bukie

Also of note is our bracket differs from Lunardi's by 2 teams: He has Seton Hall and Florida State in, with Missouri State and Hofstra out. Stewart Mandel has Seton Hall and Creighton in, with George Mason and Hofstra out. Gregg Doyel has Seton Hall in, and Missouri State out. Tony Mejia has Seton Hall in, and Cincy out. Jerry Palm has Houston and Creighton in, with George Mason and Hofstra out. I believe Digger has Maryland, Florida State, Wake Forest, Miami, and Seton Hall in, forfeiting all MVC and CAA bids.

Yeah, BC and MSU were really close, and I wouldn't be surprised at all in the real rankings if BC were a 4 and MSU a 5. I pretty much agree with the rankings of everything else. Incidentally, our lowest at-large teams are Cal and Alabama.

Well, of the entries we have, here is a preliminary seeding (not going to have enough time to make sure it obeys all the rules, this is just a strict S-curve): Top seed: Duke Duke bracket: 1. Duke 16. Play in- Monmouth vs. Southern 8. Kentucky 9. Arizona 4. Michigan State 13. Xavier 5. Boston College 12. Wisconsin Milwaukee 2. Illinois 15. South Alabama 7. Syracuse 10. George Mason 3. UCLA 14. Penn 6. Georgetown 11. UNC Wilmington Memphis bracket: 1. Memphis 16. Hampton 8. Wichita State 9. UAB 4. LSU 13. San Diego State 5. Kansas 12. Kent State 2. Ohio State 15. Pacific 7. Wisconsin 10. NC State 3. Pittsburgh 14. Murray State 6. George Washington 11. Cincinnati Connecticut bracket: 1. Connecticut 16. Albany 8. Nevada 9. Missouri State 4. Florida 13. Winthrop 5. Oklahoma 12. California 2. North Carolina 15. Oral Roberts 7. Indiana 10. Bucknell 3. Gonzaga 14. Northwestern State 6. Washington 11. Texas A&M Villanova bracket: 1. Villanova 16. Belmont 8. Southern Illinois 9. Arkansas 4. Tennessee 13. Iona 5. West Virginia 12. Alabama 2. Texas 15. Davidson 7. Northern Iowa 10. Bradley 3. Iowa 14. Montana 6. Marquette 11. Hofstra

Haven't received new entries yet, so I'll just go with what I have.

2 more hours to get your 65 teams to me if you haven't done so yet. I have 4 entries so far.

Yes. Same with Delaware State out, Hampton in.

Notes for selections: Xavier ended up winning the Atlantic 10, and Hampton won the NEC.

Other years? With completely different players, and perhaps different coaches? Other years have no bearing on tournament placement, and rightly shouldn't.

That's simply not true if they don't get an equal shot. These conferences generally get the tournament winner and maybe 1 other teams (2 in a fantastic year). Compare that to 6-7 bids for power conferences, and the teams from outside the "Big 6" never really get the same chance as those from inside the "Big 6". There's no reason a team should go 7-9 in conference and get in over a team with better statistics across the board just because they are in the Big East or Big Ten. That IS the "good ole boys" taking charge.

And why is that? How many Mid-Major schools have even made it to the Final 4? You would think one would have gone that far sooner or later. Let's see...Marquette made it 3 years ago as a member of Conference USA. Maybe that doesn't count. Kent State made the Elite Eight in 2002. Gonzaga made it in 2000. Indiana State made the final game back in 1979, too, if the Elite Eight isn't far enough to be considered "far". Not letting teams get in unless they've "been there before" is quite the catch-22.

Jay Bilas just listed Notre Dame as a team Michigan beat in a case for them to be in the tournament. Yeah, I even like Lunardi, but I think putting together a bracket in mid-January, it's tough to get rid of teams they had up high earlier, and tough to get teams in that were way out earlier. Absolutely no respect for the CAA or MVC. It's difficult to convince me that Seton Hall, Maryland, Michigan, or Florida State deserve to be in over Missouri State, George Mason, Hofstra, or Northern Iowa. Agreed, but how did the NSBB panel rank No Iowa ahead of Cuse in light of what they have dones over the last three nights? 3 nights is 3 nights. The rest of the season is different. It's like saying Temple is an at-large viable team just because they beat GW last week.

Jay Bilas just listed Notre Dame as a team Michigan beat in a case for them to be in the tournament. Yeah, I even like Lunardi, but I think putting together a bracket in mid-January, it's tough to get rid of teams they had up high earlier, and tough to get teams in that were way out earlier. Absolutely no respect for the CAA or MVC. It's difficult to convince me that Seton Hall, Maryland, Michigan, or Florida State deserve to be in over Missouri State, George Mason, Hofstra, or Northern Iowa.

My oh my, is Digger clueless.

