Unless Minnesota gets annihilated in the Big Ten final, I think this will stand as my final say on the matter.
This is, unquestionably, the most difficult time I've ever had differentiating between the teams occupying the final slots and those shuffled off to the NIT.
As a result, it wouldn't shock me if this turned out to be a 62-for-65 effort, maybe even worse than that. It's more guesswork than ever.
UTEP isn't particularly accomplished. But Virginia Tech (terrible nonconference schedule), Mississippi State (plethora of bad losses) and Illinois (sub-.500 record vs. top 200) have holes that are hard to ignore. William and Mary has three 200+ losses. The flaws get even worse and more apparent the further down you go.
Absolutely no one --- no one --- has a gripe this year. I feel good about the top 29 on the at-large board --- the No. 10 seeds and above in this projection. But any of the last five at-larges missing the field wouldn't be a surprise.
Less than three hours before we have the full field. Looking forward to have the real complement of teams rather than being forced to continue sifting through shoddy resumes for much longer.
Here it goes, for what is likely to be the final time this season:
MIDWEST REGION
Oklahoma City
(1) BIG 12/Kansas vs. (16) PATRIOT/Lehigh
(8) Florida State vs. (9) Louisville
Spokane, Wash.
(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) WAC/New Mexico State
(5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) IVY/Cornell
San Jose, Calif.
(3) New Mexico vs. (14) MID-AMERICAN/Ohio
(6) Texas vs. (11) Florida
Providence, R.I.
(2) Georgetown vs. (15) MEAC/Morgan State
(7) Georgia Tech vs. (10) WCC/Saint Mary's
EAST REGION
Milwaukee
(1) SEC/Kentucky vs. (16) SWAC/Arkansas-Pine Bluff-BIG SOUTH/Winthrop
(8) Marquette vs. (9) MISSOURI VALLEY/Northern Iowa
Spokane, Wash.
(4) Purdue vs. (13) OHIO VALLEY/Murray State
(5) Maryland vs. (12) METRO ATLANTIC/Siena
Providence, R.I.
(3) Villanova vs. (14) CONFERENCE USA/Houston
(6) Brigham Young vs. (11) Minnesota
Oklahoma City
(2) Kansas State vs. (15) BIG WEST/UC Santa Barbara
(7) Xavier vs. (10) PAC-10/Washington
SOUTH REGION
Buffalo, N.Y.
(1) Syracuse vs. (16) ATLANTIC SUN/East Tennessee State
(8) Clemson vs. (9) MOUNTAIN WEST/San Diego State
San Jose, Calif.
(4) Tennessee vs. (13) SUMMIT/Oakland
(5) Texas A&M vs. (12) Utah State
Jacksonville, Fla.
(3) Pittsburgh vs. (14) BIG SKY/Montana
(6) Richmond vs. (11) California
Milwaukee
(2) BIG TEN/Ohio State vs. (15) SUN BELT/North Texas
(7) Oklahoma State vs. (10) Wake Forest
WEST REGION
Buffalo, N.Y.
(1) BIG EAST/West Virginia vs. (16) NORTHEAST/Robert Morris
(8) Gonzaga vs. (9) Missouri
New Orleans
(4) ATLANTIC 10/Temple vs. (13) SOUTHERN/Wofford
(5) HORIZON/Butler vs. (12) Texas-El Paso
New Orleans
(3) Baylor vs. (14) SOUTHLAND/Sam Houston
(6) Michigan State vs. (11) COLONIAL/Old Dominion
Jacksonville, Fla.
(2) ACC/Duke vs. (15) AMERICA EAST/Vermont
(7) Notre Dame vs. (10) UNLV
Last four in: UTEP, Minnesota, Utah State, Florida
Last four out: Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, Illinois, William and Mary
Next four out: Rhode Island, Seton Hall, Mississippi, Arizona State
Moving in: Minnesota, UTEP
Moving out: Illinois, Virginia Tech
Conference call: Big East (8), Big 12 (7), ACC (6), Big Ten (5), Mountain West (4), Southeastern (4), Atlantic 10 (3), Conference USA (2), Pac-10 (2), West Coast (2), Western Athletic (2)
Take a bow, sir...
Posted by: Eddie T | 03/14/2010 at 06:40 PM