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DEL.ICIO.USBarnhart’s Weekend Watch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is the weekend watch for those nine conferences that are projected to get multiple bids. Projected bids are in parentheses.
After reading through the lists, talk up your picks — or take on the ones here.
ACC (8)
Locks: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Boston College, Maryland.
Work to do: Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State.
Weekend watch: Georgia Tech plays at Virginia on Saturday and closes with home games against North Carolina and Boston College. Win two out of three and the Yellow Jackets are in. Despite losing 8 of its last 10 Clemson (19-8) still has an RPI of 35 after losing to Duke Thursday night. The Tigers could use a win at Boston College on Saturday.
March Madness in Atlanta:
Check out the AJC’s Final Four pageBIG EAST (6)
Locks: Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova.
Work to do: Louisville, Notre Dame, West Virginia.
Weekend watch: Pittsburgh goes to Georgetown on Saturday and the winner will sit atop the Big East standings with a week to play. Notre Dame (21-7, RPI 37) would lock down its bid with a win Saturday at home over Marquette.
BIG TEN (6)
Locks: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State.
Work to do: Purdue, Illinois
Weekend watch: Wisconsin goes to Ohio State on Sunday where a win would give the Buckeyes (25-3, 13-1 Big Ten) a two-game lead in the Big Ten with a week to play. Purdue (17-10, RPI 49) plays Northwestern twice in its final three games. The Boilermakers will drop out with another loss.
BIG 12 (4)
Locks: Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas.
Work to do: Texas Tech, Kansas State, Oklahoma State.
Weekend watch: Texas Tech (17-11, RPI 45) hosts reeling Oklahoma State (18-8, RPI 42) on Saturday and the loser could be sitting at home when the NCAA Tournament starts.
COLONIAL (2)
Locks: VCU (Projected conference tournament winner)
Work to do: Old Dominion
Weekend watch: Old Dominion (22-7, RPI 36) has won 10 straight and is making a strong case for an at-large bid if it doesn’t win the Colonial Tournament, which starts March 3.
MISSOURI VALLEY (3)
Locks: Southern Illinois, Creighton.
Work to do: Missouri State, Bradley.
Weekend watch: Missouri State (19-9, RPI 33) had two tough losses down the stretch to Southern Illinois and non-conference Winthrop at home. The Bears need to close out the regular season with a home win against Drake and win at least one game in the MVC Tournament, which begins next Friday.
MOUNTAIN WEST (3)
Locks: Air Force, UNLV, BYU.
Work to do: None
Weekend watch: All three teams are ranked in the RPI top 20. BYU and Air Force meet on Tuesday in a game that could decide the regular season champion. But the team to watch is UNLV (22-6, RPI 11).
PAC-10 (6)
Locks: UCLA, Washington State, Oregon, Arizona.
Work to do: Southern Cal, Stanford.
Weekend watch: Southern Cal (20-8, RPI 51) helped its case with a win over Stanford Thursday night. The Trojans now finish with road games at Washington and Washington State. They can’t afford to lose both. Oregon finally stopped the bleeding with a huge home win over Washington State (22-5, RPI 25) Thursday night. The Ducks are in.
SEC (5)
Locks: Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama.
Work to do: Ole Miss, Georgia, Arkansas.
Weekend watch: The No. 1 rated conference should get six in the Big Dance but somebody has to step up in the next couple of weeks. Ole Miss (18-9, RPI 56) has three games remaining with South Carolina and Alabama on the road plus Auburn at home. Arkansas (16-11, RPI 50) has a huge home game with Tennessee on Saturday and finishes with Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Win two out of three and the Hogs just might slip in. Georgia (15-10, RPI 61) has an outside shot but has three tough games left with Mississippi State, Kentucky and Tennessee.
