Friday, February 26, 2010

Who's IN, and who's OUT? #4 & Weekend Games to Watch

Format is going to be changed around a little bit so that it is more thorough.

Auto-bids, non 1 bid leagues (Current conference leaders) 12 Bids: A10-Temple, ACC-Duke, B12-Kansas, BE-Syracuse, B10-Purdue, CUSA-UTEP, Horizon-Butler,MVC-Northern Iowa, MWC-New Mexico, P10-California, SEC-Kentucky, WCC-Gonzaga

Auto-bids, 1 bid leagues (Current conference leaders) 19 bids: America East (Stony Brook); Atlantic Sun (Jacksonville); Big Sky (Weber State); Big South (Coastal Carolina); Big West (UC Santa Barbara); Colonial Athletic (Old Dominion); Ivy (Cornell); MAC (Kent State); MAAC (Siena); MEAC (Morgan State); Northeast (Robert Morris); Ohio Valley (Murray State); Patriot (Lehigh); Southern (Charleston); Southland (Sam Houston State); Summit (Oakland); Sun Belt (North Texas); SWAC (Jackson State); WAC (Utah State)

Thats 31 bids gone right there, so there are 34 left.

Locks (15):
Villanova, WVU, Pitt, Georgetown, OSU, MSU, Wisconsin, KState, Texas, Baylor, Vandy, Tennessee, Richmond, Xavier, BYU

19 Bids left.

Watch Your Back Region:
1-Missouri (21-7 (9-4), RPI #39, SOS #69)
2-Wake Forest (18-7 (8-5), RPI #21, SOS #26)
3-Texas A&M (18-8 (8-5), RPI #18, SOS #3)
4-Oklahoma State (19-8 (7-6), RPI #32, SOS #37)
5-Maryland (19-7 (10-3), RPI #28, SOS #24)
6-UNLV (20-7 (9-5), RPI #44, SOS #82)
7-Florida State (20-7 (8-5), RPI #33, SOS #48)
8-Georgia Tech (17-9 (6-7), RPI #34, SOS #14)

Bubble IN:
9-Louisville (18-10 (9-6), RPI #41, SOS #6)
10-UAB (22-5 (10-3), RPI #30, SOS #103)
11-Florida (20-8 (9-4), RPI #45, SOS #49)
12-Clemson (19-8 (7-6), RPI #37, SOS #35)
13-Illinois (18-10 (10-5), RPI #63, SOS #66)
14-Connecticut (17-11 (7-8), RPI #40, SOS #2)
15-Rhode Island (20-6 (8-5), RPI #26, SOS #64)
16-Virginia Tech (21-6 (8-5), RPI #47, SOS #160)
17-Marquette (18-9 (9-6), RPI #55, SOS #65)
18-St. Mary's (22-5 (10-3), RPI #50, SOS #153)
19-Ole Miss (18-9 (6-7), RPI #61, SOS #63)
---------------------
Dayton (18-9 (7-6), RPI #43, SOS #30)
Arizona State (20-8 (10-5), RPI #54, SOS #78)
Charlotte (19-8 (9-4), RPI #56, SOS #118)
San Diego State (18-8 (9-5), RPI #38, SOS #54)
Miss State (20-8 (8-5), RPI #58, SOS #120)
Cincinnati (16-11 (7-8), RPI #59, SOS #29)
Seton Hall (16-10 (7-8), RPI #52, SOS #18)
South Florida (16-11 (6-9), RPI #66, SOS #37)
Notre Dame (18-10 (7-8), RPI #72, SOS #61)
Washington (18-9 (8-7), RPI #64, SOS #59)
Memphis (20-8 (10-3), RPI #64, SOS #110)

Dropped Out:
Minnesota - Devastating loss to Purdue.
William & Mary - Very bad loss to Towson.

New team(s):
Notre Dame - A huge win at home over Pitt without Gody will propel a fringe bubble team right into the thick of things.

