Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Bracket Breakdown

This is the first in-season Field of 65 so far this season; it reflects all games played in the 2007 portion of the season. This is not what I think the bracket will look like come March; it is what I think it would look like if the season ended today. Beginning in February, March Madness All Season will release a projected bracket (with seeds and matchups) every week. For some of the smaller conferences that didn't have league games yet and no particular team has stood out from the pack yet, the teams with the best RPIs get the bid.

ACC (8): North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Miami (Fl.), Florida State, Virginia, Boston College, North Carolina State
Atlantic-10 (4): Dayton, Xavier, Rhode Island, Massachusetts
Big East (7): Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, Providence

Big Ten (4): Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State
Big 12 (5): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor
Colonial (2): George Mason, VCU

Horizon (2): Butler, Wright State
Missouri Valley (2): Drake, Illinois State
Pac-10 (6): Washington State, UCLA, Arizona, Stanford, USC, California
SEC (3): Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi
West Coast (2): Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga


One-Bid Conferences (20):
America East: Maryland-Baltimore County
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State
Big Sky: Montana

Big South: Winthrop
Big West: UC Santa Barbara
Conference-USA: Memphis

Ivy: Cornell
MAAC: Siena
MAC: Kent State
MEAC: Hampton
Mountain West: UNLV

Northeast: Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Patriot: Holy Cross
Southern: Georgia Southern

Southland: Sam Houston State
Summit: Oral Roberts

Sun Belt: South Alabama
SWAC: Southern
WAC: Nevada

Last Four In: Wright State, VCU, North Carolina State, Illinois State
Last Four Out: Connecticut, Houston, Creighton, Oregon
Last Four Out: Arkansas, Alabama, Washington, Kansas State

8 comments:

  1. I don't see how you can take Florida State, Providence, George Mason, VCU (whoever isn't the auto bid from the CAA), Wright State, or Illinois State over a teams like Connecticut, New Mexico, or Florida.

    Other than that I generally agree.

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  2. Connecticut: Zero top-100 wins.

    New Mexico: Terrible NC SOS, best win is over Texas Tech (honestly though, the MWC and WAC aren't getting two bids this year)

    Florida: RPI of 123, 10 wins against sub-100, lost to Florida State (why would UF get in over FSU?), terrible SOS

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  3. George Mason just lost to Georgia State, that should knock them out of your next update for sure.

    You can make a case for FSU but I really don't think they're a good team.

    Good points on UConn and New Mexico, but I feel they're better than the teams I mentioned. I agree with you about the MWC and WAC. I'm not even a UConn fan but I think they're decent. Middle of the pack Big East, along with a host of others.

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  4. Haha, I'm the opposite -- I'm a HUGE UConn fan; the Huskies are my favorite team in the country.

    However, I show no bias on this site and right now, they wouldn't have the resume to make the Tournament.

    Do I think they're one of the 65 best teams in the country? Yes. Are they better than Providence, Wright State, Illinois State, etc.? Yes.

    But I can't prove that just yet.

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  5. You don't show any bias, that's for sure. I'm a Seton Hall fan by the way, looking forward to the game tomorrow night. A big game for both teams. I think the Huskies will win, 83-80. I like our chances at home with a big crowd but I think we're a little too small and inexperienced at this point. Nice job with the Mike Davis article a while back on the SH rivals site.

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  6. More than three teams will certainly make it out of the SEC. Here would be my choices as of now...

    Tennessee (2 seed)
    Vanderbilt (4 seed)
    Ole Miss (6 seed)
    Arkansas (8 seed)
    Miss. State (9 seed)
    Florida (9 seed)

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  7. Yes, more than three teams will make it out of the SEC, of course.

    However, to say Mississippi State would make it right now is absolutely absurd.

    I guess you could make a case for Florida if you like teams that strictly beat cupcakes.

    Arkansas was one of my last few out; the Razorbacks' inconsistency makes it tough to figure them out.

    Florida needs to start beating good teams; Arkansas needs to develop consistency; Miss. St. needs a very good showing in SEC play and also needs to pick up wins against the top teams of the conference.

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  8. Out of the SEC, I see Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and possibly Arkansas right now.

    I know Vandy is undefeated, but they haven't exactly beaten any world beaters. Their best wins are Wake, Ga Tech, @ Bradley, and @ DePaul. None of those teams are particularly good this year. I think they're a bit overrated in the polls. A good test for them will be the UMass game on Saturday.

    Florida falls into the same category, they haven't beaten anyone either, though I still think they're good enough for a bid.

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