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DEL.ICIO.USTony Barnhart’s daily picks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After Tony’s update, log your own opinion in our daily blog.
WHO’S IN
• Syracuse (21-8, RPI 49): The Orange beat Georgetown (22-6, RPI 17) Monday night for their fifth straight win. Syracuse has three wins in the top 28 (Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette).
WHO’S OUT
• Illinois (21-9, RPI 31): The Illini are 3-5 on the road and 3-8 against the Top 50. Its best win on the road was at Northwestern (RPI 165).
WHO SHOULD WORRY
• Alabama (19-9, RPI 42): Looks like point guard Ronald Steele won’t go Wednesday night when the Crimson Tide hosts Ole Miss. A loss will likely knock Alabama out of the field.
WHO NEEDS A WIN
• Florida (25-4, RPI 7): Yes, Florida. After losing two of their last three games (both losses were on the road) the Gators’ No. 1 seed is in danger of slipping away. A win tonight at Tennessee would help but the Vols have not lost at home (15-0) all season.
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
We project that 22 of the 31 conferences will receive only one bid to the NCAA Tournament. The remaining 43 spots in the field will be distributed as follows:
• ACC (7) Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina (champion), Virginia, Virginia Tech.
Tournament: March 8-11, Tampa.
• (7): Georgetown (champion), Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova.
Tournament: March 7-10, New York.
• Big Ten (5): Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State (champion), Purdue, Wisconsin.
Tournament: March 8-11, Chicago.
• Big 12 (4): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M (champion), Texas Tech.
Tournament: March 8-11, Oklahoma City.
• Colonial (3): Old Dominion, Drexel, VCU (champion).
Tournament: Friday-March 5, Richmond.
• Missouri Valley (3): Creighton, Missouri State, Southern Illinois (champion).
Tournament: Thursday-Sunday, St. Louis.
• Mountain West (3): Air Force (champion), BYU, UNLV.
Tournament: March 6, 8-10, Las Vegas.
• Pac-10 (6): Arizona, Oregon, Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA (champion), Washington State.
Tournament: March 7-10, Los Angeles.
• SEC (5): Alabama, Florida (champion), Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.
Tournament: March 8-11, Atlanta.
ONE-BID LEAGUES WITH PROJECTED CHAMPS
(Conference tournament in parentheses)
• AMERICA EAST: Vermont (March 2-4, 10)
• ATLANTIC 10: Xavier (March 7-10)
• ATLANTIC SUN: East Tennessee State (Thursday-Saturday)
• BIG SKY: Weber State (Saturday, March 6-7)
• BIG SOUTH: Winthrop (Today, Thursday, Saturday)
• BIG WEST: Long Beach (March 7-10)
• CONFERENCE-USA: Memphis (March 7-10)
• HORIZON: Butler (Today, Friday, Saturday, March 6)
• IVY: Penn (No Tournament)
• METRO ATLANTIC: Marist (Friday-March 5)
• MID-AMERICAN: Toledo (March 7-10)
• MID-CONTINENT: Oral Roberts (Saturday-March 6)
• MEAC: Delaware State (March 6-10)
• NORTHEAST: Central Connecticut (Thursday, March 4, March 7)
• OHIO VALLEY: Austin Peay (Tuesday, Friday, Saturday)
• PATRIOT: Holy Cross (Wednesday, Sunday, March 9)
• SOUTHERN: Davidson (Wednesday-Saturday)
• SOUTHLAND: Sam Houston (March 8-9, 11)
• SUN BELT: South Alabama (Wednesday, March 4-6)
• SWAC: Jackson State (March 7-10)
• WAC: Nevada (March 6, 8-10)
• WEST COAST: Gonzaga (Friday-March 5)
How do you see it?
Permalink | Comments (30) | Post your comment | Categories: Tony Barnhart's daily picks
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Comments
By Jay
February 27, 2007 12:50 PM | Link to this
You know that one or two of the very good teams from the 22 conferences you listed will not win their tourney. They will be invited anyway, plus the champion. Who will be the first two teams from your multi-teams conferences to be kicked out?
