Home > March to Atlanta: Hoop Head > Archives > 2007 > February > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTony Barnhart’s daily picks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In today’s projected NCAA field, the AJC’s Tony Barnhart first offers his conference-by-conference breakdown, then his 65 daily picks.
Following both of Tony’s forecasts, log your own opinion in our daily blog.
WHO’S IN
• Villanova (15-7, RPI 20), which posted a big win over Louisville (57-53) on Saturday.
• Kansas State (17-6), which posted its seventh straight win when it prevailed at Texas (73-72) on Saturday.
• BYU (16-6, RPI 29) played its way in by destroying UNLV 90-63 on Saturday.
WHO’S OUT
• Louisville’s (15-7) RPI is now down to 61 after its loss to Villanova.
• Hofstra (17-6, RPI 67) will have to win the Colonial Tournament to get in.
• Syracuse (16-7) drops out with an RPI of 58. The Orange has lost three of its last four games.
BY CONFERENCE
ACC (7 teams):
• In: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech.
• Bubble: Georgia Tech, Maryland.
• Game to watch: Duke (18-5) has lost two straight and hosts North Carolina (20-3) at home on Wednesday.
BIG EAST (6):
• In: Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia.
• Bubble: Louisville, Providence, Syracuse.
• Game to watch: Pittsburgh (20-3, RPI 3) may have a tough time Wednesday night at West Virginia (17-4).
BIG TEN (4):
• In: Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin.
• Bubble: Illinois, Michigan.
• Game to watch: Michigan State (17-7), which has lost three straight and seen its RPI drop to 39, needs to win Wednesday night at Purdue (15-8).
BIG 12 (6):
• In: Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.
• Bubble: Nebraska, Oklahoma.
• Game to watch: Texas A&M, fresh off a huge 69-66 at Kansas on Saturday, hosts Texas tonight. Kansas State, the hottest team in the league, goes to Kansas Wednesday night.
MISSOURI VALLEY (3)
• In: Creighton, Missouri State, Southern Illinois.
• Bubble: Wichita State, Bradley, Northern Iowa.
• Game to watch: Southern Illinois (18-5), a tournament lock with an RPI of 9, has won five straight. But on Wednesday the Salukis host Bradley (15-9) which beat them on Jan. 10 (48-46).
MOUNTAIN WEST (3)
• In: Air Force, BYU, UNLV.
• Bubble: None.
• Game to watch: Air Force (19-3, RPI 14) is now tied with BYU (16-6, RPI 29) for first place in the league. The Falcons face a tough test Tuesday night at San Diego State (13-7). Air Force beat the San Diego State by only five points (56-51) at home on Jan. 20.
PAC-10 (6)
• In: Arizona, Oregon, Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State. Bubble: California.
• Bubble: California.
• Game to watch: Southern Cal (18-6, RPI 45)) has won three straight including an upset over Oregon (71-68) Saturday night. The Trojans play at UCLA (19-2, RPI 1) on Wednesday.
SEC (6)
• In: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt.
• Bubble: LSU, Tennessee, Auburn.
• Game to watch: Tennessee (15-8) has an RPI of 16 but has lost six of its last eight games. The Vols’ next three games are at home beginning Tuesday night with LSU (13-9). Guard Chris Lofton is expected to return from an injury.
WAC (2)
• In: Nevada, New Mexico State.
• Bubble: None.
• Game to watch: Nevada (20-2, 8-1 WAC, RPI 28) plays at Fresno State (16-7) Thursday night).