Saturday's games:
#1 Kansas @ Oklahoma State - Oklahoma will be lock status if they can pull off the upset.
Cincinnati @ #7 WVU - Cincy is on life support. They desperately need this game.
Notre Dame @ #13 Georgetown - Can ND knock off two Top 25 teams in a row?
Boston College @ Georgia Tech - Georgia Tech needs to stop the bleeding.
Tulane @ UAB - No reason UAB should lose this one.
Rhode Island @ St Bonaventure - Ditto.
Arizona State @ California - Huge game in the P10. CAL has a terrible resume besides their RPI and SOS.
UNLV @ Air Force - UNLV should win.
Florida @ Georgia - Ditto for Florida.
Maryland @ Virginia Tech - Huge bubble game in the ACC. VT needs this game more than Maryland.
VCU @ Old Dominion - Once bubble hopeful VCU looks to spoil Old Dom's at-large chances.
Minnesota @ Illinois - Minnesota suffered a heartbreaker against Purdue. Any thread of hope is gone with a loss @Illinois.
Charlotte @ George Washington - Charlotte needs this win.
Miss State @ South Carolina - Miss State is struggling.
UMass @ Dayton - Dayton needs more A10 wins.
Loyola Marymount @ St Mary's - St Mary's doesn't control their own destiny. They are hoping for other bubble teams to falter. If they lose, it wont matter what the bubble does.
Washington @ Washington State - Must win for the Huskies.

Sunday's games:
Marquette @ Seton Hall - SHU desperately needs this game. They could potentially hurdle Marquette with the win.
Louisville @ UConn - Huge game. Louisville has a brutal BE stretch, they probably need this more.
Clemson @ Florida State - 2 relatively even teams in the ACC. I say that Clemson needs this one more.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Bubble Bursting Wednesday Ahead, UConn surging

Winners:
UConn - Huge win against Top Ten WVU.
Illinois - Ugly win against Michigan.
Old Dominion - Close win against Georgia State.
Seton Hall - Led by double digits for nearly the entire game, but almost let it slip at the end.
Florida - Big home win against ranked Tennessee. The Gators are making the most of this brutal SEC stretch so far.

Losers:
Louisville - Led at the half, and collapsed in the second half against Georgetown.
Northern Iowa - Lose against lowly Evansville. Their at-large hopes are getting slim if they don't win the conference tournament.

Tomorrow's games:
#3 Purdue @ Minnesota - Minnesota has re-emerged on the bubble scene. A win against Top 5 Purdue would really help.
USF @ #8 Villanova - Once hot USF is now cold, a road game against Villanova doesn't look good for the Bulls.
San Diego State @ #11 BYU - San Diego State can propel themselves into "Last Four Ins" nationwide if they pull off the road win @BYU.
#16 Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame - Notre Dame is tough to beat at home, but they have been reeling lately.
Dayton @ #18 Temple - Dayton is in desperate need of a win, but a road game @Temple isn't the easiest win to come by.
Oklahoma State @ #21 Texas - Oklahoma State can wrap up a bid with a road win @ Texas.
#25 UTEP @ Southern Miss. - Newly ranked UTEP looks to continue their CUSA dominance.
Virginia Tech @ Boston College - VT can't afford any bad losses.
Florida State @ UNC - Florida State's best chance to win in UNC in a long time.
UAB @ UCF - UAB can't lose.
Towson @ William & Mary - William & Mary is hanging on by threads, and can't afford a loss to Towson.
Depaul @ Cincinnati - Ditto, minus the threads part.
St Joes @ Charlotte - Must win.
Marquette @ SJU - SJU is a pretty good home team. Marquette can't take them lightly.
Xavier @ St Louis - St Louis needs this win or their bubble position will be short lived.
Clemson @ Maryland - Big ACC bubble game.
Alabama @ Miss St - Miss State is pretty much done with a loss.
TCU @ UNLV - UNLV needs to stop the skid here.

Thursday's games:
Arizona @ California - California has no shot at an at-large if they lose games like this.
Arizona State @ Stanford - Must win for ASU.
Pepperdine @ St Mary's - Ditto.
Utah State @ Hawaii - Ditto.

