Crystal Basketball

NCAA Tournament Crystal Ball

March 12, 2006

The clock is nearing midnight for us and the NCAA Tournament selection committee, and the ticking hands will shortly reach 12 for the undeserving bubble schools.

Usually a quiet day for bubble teams with mostly top conference teams in play, the last day of championship week will have plenty of drama because South Carolina could win the SEC championship and an automatic bid. That scenario would pop the bubble of either Florida State or George Mason, according to Dan Hauptman and Michael Protos.

Here are some questions to ponder until 6 p.m.:

With Villanova’s Allan Ray possibly out for a round or two, will the selection committee drop the Wildcats from a No. 1 seed?

Will Texas or Ohio State grab a No. 1 seed if they win their conference championships?

If selection committee members consider suspensions as heavily as they do injuries, is George Mason toast with its second-leading scorer out for the first NCAA Tournament game?

Can Syracuse go from bubble trouble to a No. 6 seed or higher?

Here are the full results of the most recent Crystal Basketball projections. Teams with a star next to their name have clinched an automatic bid via a conference title.

Hauptman’s Hoops Horoscope	Protos’ Prognostications
Duke Connecticut Memphis* Villanova	Connecticut Duke Memphis* Villanova
Texas Ohio State Gonzaga* UCLA*	Texas Ohio State Gonzaga* UCLA*
North Carolina Pittsburgh Boston College Florida	North Carolina Pittsburgh Florida LSU
LSU Illinois Iowa Kansas	Iowa Illinois Boston College Kansas
Tennessee George Washington West Virginia Michigan State	Tennessee George Washington Michigan State West Virginia
Nevada* Oklahoma Syracuse* Washington	Nevada* Oklahoma Washington Syracuse*
Wichita State Arizona Georgetown Southern Illinois*	Wichita State Georgetown Southern Illinois* Kentucky
Kentucky Wisconsin Marquette UAB	Marquette Wisconsin Arkansas UAB
North Carolina State Missouri State San Diego State* Northern Iowa	Bucknell* Arizona Northern Iowa Indiana
Indiana Bucknell* Texas A&M UNC-Wilmington*	San Diego State* California Cincinnati UNC-Wilmington*
Wisconsin-Milwaukee* California Xavier* Arkansas	Texas A&M North Carolina State Bradley Wisconsin-Milwaukee*
Bradley Cincinnati Alabama Kent State*	Alabama Hofstra Missouri State George Mason
Hofstra Florida State Murray State* South Alabama*	Kent State* South Alabama* Xavier* Iona*
Iona* Penn* Montana* Winthrop*	Northwestern State Murray State* Montana* Winthrop*
Albany* Northwestern State Oral Roberts* Pacific*	Pacific* Penn* Davidson* Albany*
Davidson* Monmouth* Belmont* Southern* Hampton*	Oral Roberts* Belmont* Monmouth* Southern* Hampton*
Bubble Trouble: Seton Hall Michigan George Mason Maryland	Bubble Trouble: Seton Hall Florida State Michigan Creighton
Bubble Bursting: Colorado Creighton Air Force Houston	Bubble Bursting: Maryland Utah State Colorado Houston
Conference Breakdown: Big East: 8 Big Ten: 6 SEC: 6 ACC: 5 Missouri Valley: 5 Big 12: 4 Pac-10: 4 Atlantic 10: 2 Conference USA: 2 Colonial: 2 21 one-bid conferences	Conference Breakdown: Big East: 8 Big Ten: 6 SEC: 6 Missouri Valley: 5 ACC: 4 Big 12: 4 Pac-10: 4 Colonial: 3 Atlantic 10: 2 Conference USA: 2 21 one-bid conferences