Winthrop, Missouri State, Gonzaga

The 12s
Syracuse, Purdue, Drexel, Davidson

The 13s
New Mexico State, Wright State, Holy Cross, Kent State

The 14s
Vermont, Oral Roberts, Penn, Long Beach State

The 15s
South Alabama, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Marist, East Tennessee State

The 16s
Weber State, Austin Peay, Central Connecticut State, Delaware State (Play-In Game), Jackson State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
This Week's Bracket - March 2



(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)

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

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Feb. 26

The Breakdown
The Big East has gone from being a relatively easy conference to try and predict to being very messy. Villanova continues to hover around .500 in conference which is not a great place to be in the Big East. They have had probably the hardest conference schedule in the Big East, so they have a good excuse. They are still fairly safe for now, and with the games they have left (@UConn, Syracuse), they have a good opportunity to get to 9-7 which would make them a virtual lock for a bid. West Virginia was one of the last teams to make it into the field this week. They were unable to pick up what would have been a nice road win at Providence last week, so now they have little room for error. Their home win over UCLA got them back into the bracket a few weeks ago and is keeping them there for the time being. They have a solid record but a borderline RPI (57). They have a great chance this week to get a resume making road win at Pitt, but should they be unable to win that, all they need is to take care of Cinci at home to get to 9-7. All they would need after that is one Big East Tourney win. Syracuse has won four in a row and already has 9 Big East wins. They are in a similar situation to WVU in that they have a gaudy record with a mediocre RPI (53). They finish up with Georgetown and @'Nova, so we expect them to end up 9-7. Without any marquee OOC wins that won't be enough to send them dancing.

Michigan State moved back into the bracket in a big way. After home wins against Wisconsin and Indiana, they were able to move up to a 6 seed. Illinois took care of business this week and if they can pick up a win in their last conference regular season game @Iowa this week then they can feel a bit more comfortable at 10-6. Purdue was unable to take some pressure off after losing @Iowa this week. They have 2 winnable home games left (Minnesota, Northwestern) which they must have and then one win in the conference tourney should be enough to stamp their ticket.

We went with two teams out of the Horizon for the first time this season. Wright State and Butler ended up tied for first in conference but Wright State won the tie-breaker so they will now have the opportunity to play on their home floor. They just recently beat Butler at home so we like their chances to do it again. Our other conference where we still like a bid to be stolen is the WAC. New Mexico State dropped their first home game of the season to Fresno State but we still like them to come out on top on their home floor next week in the conference tourney.

The Colonial conference wrapped up its regular season this week. The CAA conference tourney is wide open and should be very entertaining. We still like it to be a one bid league with ODU coming out on top, but there are definitely some scenarios that could develop to give the conference two bids. The VCU-Drexel semifinal game (if it happens) would determine who has the best chance to be the second CAA team in if they were to lose in the final to ODU. In the MWC, SDSU continued its home dominance with a blowout win over BYU. Their overall profile is mediocre, but their recent home blowouts of BYU, UNLV, and Air Force have been impressive. They now have an opportunity to finish at least tied for third with Air Force in conference and that, coupled with a MWC tourney championship appearance, would give them an outside shot at an at-large.

We will post another bracket on Thursday or Friday and starting next week we will update the bracket daily if needed.

Here is Bracketology 101's Field of 65 for Feb. 26:

Last Four In
Illinois, Missouri State, West Virginia, Purdue

Last Four Out
Syracuse, Kansas State, San Diego State, Georgia

Conference Breakdown
ACC (7), Big East (7), Big Ten (6), Pac-10 (6), Big XII (4), SEC (4), MVC (3), MWC (3), Horizon (2), WAC (2)
(Teams listed first from multiple bid conferences are automatics.)

America East - Vermont

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

Atlantic Sun - East Tennessee State

A-10 - Xavier

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

Big Sky - Weber State

Big South - Winthrop

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

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech

Big West - Long Beach State

Colonial - Old Dominion

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Wright State, Butler

Ivy - Penn

Metro Atlantic - Marist

MAC - Kent State

MCC - Oral Roberts

MEAC - Delaware State

MVC - Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State

MWC - UNLV, Air Force, BYU

Northeast - Central Connecticut State

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

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

Patriot - Holy Cross

SEC - Florida, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

SWAC - Jackson State

Sun Belt - South Alabama

WAC - New Mexico State, Nevada

WCC - Gonzaga

The Seeds
The 1s
UCLA, Ohio State, Kansas, Florida

The 2s
Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Georgetown

The 3s
Pittsburgh, Southern Illinois, Memphis, Washington State

The 4s
Duke, Nevada, Virginia Tech, Maryland

The 5s
Virginia, USC, Vanderbilt, UNLV

The 6s
Marquette, Michigan State, Tennessee, Oregon

The 7s
Boston College, Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville

The 8s
Texas, Butler, Notre Dame, Air Force

The 9s
BYU, Indiana, Stanford, Villanova

The 10s
Xavier, Georgia Tech, Creighton, Texas Tech

The 11s
Old Dominion, Illinois, Winthrop, Missouri State

The 12s
Gonzaga, West Virginia, Purdue, Davidson

The 13s
New Mexico State, Wright State, Holy Cross, Kent State

The 14s
Vermont, Oral Roberts, Penn, Long Beach State

The 15s
South Alabama, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Marist, East Tennessee State

The 16s
Weber State, Austin Peay, Central Connecticut State, Delaware State (Play-In Game), Jackson State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
This Week's Bracket - Feb. 26



(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves.)

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

Bracketology 101's Rush of the Week - Feb. 26

There's nothing better in college basketball than the tradition of storming the court. Whether it's participating in the rush yourself, or watching it unfold on TV, it's impossible to match the enthusiasm and school spirit that comes out when thousands of students storm the floor after a huge upset win.

At Bracketology 101, we continue to honor the efforts of students across the country with a new late-season column: Bracketology 101's Rush of the Week. Each week we post our favorite court-storming photos, and give you the fans the chance to send your own photos in as well. We pick one photo each week as the winner, and post the photo on B101.

This week's winner is a photo of Michigan State's rush after beating Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Here's this week's Rush of the Week:

(Photo courtesy the Associated Press)

If you have a photo you wish to nominate for next week's Rush of the Week, e-mail a link to the photo to Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

Bracketology 101's Rush of the Week - Feb. 19

There's nothing better in college basketball than the tradition of storming the court. Whether it's participating in the rush yourself, or watching it unfold on TV, it's impossible to match the enthusiasm and school spirit that comes out when thousands of students storm the floor after a huge upset win.

At Bracketology 101, we want to honor the efforts of students across the country with a new late-season column: Bracketology 101's Rush of the Week. Each week we will post our favorite court-storming photos, and give you the fans the chance to send your own photos in as well. We'll pick one photo each week as the winner, and post the photo on B101.

This week's innaugural winner is a photo of Vanderbilt's rush after beating Florida on Saturday.

Here's this week's Rush of the Week:



(Photo courtesy the Associated Press)

If you have a photo you wish to nominate for next week's Rush of the Week, e-mail a link to the photo to Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com