Bubble Picture Update after Thursday's games!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Who's IN, and who's OUT? #3 & Games to Watch

The bubble is really starting to show some true "form". It continues to stay relatively weak in comparison with previous seasons. USF, Dayton and Ole Miss all dropped from IN to OUT. St Mary's, UConn and Florida took their places. Richmond and Oklahoma State played themselves into the "watch your back" region. Rhode Island and UNLV played themselves out of a relatively safe position. Rhode Island is squarely on the bubble, while UNLV is only slightly ahead of them.

Locks:
1- Nova
2- Texas
3- Gtown
4- Kansas State
5- WVU
6- Purdue
7- Tennessee
8- Wisconsin
9- Pitt
10- Vanderbilt
11- Georgia Tech
12- Ohio State
13- BYU
14- Baylor

Now we enter the "Watch your back region":
15- Missouri (20-7) (RPI: 39, SOS: 58)
16- Wake Forest (18-7) (RPI: 21, SOS: 25)
17- Texas A&M (18-7) (RPI: 12, SOS: 6)
18- Xavier (19-7) (RPI: 20, SOS: 13)
19- Oklahoma State (19-7) (RPI: 29, SOS: 40)
20- Richmond (22-6) (RPI: 26, SOS: 80)

Bubble-IN:
21- Maryland (18-7) (RPI: 36, SOS: 30)
22- UNLV (19-7) (RPI: 42, SOS:62)
23- Louisville (18-9) (RPI: 30, SOS: 7)
24- Illinois (17-10) (RPI: 68, SOS: 53)
25- Florida State (19-7) (RPI: 40, SOS: 56)
26- Virginia Tech (21-5) (RPI: 43, SOS: 142)
27- Marquette (17-9) (RPI: 59, SOS: 50)
28- UAB (21-5) (RPI:31, SOS: 94)
29- Rhode Island (20-6) (RPI: 25, SOS: 61)
30- Clemson (19-7) (RPI: 35, SOS: 35)
31- Florida (19-8) (RPI: 53, SOS: 57)
32- Old Dominion (21-8) (RPI: 41, SOS: 86)
33- St Mary's (22-5) (RPI: 46, SOS: 125)
34- UConn (16-11) (RPI: 45, SOS: 2)
--------------------------------------------
Dayton (18-8) (RPI:43, SOS 41)
Mississippi (17-9) (RPI: 63, SOS: 54)
South Florida (16-10) (RPI: 68, SOS: 43)
Cincinnati (15-11) (RPI:56, SOS: 16)
Washington (18-9) (RPI: 60, SOS: 49)
San Diego State (18-7) (RPI: 38, SOS: 71)
Mississippi St (19-8) (RPI:65, SOS: 115)
Charlotte (18-8) (RPI: 55, SOS: 98)
Seton Hall (15-10) (RPI: 52 , SOS: 11)
Arizona state (19-8) (RPI: 58, SOS: 74)
Memphis (20-7) (RPI:60, SOS:107)
William & Mary (18-8) (RPI: 48, SOS:87)
Minnesota (16-10) (RPI:77, SOS:53)

Dropped out:
Northwestern - Losing 3 out of their last 4 including losses to Iowa and PSU will do this to a bubble team.
Northeastern - Lost 2 out last 3, including 2 crucial games against W&M and LTech.
Notre Dame - Dropped 3 straight.
Texas Tech - Have lost 3 straight. Their RPI Top 50 record is 1-10. 3-10 vs Top 100. Somehow they still have a good RPI.

New team(s):
Minnesota - Tubby shortened his rotation and won by 16 against Wisky.

Teams to watch:
St Louis (17-8) (RPI: 82, SOS: 137)- With games against Xaiver, Temple and Dayton in their last 4, they can certainly make some bubble teams nervous if they win out.

Next update: Evening of 2/25

Tonight's games:
#7 WVU vs UConn (7PM ESPN) - UConn is squarely on the bubble. Another Top 10 win and this team would be hard to deny. Top 10 SOS, decent RPI, and 3 Top 10 wins?

