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DEL.ICIO.USNoting some endangered teams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here are the 65 teams that Tony Barnhart projects will go into the NCAA Tournament field as Saturday’s play begins. There are several teams in this list from the power conferences—Maryland and West Virginia quickly come to mind—who are in danger of falling out if things don’t go well in the coming days.
Also not making the cut for this field is Connecticut, which plays Georgia Tech at the Georgia Dome Sunday afternoon in a non-conference game critical to the NCAA aspirations of both teams. It was three years ago that they met in the national championship game. Now both are struggling to make their case for inclusion.
Fresh off his stint earlier this week as part of a mock sportswriters selection team, Tony ranks the teams as the real committee does — from 1 to 65:
1: Florida (SEC champ)
2: North Carolina (ACC champ)
3: Wisconsin (Big Ten champ)
4: UCLA (Pac-10 champ)
5: Texas A&M (Big 12 champ)
6: Ohio State (at-large)
7: Pittsburgh (Big East champ)
8: Kansas (at-large)
9: Kentucky (at-large)
10: Washington State (at-large)
11: Memphis (C-USA champ)
12: Marquette (at-large)
13: Oregon (at-large)
14: Butler (Horizon champ)
15: Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley champ)
16: Southern Cal (at-large)
17: Duke (at-large)
18: Indiana (at-large)
19: Air Force (Mountain West champ)
20: Stanford (at-large)
21: Virginia (at-large)
22: Villanova (at-large)
23: Florida State (at-large)
24: Oklahoma State (at-large)
25: Nevada (WAC champ)
26: Gonzaga (West Coast champ)
27: BYU (at-large)
28: Boston College (at-large)
29: Virginia Tech (at-large)
30: Arizona (at-large)
31: Vanderbilt (at-large)
32: Tennessee (at-large)
33: Creighton (at-large)
34: Texas (at-large)
35: UNLV (at-large)
36: Notre Dame (at-large)
37: Missouri State (at-large)
38: Michigan State (at-large)
39: Georgetown (at-large)
40: Kansas State (at-large)
41: Clemson (at-large)
42: Alabama (at-large)
43: Arkansas (at-large)
44: Maryland (at-large)
45: VCU (Colonial champ)
46: Illinois (at-large)
47: UMass (A-10 champ)
48: West Virginia (at-large)
49: Holy Cross (Patriot champ)
50: Davidson (Southern champ)
51: Winthrop (Big South champ)
52: TAMU-CC (Soutland champ)
53: Long Beach State (Big West champ)
54: Akron (MAC champ)
55: Vermont (America East champ)
56: Oral Roberts ((Mid-Contient champ)
57: South Alabama (Sun Belt champs)
58: Marist (Metro Atlantic champs)
59: Austin Peay (Ohio Valley champs)
60: Delaware State (MEAC champs)
61: East Tenn. St. (Atlantic Sun champ)
62: Weber State (Big Sky champ)
63: Jackson State (SWAC champ)
64: Yale (Ivy champ)
65: Central Conn. State (Northeast champ)
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
ACC: 8
Big East: 6
Big Ten: 5
Big 12: 5
Missouri Valley: 3
Mountain West: 3
Pac-10: 6
SEC: 6
23 Conferences with one bid only
What do you think of today’s field? Any teams you’d kick out of your bracket? Any teams you think Tony missed that should be in there?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Tony Barnhart's daily picks
Comments
By Mark M.
February 11, 2007 01:52 AM | Link to this
I think Mr. Barnhart should look at San Diego State. They blew away Air Force the second game and are 7-4 in MW conference.
By Racinoto
February 11, 2007 07:26 AM | Link to this
Buzz off Barnhart, I Yellow Jackets will make the “Dance”.
By TechTony
February 11, 2007 08:45 AM | Link to this
While unfortunately I cannot howl against Tech’s exclusion from your field (truth is, the Jackets have to finish at least one game better than .500 in the league to make it, an unlikely scenario), I can scream out against the inclusion of Alabama. The Tide are on a skid of epic proportions, it have shown zero heart throughout this tailspin, and it’s becoming clear the players have entirely toned out coach Mark Gottfried. I can’t say Alabama isn’t one of the 65 most talented teams in America but what it has shown on the court in 2007 is not tournament worthy.
By T. Rex Grossman
February 11, 2007 09:37 AM | Link to this
Yes, I’m a biased Georgia fan, but how can you leave Georgia out but include Arkansas? The Hogs have a losing record in the SEC, as opposed to Georgia’s WINNING record. Georgia plays in the East (quite a bit tougher than the West). And Georgia beat Arkansas head-to-head at their place. I don’t know if Georgia is tourney worthy, but they should get a vote ahead of Arkansas.
By jcdawg
February 11, 2007 09:59 AM | Link to this
Ga has the 4th best SEC conf record right now at 6-5. Unless they are only going to take 3 sec teams…Ga should be in the tournament.
By HelluvaEngineer
February 11, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this
While this is subject to revision depending on conference tourney outcomes, I really think Tech would make it if either: (i) they finish .500 in the ACC which of course implies they would need >= 1 road W among: FSU, Duke, and UVA… all of which are extremely difficult
(ii) they lose all three of these road games, but win all home games + >= 2 ACC tourney games. This is shaky, but they would have big neutral court Ws against Memphis, Purdue (another bubble team), maybe UConn if we win today, and the two ACC games… the only two bad road losses are really Miami and Wake, both of which happned before this “run” they would have to put forth.
By Atlanta Gator
February 11, 2007 09:04 PM | Link to this
T. Rex——It’s not UGA’s conference record that has them on the bubble; it’s their out-of-conference losses and 14-9 overall record.
The Dawgs probably need at least 18 wins to get a bid, and beating non-Division I Kennesaw State isn’t going to help. They need to win 4 of their remaining 5 SEC games, or do well in the SEC tournament (say, win their first 2). It’s possible that they could get lucky and slide in with 17 wins, but that’s a double-bubble pick that will require all of the competition to have weak overall records, too.
BTW, cool blog handle, but wouldn’t it be more appropriate for a Gator fan? Or maybe I’m just missing the joke?
By Atlanta Gator
February 11, 2007 09:08 PM | Link to this
TechTony——I’ve had a sense all season that Alabama was over-rated. The Gators play the Tide this week, and I’ll get back to you with what I learn from watching the game. If they really are the 18th best team in the country, the Tide should rise to the occasion like Kentucky did and give the Gators a good game. If the Tide rolls over, not so much … .