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Saturday, February 17, 2007
Tony Barnhart’s daily pics
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.
KEEP AN EYE ON
• Winthrop (23-4) Which won a huge game over Missouri State (77-66) Friday night on the road. That win could make Winthrop a lock for the NCAA Tournament despite its RPI of 83. Winthrop is 12-0 in the Big South and its four losses were to North Carolina (22-4, RPI 3), Maryland (19-7, RPI 31), Wisconsin (25-2, RPI 4) and Texas A&M (21-4, RPI 18).
• Conversely, the loss at home was not good for Missouri State (18-8, RPI 34)if it wants to be an at-large team. Missouri has a big game with Wichita State on Tuesday.
TOP STORY LINES ON SATURDAY
• Florida (24-2) takes its 17-game winning streak on the road to Vanderbilt. The Gators had to rally from 18 points down to beat Alabama on Wednesday night and are facing another team in Vanderbilt (17-8) that needs a big win to improve its NCAA hopes.
• North Carolina (22-4, 8-3 ACC) tries to get back on top in the ACC standings by winning at Boston College (18-7, 9-3 ACC).
• UCLA (22-3) had to rally to beat Arizona State 67-61 Thursday night. The Bruins face a tougher challenge when they go to Arizona (17-8).
• Unless Vanderbilt upsets Florida, the best game of the day will be Southern Illinois (22-5) at Butler (24-3).
BY CONFERENCE
NOTE: At this moment there are 23 conferences that will receive only one bid to the NCAA tournament. We project the remaining 42 spots in the field will be distributed as follows:
ACC (9 teams):
• Boston College, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland.
BIG EAST (5):
• Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova.
BIG TEN (6):
• Wisconsin, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State.
BIG 12 (5):
• Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech.
MISSOURI VALLEY (3)
• Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State.
MOUNTAIN WEST (3)
• In: Air Force, BYU, UNLV.
PAC-10 (6)
• UCLA, Washington State, Southern Cal, Oregon, Arizona, Stanford.
SEC (5)
• Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama.
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: Wisconsin (Big Ten camp)
3: UCLA (Pac-10 champ)
4: Ohio State (at-large)
- North Carolina (ACC champ)
6: Kansas (at-large)
7: Pittsburgh (Big East champ)
8: Texas A&M (Big 12 champ)
9: Washington State (at-large)
10: Memphis (C-USA champ)
11: Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley champ)
12: Marquette (at-large)
13: Boston College (at-large)
14: Kentucky (at-large)
15: Virginia (at-large)
16: Virginia Tech (at-large)
17: Butler (Horizon champ)
18: Indiana (at-large)
19: Air Force (Mountain West champ)
- Southern Cal (at-large)
21: Villanova (at-large)
22: Georgetown (at-large)
23: Oklahoma State (at-large)
24: Stanford (at-large)
25: Nevada (WAC champ)
26: Arizona (at-large)
27: Duke (at-large)
28: Tennessee (at-large)
29: BYU (at-large)
30: Oregon (at-large)
31: Creighton (at-large)
32: Texas (at-large)
33: UNLV (at-large)
34: Florida State (at-large)
35: Vanderbilt (at-large)
36: Gonzaga (West Coast champ)
36: Maryland (at-large)
37: Georgia Tech (at-large)
39: Texas Tech (at-large)
40: Missouri State (at-large)
41: Xavier (A-10 champ)
42: Alabama (at-large)
43: Clemson (at-large)
44: Michigan State (at-large)
45: VCU (Colonial champ)
46: Purdue (at-large)
46: Illinois (at-large)
48: Winthrop (at-large)
49: Holy Cross (Patriot champ)
50: Davidson (Southern champ)
51: West Virginia (Big South champ)
52: Long Beach State (Big West champ)
53: TAMU-CC (Southland champ)
54: Toledo (MAC champ)
55: Vermont (America East)
56: Oral Roberts ((Mid-Continent champ)
57: South Alabama (Sun Belt champs)
58: Penn (Ivy League champs)
59: Marist (Metro Atlantic champs)…WON
60: Austin Peay (Ohio Valley champs)
61: Delaware State (MEAC champs)
62: East Tenn. St. (Atlantic Sun champs)
63: Weber State (Big Sky champ)
64: Jackson State (SWAC champ)
65: Central Conn. (Northeast champs)
• What do you think of Tony’s conference choices, along with his comments?
• And how does his overall 65 picks differ from yours?
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