Tomorrow's games:
#10 Georgetown vs Louisville (7PM ESPN2) - Louisville has really improved their chances after losing @SJU. A win against #10 Gtown would nearly put them at lock status.
Illinois vs Michigan (7PM ESPN) - Illinois can't lose this game.
Old Dominion vs Georgia State (7PM) - Ditto.
Rutgers vs Seton Hall (7PM ESPN360) - Must win game for the Hall. Its also a huge rivalry game.
#18 Tennessee vs Florida (9PM ESPN) - Florida is in a brutal stretch of their SEC schedule. They can pull out some big wins in it, or fold their NCAA hopes.

Friday, February 19, 2010

"Bracket Buster" Recap, Big Saturday Ahead

Winners:
Florida - Only won by 8, going to have to play better if they want to be in the Dance.
Dayton - Stopped their skid with a must win.
St Mary's - Hanging on for dear life..
Northern Iowa - Very nice win over Old Dom, should be a lock now.
Cornell - Huge win over Harvard. Unless they lose to Princeton, they should have the Ivy wrapped up.

Losers:
Ole Miss - Close loss to Vandy, they needed that one..
Marquette - Miss out on a quality win once again.
Washington - 3 point loss to USC, desperately needed that one.
Old Dominion - Lose a respectable game at UNI.
William & Mary - Bad loss to Iona. Tournament chances are pretty much gone now.

Tomorrow's games:
Siena vs #13 Butler (11AM ESPN2) - Siena is a bubble-out team (IMO) if they lose in their conference tournament. This game would definitely help their resume.
Seton Hall @ #8 WVU (Noon ESPN) - Huge game for the possibly Hazell-less Pirates. A win against Top 10 WVU in Morgantown would work wonders for their resume.
Florida vs Ole Miss (Noon CBS) - Huge bubble game in the SEC. Loser might be bubble-out come tournament time. Florida is going into the hardest part of their schedule.
St John's vs South Florida (12PM ESPN360) - USF cant afford any more losses. St Johns has 2 players suspended which will help the Bull's case.
Northeastern vs Louisiana Tech (1PM ESPN2) - Northeastern is a fringe bubble team at best.
#22 Baylor vs Oklahoma State (130PM ESPN360) - Both teams are sitting pretty, but Ok State could use the win more.
Georgia Tech vs Maryland (2PM ESPN360) - GT has been slipping, big game for Maryland as well.
Xavier vs Charlotte (2PM) - Charlotte's chances are getting slimmer by the day, they need this win.
Louisville vs Depaul (2PM ESPNU) - Louisville has really righted the ship over the last week+, they cant let another bad loss on their resume.
Illinois vs #4 Purdue (4PM ESPN) - Illinois attempted to notch a huge win on their resume against OSU but got trounced. How about Purdue?
Miss St vs LSU (4PM ESPN360) - Miss State can't lose this game.
UTEP vs Tulsa (4PM) - Tulsa's bubble chances have gone down the toilet, are they going to bring down C-USA leading UTEP with them?
Fordham vs Rhode Island (4PM) - Rhode Island hasn't look good lately, a loss to Fordham would be disastrous.
Rutgers vs UConn (4PM ESPNU360) - Rutgers is playing the best they have all season, look out, UConn.
Virginia vs Clemson (4PM ESPN) - Virginia lost their bubble spot over the last week, Clemson is right on the bubble.
Missouri vs Nebraska (6PM ESPN360) - Missouri needs to get on a little run before they play KState.
Colorado St vs UNLV (6PM) - UNLV went from a lock, to a "watch your back" lately, they need to right the ship.
George Washington vs Richmond (7PM) - Richmond is nearly a lock, time for them to seal the deal.
Houston vs UAB (8PM) - Must win for UAB.
San Diego State vs Utah (9PM) -
Both teams are pretty hot, San Diego State needs the win.
Washington vs UCLA (9PM ESPN) - Washington's bubble chances took a huge hit when they lost to USC, can't afford to lose here.
Wichita State vs Utah State (Midnight ESPN2) - Both teams are bubble-out teams at this point if they don't win the conference tournaments.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Bubble Games Update #4

