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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Barnhart lets the Dogs out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After reading Tony’s Thursday take on the NCAA tourney field, offer your thoughts:
WHO’S IN
— Illinois (20-9, RPI 32): The Illini have won five of their last six and finish the season with two winnable road games against Penn State and Iowa. Illinois is vulnerable, however, because it doesn’t have a quality win on the road.
— Old Dominion (22-7, RPI): While middle of the road teams in the big conferences are stumbling down the stretch, the Monarchs of the Colonial Athletic Association are building quite a resume. They have won 10 straight and are 6-5 against the Top 100. They also won at Georgetown by 13 (75-62) back in November.
WHO’S OUT
— Georgia (15-9, RPI 59): It’s one thing to lose on the road in the SEC, the No. 1 conference in the RPI. It’s another thing not to show up as the Bulldogs failed to do in a 67-49 loss at Ole Miss. A team cannot give the selection committee a reason to leave them out. Wednesday’s loss, plus the season-ending injury to Mike Mercer, provided two reasons to leave the Dawgs at home.
— Oklahoma State (18-8, RPI 41): Sorry Cowboys, we just can’t watch the bleeding any more. Sean Sutton’s team has lost five of its last six and was missing in action Wednesday night in an embarrassing home loss (66-46) to Texas A&M. An NCAA team should not lose by 20 on its home floor.
WHO NEEDS A WIN
— Clemson (19-7, RPI 31): The Tigers have lost seven of nine since a 17-0 start. A win tonight against surging Duke (29-7, RPI 11) would be huge for Clemson. A loss would drop the Tigers to 5-8 in the ACC.
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
We project that 22 of the 31 conferences will receive one bid only to the NCAA Tournament. The remaining 43 bids will be distributed as follows:
ACC (8): Boston College, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland.
Big East (6): Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova.
Big Ten (6): Wisconsin, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State.
Big 12 (4): Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech.
Colonial (2): VCU, Old Dominion
Missouri Valley (3): Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State.
Mountain West (3): Air Force, UNLV, BYU.
Pac-10 (6): UCLA, Washington State, Southern Cal, Oregon, Arizona, Stanford.
SEC (5): Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama.
BARNHART’S TOP 65 BY SEEDS
1-Ohio State, Florida, UCLA, North Carolina
2-Wisconsin, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M
3-Washington State, Memphis, Southern Illinois, Georgetown
4-Butler, Duke, Air Force, Marquette
5-Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Arizona
6-Virginia, Indiana, Texas, Maryland
7-Nevada, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Tennessee
8-UNLV, Southern Cal, Creighton, Boston College
9-BYU, Michigan State, Oregon, Villanova
10-Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Notre Dame
11-Xavier, Santa Clara, Winthrop, Illinois
12-VCU, Purdue, Missouri State, Clemson
13-Davidson, Old Dominion, Holy Cross, Long Beach State
14-Akron, Vermont, Oral Roberts, TAMU-CC
15-South Alabama, Penn, Marist, Austin Peay
16-Delaware State, East Tenn. State, Weber State, Jackson State, Central Connecticut
Play-in game: Jackson State vs. Central Connecticut
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