By MikeP
February 27, 2007 1:00 PM | Link to this
Jay,
1 or 2 at most. If you lose your conference tourney and you are not in the top 64 RPI afterwards, kiss it goodbye. Even Winthrop is at 64 in the RPI.
Tony must know something that keeps GT in his 7 ACC teams going. They have to beat UNC and BC this week just to be at .500. Of course if they can do that look out..
By baloney
February 27, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
Hold on a second………while I fart.
By baloney
February 27, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this
Are farts supposed to come out in a liquid form?
By RDI
February 27, 2007 1:41 PM | Link to this
Yech won’t be dancing anywhere except in the NIT. Book it.
By Reggie Ball
February 27, 2007 1:42 PM | Link to this
I can smell the baloney fart from over here!
By Darrin "The Vent King"
February 27, 2007 1:44 PM | Link to this
1 0R #2, it’s not going to matter, the Gators will get it done when it’s needed. Win 17, nobody pays attention, but OMG lose 2 out of three and all of sudden you’re not a #1 seed? Whatever, who in our particular part of the bracket are you going to put ahead of UF? None of them had a SEVENTEEN game winning streak nor are any of them the returning champs. When was the last time a returning champ came back and looked as good as these Gators have. I know they don’t have the “star” power you media types crave, but team ball is what the game should be about and is exactly what the Gators do very well. They’ll come back from 18 down to win a game and ESPN, the ajc, and practically every major news outlet barely blinks or even talk about it, oh but we lose to scrubs like LSU and all of sudden it’s front page news. I bet you all are praying that we lose tonight vs Tenn, but even then we will still be the team to beat. The championship rolls through Gainesville PERIOD so don’t hate the Gators baby, hate their game!GO GATORS!!
By Shawn
February 27, 2007 1:48 PM | Link to this
Tony, do us all a favor…stick with football!
By artie
February 27, 2007 1:53 PM | Link to this
Unfortunately, for the Gators, they only go 5 deep!!!! Great starting five, but their bench leaves a lot to be desired. Saw that in the UK game when Noah and Horford were in foul trouble.
By SouthGaRebel
February 27, 2007 2:18 PM | Link to this
Hey buddy, just in case you missed it, Florida is the defending National Champ with all 5 returning starters from last years team. Do you always make comments that dumb?
By Paul Hewitt
February 27, 2007 2:23 PM | Link to this
What is wrong with Tech basketball this year? Everyone thought GT was so hot when they made that run to the finals a few years ago. Few people remember how most of their wins in that tourny were against low ranked teams who had big upsets before they played the Jackets. Hewitt isn’t a special coach and the Jackets are still a mediocre team at best. Atl fans will get tired of this mediocrity just like they did with Cremins and they’ll be looking for another coach in a few years.
By Javaris Crittenton
February 27, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this
I luv baskitbawl? dribulin da bawl is fun too mee! I whant too dans in March Madnis
By Chaals
February 27, 2007 2:34 PM | Link to this
agree with your tech analysis. coach hewitt will never be consistenly good and no one should expect a string of acc championships from this guy. he has spotty judgement in close games and hasn’t recruited the same calibre of athletes that bobby cremins did. i give him another 2-3 years.
By Red Fox
February 27, 2007 2:45 PM | Link to this
Hasn’t recruited the same caliber that Cremins did? Are you crazy…Bosh, Jack, Crittenden, Young…
No of these guys stayed or will stay four years, yet if they did their jerseys would be hanging in a couple years in the Thiller Dome. All these guys in just a few years too.
You’re an idiot…Must be a Dawg, Vol or Gator.
By The Wreck
February 27, 2007 2:51 PM | Link to this
in response to *Few people remember how most of their wins in that tourny were against low ranked teams who had big upsets before they played the Jackets. *
The only team Tech faced in the 2004 tournament that fits this description is Nevada.
By randy
February 27, 2007 2:52 PM | Link to this
Dogs will still make the big dance!
By artie
February 27, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this
You saw it here first, SouthGARedneck…UF goes down this year due to a lack of depth!!!!