TONY RANKS THE NCAA FIELD
If he made his bracket today, AJC’s Tony Barnhart would pick these teams to make it to the Big Dance:
1: Florida (SEC champ)
2: North Carolina (ACC champ)
3: UCLA (Pac-10 champ)
4: Pittsburgh (Big East champ)
5: Wisconsin (Big Ten champ)
6: Texas A&M (Big 12 champ)
7: Ohio State (at-large)
8: Kansas (at-large)
9: Kentucky (at-large)
10: Butler (Horizon champ)
11: Memphis (C-USA champ)
12: Duke (at-large)
13: Oregon (at-large)
14: Air Force (Mountain West champ)
15: Nevada: (WAC champ)
16: Marquette (at-large)
17: Indiana (at-large)
18: Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley champ)
19: Texas (at-large)
20: Arizona (at-large)
21: Notre Dame (at large)
22: Stanford (at-large)
23: Oklahoma State (at-large)
24: Washington State (at-large)
25: Virginia Tech (at-large)
26: Southern Cal (at-large)
27: Boston College (at-large)
28: Villanova (at-large)
29: Vanderbilt (at-large)
30: Texas Tech (at-large)
31: BYU (at-large)
32: Michigan State (at-large)
33: Virginia (at-large)
34: Gonzaga (West Coast champ)
35: Kansas State (at-large)
36: Alabama (at-large)
37: Arkansas (at-large)
38: Clemson (at-large)
39: Georgetown (at-large)
40: UNLV (at-large)
41: Creighton (at-large)
42: Georgia (at-large)
43: Florida State (at-large)
44: West Virginia (at-large)
45: VCU (Colonial champ)
46: Davidson (Southern champ)
47: New Mexico State (at-large)
48: Missouri State (at-large)
49: UMass (Atlantic 10 champ)
50: Texas A&M-CC (Southland champ)
51: Vermont (America East champ)
52: Penn (Ivy champ)
53: Winthrop (Big South champ)
54: East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun champ)
55: Toledo (MAC champ)
56: Holy Cross (Patriot champ)
57: South Alabama (Sun Belt champ)
58: Delaware State (MEAC champ)
59: Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent champ)
60: Austin Peay (Ohio Valley champ)
61: Long Beach State (Big West champ)
62: Jackson State (SWAC champ)
63: Weber State (Big Sky champ)
64: Loyola of Maryland (MAAC champ)
65: Central Connecticut State (Northeast champ)
• What do you think of Tony’s conference choices, along with those on his watch lists?
• And how does his overall 65 picks differ from yours?
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Tony Barnhart's daily picks
Comments
By Gator Guy
February 5, 2007 04:30 PM | Link to this
Tony——I can’t keep track of the minor conference standings, but it appears that you got it mostly right regarding the major conferences. In the ACC, calling Georgia Tech a “bubble team” may be generous unless the Jackets start winning games against the middle third of the ACC, and may need an upset at this point to qualify. Clemson is likely to get a bid, but appears to have been over-rated earlier in the season.
Your three SEC bubble teams need some wins, and must beat the bottom third of the conference, split their remaining games with the middle third, and may need to score an upset to insure a bid. Oddly, UGA appears to be in the top third of the SEC, but must win more games to insure a bid. UGA’s current 13-8 overall record needs polishing; generally, a minimum of 18 or 19 wins are needed for a NCAA lock. That means UGA would need to win 4 of their remaining 7 SEC games, and win at least 1 game in the SEC tournament.
My theory: no ACC or SEC team will get a bid without having at least a 7-9 conference record. That means when the music stops, several predicted ACC and SEC tournament teams are likely to go to the NIT instead.
By BigEast
February 5, 2007 07:47 PM | Link to this
T-
Good stuff, but Providence won’t get in as they continue to get throttled on the road in Big East play.
Arkansas moved out and on to the bubble getting rocked by Kentucky this past weekend.
GA Tech is also a bubble team at best.
By billy bob
February 5, 2007 09:29 PM | Link to this
How is UGA in? They have a few good wins, but their overall record is not good enough to be a lock…please put them on the bubble, or do they have to get throttled by the Gators first?
By billy bob
February 5, 2007 09:31 PM | Link to this
Oh wait, now I see, a win over now unranked Gonzaga and overrated Kentucky….woo hoo….
By Doug
February 5, 2007 10:11 PM | Link to this
Saying Clemson was overated early ignors their 17-0 record. What could they have done to improve? I am not a Tiger fan, but come on, 17-0 is pretty good.