Top 50 is generally teams that will be in the tournament. Granted, not all teams in the tournament are equal, but showing the ability to win against the teams that will be in the tournament is helpful to determine whether or not they are worth being in there. I agree with what Jay Bilas said, would team A beat team B in a 7 game series? I just think this top 50 thing is just too random because I would rather play 45, 47 and 49 if this is the case and it helps the Missouri Valley type leagues because they don't have to deal with 3-5 top 25 teams twice each. The MVC has the 19, 23, 25, 35, and 40 teams in the RPI top 50. That's an average of 28, a median of 25. The Big East has the 2, 3, 7, 18, 28, 34, 38, and 41 teams. That's an average of 21 and a median of 23. Not a huge difference. But the thing is that the top 50 thing is included in the RPI thus making my point. Syracuses RPI is worse because of playing UConn and Villanova 5 times and going 1-4 while one of these Missouri Valley teams are playing a 19 at the very best. Syracuse's RPI was worse (it's 18 right now actually) because they played 3 more home games than the MVC schools. Without the new home/road weighting, Syracuse's RPI 2 days ago was 22 spots better.

South Carolina wins, making the committee's job difficult tomorrow.

Albany just won the America East championship, so they are in for sure. Same for Memphis in the C-USA.

Top 50 is generally teams that will be in the tournament. Granted, not all teams in the tournament are equal, but showing the ability to win against the teams that will be in the tournament is helpful to determine whether or not they are worth being in there.

Ok, it's Saturday morning, and here's our field of 65: Auto bids (clinched in bold) (31): Albany - AMERICA EAST Duke - ACC Belmont - ATLANTIC SUN St. Joseph's - ATLANTIC 10 Pittsburgh - BIG EAST Montana - BIG SKY Winthrop - BIG SOUTH Ohio State - BIG TEN Texas - BIG 12 Pacific - BIG WEST UNC Wilmington - COLONIAL Memphis - CONFERENCE USA Wisconsin Milwaukee - HORIZON LEAGUE Pennsylvania - IVY LEAGUE Iona - METRO ATLANTIC Kent State - MID-AMERICAN Oral Roberts - MID-CONTINENT Delaware State - MID-EASTERN Southern Illinois - MISSOURI VALLEY San Diego State - MOUNTAIN WEST Monmouth - NORTHEAST Murray State - OHIO VALLEY UCLA - PAC-10 Bucknell - PATRIOT LSU - SEC Davidson - SOUTHERN Northwestern State - SOUTHLAND Southern - SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC South Alabama - SUN BELT Gonzaga - WEST COAST Nevada - WESTERN ATHLETIC At-large bids (34): Boston College Connecticut Florida George Washington Georgetown Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Marquette Michigan State North Carolina North Carolina State Oklahoma Tennessee Villanova Washington West Virginia Wisconsin and... (in vote order from last night) Northern Iowa Wichita State Syracuse Arizona Kentucky Bradley UAB Arkansas Missouri State George Mason California Alabama Hofstra Texas A&M Cincinnati Last 4 out: Creighton Seton Hall Michigan Air Force STEP 3: Rank the 65 teams from 1-65, to work with seeding. Please get them to me by Sunday (tomorrow) at noon CST. Note: At-large bids will be taken away if Wake Forest wins the ACC tournament, if Utah State wins the WAC, if Nebraska wins the Big 12, or if South Carolina wins the SEC.

No problemo, it's all volunteer work. :)

Got 2 more, I'll wait till tomorrow morning to see if I can get the last 3. Last step, due Sunday by noon CST, is a seeding of the 65 teams in the field from 1-65. I'll get the teams in the field tomorrow (aside from any auto bids that haven't been clinched yet).

Wouldn't be overly concerned about it, really. Michigan State wanted it tonight a lot more, and there isn't a ton of difference between the two teams. Illinois is likely a 3 seed on Sunday, which is fine.

I only have 4 submissions so far for bubble rankings. Anyone else?

but luckily they are fairing a touch better from 3 point land Might as well take the freebies from behind the 3-point line.

Tennessee never really in the game vs. South Carolina, falling at the end 79-71. Wake Forest throttling NC State.

One more thing to put some ridiculousness to rest that I've seen on almost every major sports site this week. Team A vs. Team B Team A: RPI: 19 Record: 20-8 Records vs. Top 50: 4-8 Record vs. 51-325: 16-0 Record in Last 10: 8-2 Road/Neutral Record: 8-6 Lost in conference tourney quarters Team B: RPI: 41 Record: 21-8 Record vs. Top 50: 4-5 Record vs. 51-325: 17-3 Record in Last 10: 6-4 Road/Neutral Record: 6-5 Plays in conference tourney quarters today. Right now we have Team A on the bubble (and every other publication has them as one of the last teams in or out), and Team B is considered a lock everywhere. 99% of this has to do with the conference they play in, and the popular concept that they "gamed" the RPI (by actually playing tough teams non-conference away from home...*gasp*). So, please, vote in team A.