Crystal Basketball

NCAA Tournament Crystal Ball

by Dan Hauptman and Michael Protos

March 9, 2006

We’re quickly approaching Selection Sunday, but the Crystal Basketball continues to produce inconsistent revelations for Dan Hauptman and Michael Protos. They didn’t notice many major changes in the past few days, largely because conference favorites like Gonzaga have been winning their conference tournaments, albeit by the narrowest of margins in some cases. In this case, no news is good news for several bubble teams.

And when talking bubbles, there’s no better place to start than the Big East. Wednesday’s action produced chaos as Syracuse beat Cincinnati for the second time in three tries this season, and Seton Hall lost badly to Rutgers. Entering the Big East Tournament, Syracuse was considered the odd team out with Cincinnati and Seton Hall entrenched in the No. 9-11 seed range.

The Orange’s win against the Bearcats changes nothing as predicted by Hauptman and Protos, who continue to place Syracuse on the outside of the field. But they agree that a quarterfinal win against Connecticut would propel Syracuse into the NCAA Tournament, likely at the expense of a team like George Mason, Hofstra or Seton Hall. In fact, Hauptman already believes George Mason will miss the tournament, while Protos sees the Colonials as one of the last teams to make the cut.

As the major conferences continue their tournaments, the Crystal Basketball will reveal daily changes to the bubble. And with more top teams in action, they will all continue to jockey for higher seeds. Check out the current position of your favorite team, as foreseen by Hauptman and Protos.

Hauptman’s Hoops Horoscope	Protos’ Prognostications
Connecticut Villanova Duke Memphis	Connecticut Villanova Duke Memphis
Texas Gonzaga* Ohio State George Washington	Texas Ohio State Illinois North Carolina
Illinois Tennessee North Carolina UCLA	Gonzaga* LSU UCLA George Washington
Iowa LSU Pittsburgh Kansas	Tennessee Iowa Pittsburgh Boston College
Florida West Virginia Boston College Oklahoma	Kansas Washington Florida West Virginia
Wichita State Washington Nevada Michigan State	Marquette Oklahoma Nevada Michigan State
Arizona North Carolina State Wisconsin Georgetown	Arkansas Wichita State Wisconsin Georgetown
Kentucky Marquette Southern Illinois* Missouri State	Kentucky Southern Illinois* North Carolina State Bucknell
UAB Bucknell Wisconsin-Milwaukee* Northern Iowa	Northern Iowa Arizona UAB Cincinnati
Bradley Cincinnati Alabama Texas A&M	Seton Hall Alabama Indiana UNC-Wilmington*
Air Force California Arkansas UNC-Wilmington*	Michigan Bradley California George Mason
Florida State Indiana Michigan Hofstra	Texas A&M Hofstra San Diego State Wisconsin-Milwaukee*
Seton Hall Kent State Murray State* South Alabama*	Iona* Missouri State South Alabama* Northwestern State
Iona* Penn* Montana* Winthrop*	Murray State* Montana* Winthrop* Kent State
Northwestern State Oral Roberts* Albany Pacific	Pacific Penn* Davidson* Albany
Davidson* Monmouth* Belmont* Delaware State Southern	Delaware State Oral Roberts* Belmont* Southern Monmouth*
Bubble Trouble: George Mason Syracuse Colorado Creighton	Bubble Trouble: Creighton Florida State Syracuse Air Force
Bubble Bursting: Maryland San Diego State Houston UTEP	Bubble Bursting: Utah State Colorado Brigham Young Maryland
Conference Breakdown: Big East: 8 Big Ten: 7 SEC: 6 ACC: 5 Missouri Valley: 5 Big 12: 4 Pac-10: 4 Conference USA: 2 Colonial: 2 22 one-bid conferences	Conference Breakdown: Big East: 8 Big Ten: 7 SEC: 6 Missouri Valley: 5 ACC: 4 Big 12: 4 Pac-10: 4 Colonial: 3 Conference USA: 2 22 one-bid conferences

Whose field looks more accurate to you? Or are both Hauptman and Protos off target? E-mail comments on the Crystal Basketball or give us your NCAA Tournament prognostications. Then check back throughout this final week, as Hauptman’s and Protos’ visions for the Big Dance become clearer and clearer as the days until Selection Sunday count down. The calendar reads March. Madness ensues.

* – denotes won conference’s automatic bid