Last night's results:

Winners:
Louisville - Big 2OT win over Gody-less ND. Samuels had 36.
Seton Hall - Scrappy win in Queens without Hazell for most of the game.
Florida State
Richmond
Memphis
Oklahoma State
Xavier
Maryland
UAB

Losers:
Notre Dame - Eliminated.
Tulsa - Crucial loss to Marshall. Likely eliminated.
Charlotte - Very bad loss for Charlotte's chances against Duquesne.
Northwestern - Loss gave PSU their first conference win. PSU played a very good team game.
Rhode Island - Bad loss to streaking St Louis.
UNLV - Another loss, this time to Utah.

Today:
Vandy vs Ole Miss (7PM ESPNU) - Ole Miss is right on the bubble, need this win.
Pittsburgh vs Marquette (9PM ESPN2) - Another quality win could go a long way for MU.
Auburn vs Florida (7PM ESPN) - Must win game for Florida.
La Salle vs Dayton (7PM) - Dayton cannot afford another loss, they are right on the bubble.
USC vs Washington (1030PM) - Would be a huge overall game if USC was eligible, but its just a huge game for Washington.
St Mary's vs San Diego (11PM ESPN2) - St Mary's at-large chances aren't looking good, must win.

Tomorrow:
Old Dominion vs Northern Iowa (7PM ESPN2) - Huge mid-major game. Does nothing in terms of conference standings (OOC game), but a win really helps the victor's at-large chances if they don't win their respective conference tournaments.
Cornell vs Harvard (7PM) - Harvard can tie Cornell for first in the Ivy with a win (split series). But they lost by 36 the first time around...
William & Mary vs Iona (9PM ESPNU) - William & Mary needs more wins to stay alive, but a win against a game Iona team won't come easy.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Who's IN, and who's OUT? #2

This list does not include current current conference leaders.

Locks:
1- Nova
2- Texas
3- Gtown
4- Kansas State
5- WVU
6- Purdue
7- Tennessee
8- Wisconsin
9- Pitt
10- Vanderbilt
11- Georgia Tech
12- Ohio State
13- BYU
14- Baylor

Now we enter the "Watch your back region":
15- Missouri (18-7) (RPI: 47, SOS: 56)
16- Wake Forest (18-6) (RPI: 12, SOS: 20)
17- Texas A&M (17-7) (RPI: 18, SOS: 6)
18- Xavier (17-7) (RPI: 20, SOS: 19)
19- UNLV (18-6) (RPI: 34, SOS:52)
20- Rhode Island (19-5) (RPI: 22, SOS: 43)

Bubble-IN:
21- Maryland (16-7) (RPI: 42, SOS: 31)
22- Oklahoma State (17-7) (RPI: 38, SOS: 45)
23- Richmond (20-6) (RPI: 27, SOS: 54)
24- Illinois (17-9) (RPI: 68, SOS: 64)
25- Florida State (18-7) (RPI: 43, SOS: 55)
26- Louisville (16-9) (RPI: 30, SOS: 4)
27- Marquette (16-8) (RPI: 59, SOS: 57)
28- UAB (19-5) (RPI:36, SOS: 95)
29- Virginia Tech (21-4) (RPI: 44, SOS: 151)
30- Clemson (18-7) (RPI: 32, SOS: 34)
31- South Florida (16-9) (RPI: 55, SOS: 36)
32- Old Dominion (21-7) (RPI: 40, SOS: 96)
33- Mississippi (17-7) (RPI: 51, SOS: 61)
34- Dayton (17-7) (RPI:35, SOS 35)
--------------------------------------------
Florida (17-8) (RPI: 60, SOS: 58)
Cincy (15-10) (RPI:52, SOS: 13)
St Mary's (21-5) (RPI: 46, SOS: 110)
Mississippi St (18-8) (RPI:63, SOS: 97)
Washington (17-8) (RPI: 53, SOS: 41)
San Diego State (17-7) (RPI: 37, SOS: 72)
UConn (15-11) (RPI: 50, SOS: 1)
Charlotte (18-6) (RPI: 41, SOS: 100)
Seton Hall (14-9) (RPI: 57 , SOS: 18)
Arizona state (18-8) (RPI: 65, SOS: 73)
Northwestern (17-8) (RPI: 74, SOS: 86)
Memphis (18-7) (RPI:58, SOS: 81)
Texas Tech (16-9) (RPI: 39, SOS: 15)
Notre Dame (17-9) (RPI: 79, SOS: 62)
Northeastern (18-9) (RPI: 61, SOS: 92)**
William & Mary (18-7) (RPI: 48, SOS: 91)

