Filling Out the Bracket
By Adam Kiefaber
Selection Sunday is a month away.
Mainstream sites like ESPN.com and CBS (sportsline.com) started to predict the NCAA Tournament field way before the season was tipped off in November.
Personally, I thought that was an incredible waste of time.
So, two weeks ago I attempted to make my predicitions of what the NCAA Tournament bracket would look like come March 16th (Selection Sunday).
Today, I realized that was a complete waste of time (my last version of “Filling Out the Bracket”).
This is my latest edition of my fearless picks and like the one I already did, two weeks ago, I will be throwing this one away in about a week.
By Seed:
No. 1 seeds: Duke, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA
No. 2 seeds: North Carolina, Georgetown, Stanford, Tennessee
No. 3 seeds: Xavier, Texas, Purdue, Indiana
No. 4 seeds: Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Butler
No. 5 seeds: Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan State, Drake
No. 6 seeds: Connecticut, Washington St., St. Mary’s, Arkansas
No. 7 seeds: Maryland, Pittsburgh, BYU, Davidson
No. 8 seeds: Rhode Island, Marquette, UNLV, USC
No. 9 seeds: Clemson, Baylor, Mississippi St., Florida
No. 10 seeds: UNC-Ashville, Ohio State, Houston, Vanderbilt
No. 11 seeds: VCU, Arizona, Arizona St., Mississippi
No. 12 seeds: Kent St., St. Joesph’s,, New Mexico, Gonzaga
No. 13 seeds: Oral Roberts, Western Kentucky, Utah State, South Alabama
No. 14 seeds: Rider, Austin Peay, Stephen F. Austin, Boise St.
No. 15 seeds: Pacific, Cornell, Morgan St., Belmont
No. 16 seeds: UMBC, Sacred Heart, American, Alabama St., Portland St.
Note there are five No. 16 seeds because of the play-in game.
By Conference:
Duke (#1 seed)
North Carolina (#2 seed)
Maryland (#7 seed)
Clemson (#9 seed)
Boston College is out, Maryland is in, Virginia is eliminated and every other team is still alive.
America East (1)
Maryland Baltimore County (#16 seed)
UMBC remains the team to beat. Vermont could make a run in the conference tournament.
Xavier (#3 seed)
Rhode Island (#8 seed)
Saint Joseph’s (#12 seed)
It is common thought that the Atlantic 10 will get four bids to the NCAA tournament. Charlotte, Duquesne, Dayton and Massachusetts are right on the verge of being in the tournament.
Atlantic Sun
Belmont (#15 seed)
Belmont is having a great season, but the Atlantic Sun could be a tough conference tournament to win. Watch out for East Tennessee St.
Kansas (#1 seed)
Texas (#3 seed)
Texas A&M (#4 seed)
Kansas State (#5 seed)
Baylor (#9 seed)
Nebraska and Oklahoma still could make it if the teams close out well.
Georgetown (#2 seed)
Notre Dame (#4 seed)
Louisville (#5 seed)
Connecticut (#6 seed)
Pittsburgh (#7 seed)
Marquette (#8 seed)
Two weeks ago, I had eight teams getting in from this conference. Syracuse, West Virginia, Seton Hall and Villanova are on the verge of getting in.
BIG SKY (1)
Portland St. (#16 seed)
Weber St. and Northern Arizona look to be the other favorites.
BIG SOUTH (1)
UNC-Asheville (#10 seed)
UNC-Asheville looks like a lock right now. Winthrop could make a run in the conference tournament.
Purdue (#3 seed)
Indiana (#3 seed)
Wisconsin (#4 seed)
Michigan State (#5 seed)
Ohio State (#10 seed)
Purdue moved up from an #11 seed to a #3. Currently the Boilermakers are winning the Big Ten. Minnesota has an outside shot, but this league is top heavy.
BIG WEST (1)
Pacific (#15 seed)
CSU Northridge and Cal State Fullerton are the other favorites to win the conference.
Colonial (1)
VCU (#11 seed)
George Mason remains a strong contender. It is possible this conference could end up with two bids.
Memphis (#1 seed)
Houston (#10 seed)
UAB, Tulane and UTEP could make the tournament with strong finishes this season.
Horizon League (1)
Butler (#4 seed)
Watch out for Wright State. The Raiders seem to have Butler’s number and is in second place. Cleveland St. has cooled off, but remains a contender.
IVY League (1)
Cornell (#15 seed)
Cornell is unbeaten in conference play. Brown is the only other team with a winning record.
MAAC (1)
Rider (#14 seed)
The MAAC is strong this year. It looks like it will come down to Rider, Siena and Niagara.
