Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Jan. 6

The first few games of conference play caused some pretty severe shake-ups in our latest bracket. Since our last bracket, three number one seeds have lost, and some teams improved or dropped as many as six seed lines. Only two teams fell all the way out of the bracket - Arizona because of a slew of losses and Creighton because of Illinois State's success and the improved resumes of some other bubble teams. They were replaced by Boston College and Arkansas, who rode stunning upsets to spots on the 10 and 11 lines, respectively.

Looking at the bigger the picture, this week's bracket is very top-heavy, with 24 teams coming from the Big East, ACC, and Big Ten. Those numbers speak just as much to the strength of those conferences as it does to the underwhelming OOC performances of the Pac-10, SEC, etc. The big conference numbers are sure to change a little over the next few weeks (the Pac-10, odds are, will have a fourth team in very soon) but this is how things stand right now. As much as we love the little guy, there aren't a whole lot of mid-major at-larges to choose from, either. Besides the impressive showing by the Mountain West so far (hey, Lunardi...no UNLV?), only Dayton and Saint Mary's have done enough on the mid-major circuit to warrant at-large bids - and their resumes aren't that great either.

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Bracket Breakdown
Last Four In
LSU, Florida State, Kentucky, Dayton

Last Four Out
Missouri, Stanford, Creighton, Arizona

Next Four Out
Washington, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Utah

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Conference Breakdown
Big East (9), ACC (8), Big Ten (7), Big XII (5), SEC (5), Pac-10 (3), A-10 (2), MWC (2), WCC (2)

America East - Vermont

ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, Maryland, Boston College, Miami (FL), Florida State

Atlantic Sun - East Tennessee State

A-10 - Xavier, Dayton

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

Big Sky - Portland State

Big South - VMI

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

Big XII - Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, Kansas, Texas A&M

Big West - Pacific

Colonial - George Mason

Conference USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Buffalo

MEAC - Hampton

MVC - Illinois State

MWC - UNLV, BYU

Northeast - Robert Morris

Ohio Valley - Morehead State

Pac-10 - UCLA, California, Arizona State

Patriot - Lehigh

SEC - Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, LSU, Kentucky

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Stephen F. Austin

Summit - North Dakota State

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky

SWAC - Alabama State

WAC - Utah State

WCC - Gonzaga, St. Mary's

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The Seeds
The 1s
Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Duke, Oklahoma

The 2s
Connecticut, Wake Forest, Michigan State, Texas

The 3s
UCLA, Clemson, Notre Dame, Georgetown

The 4s
Syracuse, Xavier, West Virginia, California

The 5s
Tennessee, Arizona State, Marquette, Wisconsin

The 6s
UNLV, Purdue, Michigan, Louisville

The 7s
Villanova, Ohio State, Butler, Baylor

The 8s
Gonzaga, Memphis, Illinois, Minnesota

The 9s
Illinois State, Maryland, Davidson, Florida

The 10s
Boston College, Kansas, Texas A&M, St. Mary's

The 11s
Miami (FL), Arkansas, BYU, LSU

The 12s
Florida State, Kentucky, Dayton, Western Kentucky

The 13s
Utah State, Siena, George Mason, Buffalo

The 14s
Portland State, VMI, Stephen F. Austin, Pacific

The 15s
North Dakota State, Vermont, East Tennessee State, Cornell

The 16s
Morehead State, Robert Morris, Lehigh, Hampton (Play-In Game), Alabama State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)













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