Dropped out:
Virginia
South Carolina

New team(s):
William & Mary

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Bubble Games Update #3

My bubble situation will be posted around 1ET tomorrow!

Winners:
UConn - Huge resume win @Nova. They need wins, and big wins.
Maryland - Quality win over Virginia in a make up game.
Virginia Tech - Moving closer and closer to a lock with win over Top 25 Wake Forest.
William & Mary - Nip George Mason by 3. They are likely the second best resume out of the CAA after Old Dominion. Northeastern trails close behind.
USF - Huge win over fellow BE bubble team Cincinnati.
San Diego State - Stay afloat win over TCU.

Losers:
Virginia - Likely eliminated with lost against Maryland.
Texas A&M - Not a bad loss to Kansas, but they could have locked up a bid.
Miss. State - Close loss to Kentucky. Their fans are the real losers.
Texas Tech - THUMPED by Baylor.
Cincinnati
Miss. State Faithful - Throwing water bottles on the court? Harassing Cousins via phone calls and text messages? Disgraceful.

Tomorrow's games:
Notre Dame @ Louisville - Any hope ND has left of making the Dance will vanish with a loss.
Louisiana Tech vs Utah State - LTech has a nice record due to CUPCAKES. Their only good win is against... UTAH STATE.
Seton Hall @ St Johns - SHU desperately needs a road BE win. They have had trouble in Queens under Gonzalez. A win here is essential for their post season chances.
Penn State vs Northwestern - NW can kiss any NCAA post season dreams good bye with a loss against B10 winless PSU. (Go Lions!)

Other misc. bubble games:
Florida State vs Virginia - FSU's stock has been dropping for awhile, but Virginia's is rock bottom. Only one can prevail..
Rhode Island vs Saint Louis - Don't underestimate St Louis. They can play! Just ask Dayton.
Maryland vs NC State - Maryland started off the ACC season HOT. Why stop now?
Xavier vs St Joes - Musketeers have a nice computer resume, but some more wins could help.
Oklahoma State vs Iowa State - Cowboys are pushing towards a LOCK.
Charlotte vs Duquesne - Charlotte needs to rack up the wins.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Bubble Games Update #2

Winners:
Seton Hall - A late game collapse almost cost SHU the game.
Louisville - Huge win over a Top 5 team on the road.
Northwestern - Crucial win over fellow B10 bubble team Minnesota.
Florida State

Losers:
Minnesota - Terrible loss for Minnesota's NCAA chances.
Notre Dame - Ditto. ND will likely lose to Louisville in their next game without Gody.
Illinois - Could have sealed an NCAA bid today, got crushed instead.

Tomorrow's games:
Kansas vs Texas A&M - A&M is relatively safe. This win would propel them to a LOCK position.
UConn vs Villanova - UConn desperately needs this game. Their stock is falling along with ND's
Virginia vs Maryland - Virginia is eliminated with a loss.

Tuesday's games:
Kentucky vs Mississippi State - Miss St really needs this win, they are currently on the outside looking in.
Wake Forest vs Virginia Tech - Wake Forest is looking like a LOCK, but VT has some work to do.
William & Mary vs George Mason - W&M has taken Northeastern's spot for the time being.
Cincinnati vs USF - Big bubble battle in the Big East, lol.
Texas Tech vs Baylor - Baylor is looking good. TTU is the only true B12 bubble team.
San Diego State vs TCU - San Diego State needs to string some wins together and build off the UNLV win.