By artie
February 27, 2007 3:04 PM | Link to this
You saw it here first, SouthGARedneck…UF goes down this year due to a lack of depth!!!! When you get schooled by a team as untalented as LSU, something’s obviously wrong.
By Rowdy
February 27, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this
RE Artie: Unfortunately, for the Gators, they only go 5 deep!!!! Great starting five, but their bench leaves a lot to be desired. Saw that in the UK game when Noah and Horford were in foul trouble.
Uhmmm, hello? The Gators still won that game so what is your point?
By artie
February 27, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
My point, Rowdy, is that a better quality team would have made UF pay for it.
By Slim
February 27, 2007 4:43 PM | Link to this
Loved Tony’s column a few weeks ago about how “tough” it is to pick the NCAA tourney field…ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Iraq is tough…a bunch of sports writers selecting which teams play in a tournament is NOT tough. In my opinion a panel of retired coaches and players, in other words, people who know the game, should be picking the tourney field. Not a bunch of sports writers.
By Gatorswho
February 27, 2007 4:45 PM | Link to this
UNC will be the National Champions, due to the fact they’re the deepest team in the NCAA and they have the best players/coach. The ACC is also the hardest division in all of the country. I expect they will play a team that currently sits between #3-#10 in the Country. Florida will fold by the final 8.
1 Seeds - UNC, Florida, Ohio St. and UCLA. UCLA loses in the second round as will Wisconsin. Best of all is that Duke will get crushed early as they deserve. Duke sucks!UNC 97 - ? 74
By Fred B.
February 27, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
Randy i agree, Georgia will get in. Win one of their remaining 2 games puts them at 9-7 in the conference (a conference with a very good RP) So you tell me Mr. Barnhart how does Georgia not get in!
By GT
February 27, 2007 6:06 PM | Link to this
The ACC is making a cocoon type change right here at the end. Duke is improving, Carolina is starting to look human and Maryland is coming in from nowhere. Any given night any team can beat any other team especially at home and any team in the ACC can beat any team in the country. It just may be the team that is hot stay at home and the team not so hot goes to the tournament. Watch out for Vanderbilt.
By Tar Heel 4 Life
February 27, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
With picks like these you’ve got to wonder… WHO THE HECK HIRED THIS GUY!!! I mean seriously the champions of the conferences are all screwed up. I think that the only two right ones are the ACC and Big Ten. But to say that Illinois is out you must be down right crazy. First of all Tony Barnhart(whoever the heck that is) didn’t do his homework. The Illini have one 6 out of there last 7. And to say that GT dosen’t have great recruting skills. I’m a UNC fan and I think that’s Bull. This guy is awful and if the AJC wants to keep their reputation as one of the top newspapers in town, than they better either better educate this guy on college basketball or replace him.
By Thomas
February 28, 2007 1:37 AM | Link to this
Tar Hell 4 Life,
First, the AJC is the only paper in town.
Second, despite being the only paper in town, the liberal “open borders” rag that is the AJC is considered one of the worst papers in the state not to mention the country.
Third, if you do not beleive me, as the 80 employees the AJC have laid off due to lack of readership.
Fourth, if ony the Al-Jazeera Constitution could be killed off by Cox Communications.
By NoDawgsHere
February 28, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this
Go Jackets!!! Need to win at least 1 more regular season game, both to be safe. After, that GT has to win the first game in the tourney. If they accomplish that, they are sitting pretty for the BIG DANCE!!!
By killsbeeswithbarehands
February 28, 2007 12:20 PM | Link to this
Tech…home to the under-achievers. I know it’s hard for you to accept, but Tech won’t be dancing this year. They will end the year just like Tchaikovsk’s favorite tune: 18-12.
By artie
February 28, 2007 1:29 PM | Link to this
I was hoping to see a lot of comments on here from Gator fans…especially after last night’s latest debacle.
By dagtbuzzman
February 28, 2007 2:02 PM | Link to this
I agree . Win one of last 2 & at least the 1st round game of the tournament & they are in.