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Thursday, March 1, 2007
More bubble teams than ever
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After reading Tony’s Thursday take on the NCAA tourney field, offer your thoughts:
There are more teams on the bubble than ever as we head into the last weekend of the regular season.
BREAKDOWN BY CONFERENCE
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.
Waiting in the wings: Clemson (20-9, RPI 47); Florida State (18-11, RPI 48).
Comment: Georgia Tech (18-10, RPI 52) could lock up a bid with a win over North Carolina tonight.
Tournament: March 8-11, Tampa.
Big East (7): Georgetown (champion), Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova.
Waiting in the wings: West Virginia (19-8, RPI 55).
Comment: West Virginia must beat Cincinnati on Saturday and win at least two games in the Big East Tournament to get in the mix.
Tournament: March 7-10, New York.
Big Ten (5): Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State (champion), Purdue, Wisconsin.
Waiting in the wings: Illinois (21-9, RPI 32), Michigan (20-10, RPI 50).
Comment: Purdue (19-10) gets the edge over Illinois because the Boilermakers beat the Illini head to head (64-47) and have five winovers over the Top 50. Michigan could get in the conversation with a win Saturday over Ohio State.
Tournament: March 8-11, Chicago.
Big 12 (4): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M (champion), Texas Tech.
Waiting in the wings: None.
Comment: Kansas (26-4, 13-2 Big 12) can clinch the regular season championship with a win at home over Texas (22-7, RPI 31) on Saturday.
Tournament: March 8-11, Oklahoma City.
Colonial (3): Old Dominion, Drexel, VCU (champion).
Waiting in the wings: None
Comment: VCU (24-6, RPI 59) may get left out if it doesn’t win conference tournament.
Tournament: Friday-March 5, Richmond.
Missouri Valley (3): Creighton, Missouri State, Southern Illinois (champion).
Waiting in the wings: Bradley (19-11, RPI 42).
Comment: If Bradley wins the tournament the Valley could get four teams in the NCAA Field for the second straight year.
Tournament: Today-Sunday, St. Louis.
Mountain West (3): Air Force (champion), BYU, UNLV
Waiting in the wings: San Diego State (18-9, RPI 56)
Comment: San Diego State has won seven of its last nine games.
Tournament: March 6, 8-10, Las Vegas.
PAC-10 (6): Arizona, Oregon, Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA (champion), Washington State.
Waiting in the wings: None.
Comment: Stanford (17-10, RPI 45) needs to split its final two games with Arizona State and Arizona.
Tournament: March 7-10, Los Angeles.
SEC (5): Alabama, Florida (champion), Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.
Waiting in the wings: Georgia (16-11, RPI 54), Ole Miss (18-11, RPI 63), Arkansas (17-12, RPI 57).
Comment: Alabama (20-9, RPI 38) won a huge game Wednesday night against Ole Miss. A win Saturday against Mississippi State would probably seal the deal.
Tournament: March 8-11, Atlanta.
ONE BID LEAGUES WITH PROJECTED CHAMPS
(Conference tournament in parentheses)
AMERICA EAST: Vermont (Friday, Sunday, March 10)
ATLANTIC 10: Xavier (March 7-10)
ATLANTIC SUN: East Tennessee State (Today-Saturday) Comment: ETSU (20-8, RPI 117) playing tournament on its home floor. Open with Stetson (9-19) tonight.
BIG SKY: Weber State (Saturday, March 6-7)
BIG SOUTH: Winthrop (Thursday, Saturday) Comment: Winthrop (22-4, RPI 67) faces UNC-Asheville in semifinals tonight at Charleston.
BIG WEST: Long Beach (March 7-10)
CONFERENCE USA: Memphis (March 7-10)
HORIZON: Butler (Friday, Saturday, March 6) Comment: Butler (24-5) plays all games on its home floor. Wright State (21-9, RPI 80) could win the tournament.
IVY: Penn (No Tournament) Comment: Penn (18-8, RPI 83) can clinch tie for regular season championship with win at home Friday against Yale (12-12). Quakers could win title outright by beating Brown (10-17) on Saturday.
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 (Today, March 4, March 7) Comment: Central Connecticut (19-11, RPI 158), the regular season champion, plays all tournament games on its home floor.
OHIO VALLEY: Austin Peay (Friday, Saturday) Comment: Austin Peay (18-10, RPI 120) beat Tennessee State 89-84 in first round. The Governors play Samford in second round Friday.
PATRIOT: Holy Cross (Sunday, March 9) Comment: Holy Cross (23-8, RPI 78) beat Lafayette 83-53 and hosts American (16-13) on Sunday.
SOUTHERN: Davidson (Today-Saturday) Comment: Davidson (24-4, RPI 61) plays Chattanooga in quarterfinals tonight. Appalachian State (21-6, RPI 53) could win the tournament.
SOUTHLAND: Sam Houston (March 8-9, 11)
SUN BELT: South Alabama (Sunday, March 6) Comment: Southern Alabama (18-10, RPI 121) plays Middle Tennessee in Sunday’s quarterfinals in Lafayette, La.
SWAC: Jackson State (March 7-10)
WAC: Nevada (March 6, 8-10)
WEST COAST: Gonzaga (Friday-March 5)
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