Next Update: 2/16 (early)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Bubble Games Update #1

Games of February 13th, 2010:

Winners:
Mississippi State
Cincinnati - Big win @UConn
Clemson
Oklahoma State
Richmond
California
Old Dominion
San Diego State - Huge win over Top 25 UNLV
Texas A&M - Pretty much solidifies a big with win over TTU
Arizona State
Xavier - Quality win @Florida
Memphis
Virginia Tech
Washington
Marquette - Big win over fellow bubble team USF
UTEP
Utah State

Losers:
UConn - Critical loss to fellow BE bubble team Cincinnati.
Maryland
Northern Iowa - Bad loss to Bradley. Another bad loss would place them right around the bubble if they weren't to win their conference championship.
South Carolina - Out of contention
Rhode Island
UNLV
Dayton - Bad loss to St Louis
Texas Tech - Crucial loss to A&M. Only true bubble team in the Big 12.
Florida
Northeastern - 1 point loss to William & Mary, who probably take over Northeastern's spot on this list.
UAB
Virginia - Any chance at an at-large are extremely slim.
USF
St Mary's - crushing loss in OT to Portland. At-large chances are pretty much done.

Tomorrow's games:
Depaul @ Seton Hall - Stay afloat game for SHU
Louisville @ Syracuse - Do or die for Louisville.
Ohio State vs Illinois - Illinois all but wraps up an at-large with another big win vs OSU.
Minnesota vs Northwestern - Loser is pretty much eliminated, winner lives to fight another day
Florida State vs Boston College - Stay afloat game for FSU
St Johns vs Notre Dame - ND needs wins, but 'Gody is out. Going to be a tough one for the Irish.


Who's IN, and who's OUT?

As of all games through Feb 12th, 2010:

First, lets list all of the "1 Bid Leagues"
1 Bid Leagues (17) - assuming the current conference leader wins:
American East - Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun - 5 teams tied first first...
Big Sky - Weber State
Big South - Coastal Carolina
Big West - UC Santa Barbara / Pacific
Ivy League - Princeton (very close race, Cornell plays Princeton tonight)
MAAC - Siena
MAC - Kent State
MEAC - Morgan State
Northeast - Robert Morris
OVC - Murray St
Patriot - Lehigh / Navy
Southern - College of Charleston
Southland - Sam Houston State
SAC - Jackson State
Summit - Oakland
Sunbelt - Middle Tennessee

It doesn't really matter who wins all of these leagues so we won't spend much time on them. Some may argue that Cornell and Siena can snag at larges, but they can't. Cornell has beaten no one above RPI 80~ and will have 2 very bad losses if they don't win the Ivy (Penn and whoever else they would have to lose to).

2 of these auto-bid teams would play in the play in game, so essentially these teams take up 16 bids from the 64 bracket. So already we are down to 48 spots.

Now lets factor out the rest of the conference champions (assuming an already at large team wins and another Georgia doesn't happen).

(14)
A10 - Temple
ACC - Duke
B12 - Kansas
BE - Syracuse
B10 - MSU
CAA - Northeastern - This conference is complicated at this point though.
C-USA - UTEP
Horizon - Butler
MVC - Northern Iowa
MWC - New Mexico
P10 - CAL
SEC - Kentucky
WCC - Gonzaga
WAC - Utah State

So assuming all those teams win their conference that is another 14 bids gone. We are down to 34 at large spots. I will divide the remaining teams into pools of categories such as "Locks", "Locks unless a collapse", etc. The number next to each team is just a marker for each NCAA slot, not a seed.