Kent St. (#12 seed)
The MAC could get two bids, but were snubbed last year. Ohio and Akron seem to be the other favorites. Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan will be tough outs come conference tournament time.
Drake (#5 seed)
Illinois State and Creighton could be in the mix. The MVC could get two bids.
MEAC (1)
Morgan State (#15 seed)
Hampton, Norfolk St., N.C. A&T and Delaware St. could win this conference tournament.
Brigham Young (#7 seed)
UNLV (#8 seed)
New Mexico (#12 seed)
San Diego St. would feel robbed under this scenario. A talented Utah team is starting to make its push.
Northeast (1)
Sacred Heart (#16 seed)
Robert Morris, Wagner and Quinnipiac look like the other favorites to win this conference.
Ohio Valley (1)
Austin Peay (#14 seed)
Murray State is the other favorite. The darkhorse here is Eastern Kentucky, which is on a five-game winning streak.
UCLA (#1 seed)
Stanford (#2 seed)
Washington State (#6 seed)
USC (#8 seed)
Arizona St. (#11 seed)
Arizona (#11 seed)
The PAC-10 is by far the toughest conference. California, Oregon and Washington are still in this race.
Patriot League (1)
American (#16 seed)
Lafayette is the only other team with a winning record.
Tennessee (#2 seed)
Arkansas (#6 seed)
Florida (#9 seed)
Mississippi St. (#9 seed)
Vanderbilt (#10 seed)
Mississippi (#11 seed)
Kentucky is finally starting to play like an NCAA tournament team. UK could sneak in and will be dangerous if it gets in.
Southern (1)
Davidson (#7 seed)
Two weeks ago, I said that Davidson was a lock. On a school blog, it was said that I could leave my keys (correction - it was my wallet) in my car if I ever visited the campus. So, I have to reward one of my new favorite teams with a #7 seed (sorry - I did the best I could). At 15-0 in the conference, Davidson is definitely a LOCK.
Southland (1)
Stephen F. Austin (#14 seed)
This should be an entertaining finish. Sam Houston is 18-4 (6-3 in conference). Lamar and UT-Arlington could surprise teams come conference tournament time.
Summit League (1)
Oral Roberts (#13 seed)
Watch out for IUPUI.
Sun Belt (2)
South Alabama (#13 seed)
Western Kentucky (#13 seed)
Both teams deserve bids. I wish I could give them better seeds, I feel sorry for that #4 seed that has to play WKU.
SWAC (1)
Alabama St. (#16 seed)
Ark.-Pine Bluff, Miss. Val. St., Southern and Jackson St. are all in this race.
Utah St. (#13 seed)
Boise St. (#14 seed)
Nevada and New Mexico St. are in this race. Both teams have the talent to win the conference tournament.
St. Mary’s (#6 seed)
Gonzaga (#12 seed)
Both teams are locks, making it nearly impossible for another WCC to get into any post season tournament.
Links are to CBR’s historical pages, which is a work in progress - if there isn’t a link to a team than the historical page has not been created yet. Eventually you will see the teams with links increase.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Could not agee with you more..
February 12th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Oh come on — Gonzaga a 12!? They’ve beaten UConn, St. Joes, and W. Ky, and of their six losses, four are to top-20 teams (Memphis, Tennessee, WSU, & St. Mary’s) — and the other two (to Okla & Texas Tech) aren’t horrible. They should be a 6 or 7, and the lowest.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
>They should be a 6 or 7, and the lowest.
Oops. That was supposed to be:
They should be a 6 or 7, at the lowest.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Jim, you are right. Gonzaga should be given a better seed. Two weeks ago, I had the Bulldogs at a #7 seed. I thought they didn’t deserve that seeding this time around. Look at the wins against UCONN and St. Joesph’s - both of those teams struggled at the start of the season and are in tournament because of their within their own conference. No other bracket projection has WKU (or two Sun Belt teams) in it. Many don’t have St. Joes (or at least I don’t think). UCONN is a lot better now and Gonzaga has lost every other game when they played an average team (expect for VTECH) - winning a bunch games in the WCC shouldn’t give you a great seed. However, since we talking about Gonzaga (one NCAA Tournament’s favorite teams) I bet they will get a solid seed.
Let’s agree to disagree.
While I agree they shouldn’t be a #12, I don’t agree that they should be given a #6 or #7 at the lowest.
Let’s say, right now, it’s a #10 seed -
I feel whoever wins the WCC tournament - St. Mary’s or Gonzaga will get a good seed, while the other will get the shaft.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I mean last time I had given Gonzaga a No. 6 seed
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