With several bubbles near bursting, fans from coast to coast just want some more wins in the final nine days before Selection Sunday. Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Huskies, Illini, Gators and Bearcats are sweating their teams’ fading profiles.
While some fans nervously await their conference tournaments, other fans will celebrate their invitation to the Big Dance when the Atlantic Sun, Big South, Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley conferences crown a 2010 champion. We have a great weekend of basketball ahead, with teams like Purdue, Duke and Kansas State slugging it out against other opponents while competing with one another for the final No. 1 seed. The urgency of bubble teams from the Big East and SEC will come close to matching the pure joy felt by several newly crowned conference champions.
In Version 5.0 of the Mock Tournament, I take the predictions a step further by assigning first-round match ups. In creating match ups, I occasionally deviate from the 1-65 rankings. For example, in the interest of putting Utah State closer to home, I bumped the Aggies from a No. 10 seed to No. 11 seed. Rhode Island benefited by moving up to a No. 10 seed even though the Rams are one of the last few teams to make the tournament.
Perhaps most controversial, I have nine Big East teams in the field with the inclusion of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish’s late surge is undeniably impressive. However, many readers — especially those Gator fans — might protest leaving Connecticut in the field given that the Huskies lost at Notre Dame Monday and now have 13 losses. Within a week, the Huskies might be out of the field. But as of March 5, they’re in thanks to marquee wins against West Virginia and at Villanova. However, Connecticut would be wise to avoid losing at South Florida Saturday. It would be the Huskies’ 14th loss, and unless they win the Big East Tournament, they would enter Selection Sunday with 15 losses. No team has received an at-large invitation with 15 losses.
Let’s get to the brackets. Compare this field to previous Mock Tournaments, and leave a comment to share your thoughts about the projected field.
Midwest(St. Louis)
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(1) Kansas vs. (16) North Texas (Oklahoma City)
(8) UNLV vs. (9) Saint Mary’s (Oklahoma City) (4) Temple vs. (13) Weber State (Spokane) (5) Maryland vs. (12) California (Spokane) (2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) (Buffalo) (7) Wake Forest vs. (10) Rhode Island (Buffalo) (3) Ohio State vs. (14) Wofford (Jacksonville) (6) Xavier vs. (11) Connecticut (Jacksonville) |
South(Houston)
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(1) Duke vs. (16) Coastal Carolina (Jacksonville)
(8) Gonzaga vs. (9) Marquette (Jacksonville) (4) Tennessee vs. (13) Cornell (New Orleans) (5) Baylor vs. (12) Notre Dame (New Orleans) (2) Kansas State vs. (15) Sam Houston State (Oklahoma City) (7) BYU vs. (10) UAB (Oklahoma City) (3) West Virginia vs. (14) Oakland (Providence) (6) Michigan State vs. (11) Virginia Tech (Providence) |
West(Salt Lake City) |
(1) Syracuse vs. (16) Lehigh/Jackson State (Buffalo)
(8) Old Dominion vs. (9) Northern Iowa (Buffalo) (4) Texas A&M vs. (13) Kent State (San Jose) (5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) UTEP (San Jose) (2) Purdue vs. (15) Murray State (Milwaukee) (7) Butler vs. (10) Georgia Tech (Milwaukee) (3) New Mexico vs. (14) Santa Barbara (San Jose) (6) Texas vs. (11) Utah State (San Jose) |
East(Syracuse) |
(1) Kentucky vs. (16) Robert Morris (Milwaukee)
(8) Missouri vs. (9) Louisville (Milwaukee) (4) Georgetown vs. (13) Siena (Spokane) (5) Oklahoma State vs. (12) Illinois (Spokane) (2) Villanova vs. (15) Stony Brook (Providence) (7) Clemson vs. (10) Dayton (Providence) (3) Wisconsin vs. (14) Jacksonville (New Orleans) (6) Richmond vs. (11) Florida State (New Orleans) |
Last Eight In: |
Dayton
UAB Connecticut Florida State Rhode Island Illinois Notre Dame |
First Eight Out:
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Florida
UTEP (if needed) South Florida Cincinnati Mississippi Seton Hall San Diego State Washington |
Conference
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Big East: 9
ACC: 7 Big 12: 7 Atlantic 10: 5 Big Ten: 5 SEC: 3 Mountain West: 3 Conference USA: 2 West Coast: 2 22 one-bid conferences |