Locks barring a complete collapse:
1- Nova
2- Texas
3- Gtown
4- Kansas State
5- WVU
6- Purdue
7- Tennessee
8- Wisconsin
9- Pitt
10- Vanderbilt
11- Georgia Tech
12- Ohio State
13- BYU
14- Baylor
15- Missouri
16- UNLV

Now we enter the "Watch your back region":
17- Xavier (RPI: 27, SOS: 15)
18- Wake Forest (RPI: 12, SOS: 27)
19- Texas A&M (16-6) (RPI: 19, SOS: 14)
20- Rhode Island (19-4) (RPI: 21, SOS: 54)
21- Maryland (15-6) (RPI: 39, SOS: 41)

Bubble-IN:
22- Oklahoma State (16-7) (RPI: 37, SOS: 40)
23- Richmond (19-6) (RPI: 26, SOS: 48)
24- Clemson (17-7) (RPI: 35, SOS: 31)
25- Florida State (17-7) (RPI: 39, SOS: 49)
26- Dayton (17-6) (RPI:32, SOS 33)
27- Marquette (15-8) (RPI: 66, SOS: 54)
28- Florida (17-7) (RPI: 52, SOS: 63)
29- Mississippi (17-7) (RPI: 45, SOS: 56)
30- Virginia Tech (19-4) (RPI: 54, SOS: 175)
31- Illinois (17-8) (RPI: 63, SOS: 70)
32- Old Dominion (19-7) (RPI: 36, SOS: 76)
33- St Mary's (21-4) (RPI: 43, SOS: 115)
34- Cincy (14-9) (RPI:55, SOS: 17)
--------------------------------------------
South Florida (15-8) (RPI: 50, SOS: 35)
Charlotte (18-6) (RPI: 42, SOS: 105)
Louisville (15-9) (RPI: 46, SOS: 6)
Minnesota (14-9) (RPI: 77, SOS: 52)
Mississippi St (17-7) (RPI:65, SOS: 110)
Notre Dame (17-8) (RPI: 67, SOS: 58)
Arizona state (17-8) (RPI: 74, SOS: 81)
UConn (14-10) (RPI: 51, SOS: 2)
Northwestern (16-8) (RPI: 78, SOS: 88)
Washington (16-8) (RPI: 58, SOS: 32)
Texas Tech (16-7) (RPI: 30, SOS: 21)
Northeastern (17-8) (RPI: 60, SOS: 75)**
San Diego State (15-7) (RPI: 44, SOS: 72)
Memphis (17-7) (RPI:71, SOS: 90)
south carolina: (14-9) (RPI: 64, SOS: 25)
Seton Hall (13-9) (RPI: 57 , SOS: 7)
UAB (19-4) (RPI:31, SOS: 92)

** - Had to include both Old Dom and Northeastern from the CAA since there isn't a clear favorite in that league for the auto-bid. However, Old Dominion would most likely be IN at this point, and Northeastern OUT if both were at-larges right now. But come conference tournament time, if Old Dominion was to lose against a bad team, they could be out.

Some teams to look at if they make a run:
Virginia
Arizona
VCU
George Mason
William & Mary

Red teams signify they are dropping in value. Green teams signify the opposite; their value is rising.

Note: Exact rankings are not completely correct yet. Ex: team A in slot 24 is not necessarily in a better bubble position than team B in slot 25. The accuracy to that nature will increase as we approach Selection Sunday. Teams that are "on the bubble" will be more accurately ranked. Teams that are currently "out" are also not perfectly ranked either.

I am happy to take criticism, arguments, and comments. I will respond to them as frequently and accurately as I can.

Note#2: These rankings are slightly different than my rankings @ PSUHoops (http://pennstatehoops.com/talk/index.php?topic=750.45). From now on, the rankings will be identical.

Welcome to my blog!

Self titled "The Bracket Man", I'm here to provide my followers and fans with complete, extensive, and up to date NCAA Mens Basketball Bubble and NCAA Tournament information.

A little about myself:

Name: Chris
Age:19
Hometown: Scotch Plains/NJ
Favorite team(s): Seton Hall and Penn State
Other team(s): NJ Devils, Penn State Football
Email: spfsoccer@gmail.com
Other forms of contact: www.pennstatehoops.com/talk - Member name:noobd , www.nj.com/forums/setonhall - Member name:spfsoccer17

Hopefully you like what I provide here and continue to follow my blog!