| Conference | Automatic Bids |
| ACC | UNC |
| America East | Vermont |
| Atlantic Sun | E. Tennessee St. |
| Atlantic 10 | Dayton |
| Big East | Connecticut |
| Big Sky | Weber State |
| Big South | VMI |
| Big Ten | Michigan State |
| Big 12 | Oklahoma |
| Big West | Long Beach State |
| Colonial | VCU |
| Conference USA | Memphis |
| Horizon | Butler |
| Ivy | Cornell |
| MAC | Buffalo |
| MAAC | Siena |
| MEAC | Morgan State |
| Missouri Valley | Northern Iowa |
| Mountain West | Utah |
| Northeast | Robert Morris |
| Ohio Valley | Austin Peay |
| Pac 10 | UCLA |
| Patriot | American |
| SEC | LSU |
| Southern | Davidson |
| Southland | Texas A&M-C.C. |
| Summit | North Dakota State |
| SWAC | Alabama State |
| Sun Belt | Western Kentucky |
| West Coast | Gonzaga |
| WAC | Utah State |
And now the 34 at-large teams (according to my rankings):
| Conference | At-Large |
| ACC | Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Boston College |
| America East | |
| Atlantic Sun | |
| Atlantic 10 | Xavier |
| Big East | Pitt, Villanova, Louisville, Marquette, West Virginia, Syracuse, Georgetown |
| Big Sky | |
| Big South | |
| Big Ten | Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, Minnesota |
| Big 12 | Missouri, Kansas, Texas |
| Big West | |
| Colonial | George Mason |
| Conference USA | |
| Horizon | |
| Ivy | |
| MAC | |
| MAAC | |
| MEAC | |
| Missouri Valley | Illinois State |
| Mountain West | UNLV, San Diego State, BYU |
| Northeast | |
| Ohio Valley | |
| Pac 10 | Arizona State, Washington, Stanford, Cal |
| Patriot | |
| SEC | Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee |
| Southern | |
| Southland | |
| Summit | |
| SWAC | |
| Sun Belt | |
| West Coast | St. Mary's |
| WAC |
Last 8 Teams IN:
Syracuse, South Carolina, George Mason, Georgetown, Boston College, Illinois State, Tennessee, BYU
Last 8 Teams OUT:
Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami (FL), Kentucky, WI-Green Bay, Baylor
------------
Now, a lot will change over the next few weeks, so here is a look at previously unmentioned teams capable at making a tournament run...
- Creighton (20-6, 10-4, RPI: 60) This team is one of the hottest in the country and have a long tournament history out of the Missouri Valley.
- Cleveland State (18-8, 9-5, RPI: 86) A big early season win AT Syracuse, plus a deep run in their conference tourney could give the Horizon Conference a rare at-large bid.
- Arizona (17-8, 7-5, RPI: 53) Five big wins over San Diego State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Washington, and just recently UCLA, should provide a convincing argument to make the NCAA tourney.
- UAB (16-8, 6-3, RPI: 32) Buried beneath the discussion of Memphis' 51-game Conference-USA winning streak is a very respectable UAB team. Their only key win is against Arizona, but they have had a tough schedule which should make them tournament ready if selected.
- USC (15-8, 6-5, RPI: 42) Inconsistent...yes. Underachieving...yes. However, this team has high potential and can match up against anyone. USC, not Arkansas, almost handed Oklahoma their first loss of the season. They lost that game 73-72. A few head-scratching losses makes you wonder if that was a fluke or if they can be much better than they are.
RPI Rankings used from RPIRatings.com and are valid for games played through Feb. 9th. I highly recommend visiting this website due to their impressive accuracy through the years. Definitely one of my favorite college basketball websites.
No comments:
Post a Comment