THE TOP 65
1: Ohio State (Big Ten champ)
2: Florida (SEC champ)
3: UCLA (Pac-10 champ)
4: North Carolina (ACC champ)
5: Wisconsin (at-large)
6: Kansas (at-large)
7: Pittsburgh (Big East champ)
8: Texas A&M (Big 12 champ)
9: Memphis (C-USA champ)
10: Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley champ)
11: Georgetown (at-large)
12: Washington State (at-large)
13: Butler (Horizon champ)
14: Duke (at-large(
15: Air Force (Mountain West champ))
16: Marquette (at-large)
17: Kentucky (at-large)
18: Virginia Tech (at-large)
19: Louisville (at-large)
20: Arizona (at-large)
21: Virginia (at-large)
22: Indiana (at-large)
23: Texas (at-large)
24: Maryland (at-large)
25: Nevada (WAC champ)
26: Vanderbilt (at-large)
27: Southern Cal (at-large)
28: Tennessee (at-large)
29: UNLV (at-large)
30: Stanford (at-large)
31: Creighton (at-large)
32: Boston College (at-large)
33: BYU (at-large)
34: Michigan State (at-large)
35: Oregon (at-large)
36: Villanova (at-large)
37: Texas Tech (at-large)
38: Georgia Tech (at-large)
39: Alabama (at-large)
40: Notre Dame (at-large)
41: Xavier (Atlantic 10 champ)
42: Winthrop (Big South champ)
43: Santa Clara (West Coast champ)
44: Illinois (at-large)
45: VCU (Colonial champ)
46: Purdue (at-large)
47: Missouri State (at-large)
48: Clemson (at-large)
49: Davidson (Southern champ)
50: Old Dominion (at-large)
51: Holy Cross (Patriot champ)
52: Long Beach State (Big West champ)
53: Akron (MAC champ)
54: Vermont (America East champ)
55: Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent champ)
56: TAMU-CC (Southland champ)
57: South Alabama (Sun Belt champ)
58: Penn (Ivy League champ)
59: Marist (Metro Atlantic champ)
60: Austin Peay (Ohio Valley champ)
61: Delaware State (MEAC champ)
62: East Tenn. St. (Atlantic Sun champ)
63: Weber State (Big Sky champ)
64: Jackson State (SWAC champ)
65: Central Conn. (Northeast champ)
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Tony Barnhart's daily picks
Comments
By Blobby Bowden
February 23, 2007 12:43 PM | Link to this
Work To Do!!!! The only work FSU needs to do is fire that stooge of a coach who was personally hired by Michael Jordan while he was with the Wizards so that he could manipulate Leonard like the proverbial “rented mule”—By the way , please check out Lenny’s career record as the Poster Boy of Mediocrity.
By Greg Fisher
February 23, 2007 01:03 PM | Link to this
Yo call yourself an expert, how can you omit Syracuse(19-8, 8-5) in the Big East mix. They are sixth and if they beat Providence on Saturday and Georgetown on Monday, they should be a shoo in. That’s O.K., you’re probably one of the experts who didn’t pick Syracuse for the tournament in ‘03 either. (We won it all, that year!)
By Leonard Hamilton
February 23, 2007 06:19 PM | Link to this
Hey, just because I was hired as coach of the Wizards so that I could be Mike’s puppet coach dosn’t mean I wasn’t a good puppet. In fact the evidence demonstrates I’m a far better puppet than a head coach.
By ZachReb
February 23, 2007 06:59 PM | Link to this
Thanks Mr. Barnhart you finally realize that the Ole Miss Rebels still have a chance to get in to the big dance. I am glad you changed your tune. Earlier you didn’t even have them on your list at all. They definantly have some work to do but I feel if they beat South Carolina on the road tommorow, we will be 19 and 9, that could solidify us a spot, but 20 wins will be even better. Andy Kennedy has done a hell of a job at Ole Miss, especially when we were picked to be last in the SEC West and not even to be considered for the NCAA tourney. Go Rebs.
By Nate Green
February 23, 2007 11:53 PM | Link to this
Villanova is a lock with a 6-7 league record, but Louisville with a 10-4 league record has work to do? Please pass what you’re smokin’!
By GaSouthenEagle
February 24, 2007 12:16 PM | Link to this
Yea…I would like to hear some justification on your Villanova/Louisville picks.