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Friday, March 2, 2007
Tony Barnhart’s daily picks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After Tony’s update, log your own opinion in our daily blog.
RISING
• Georgia Tech (19-10, RPI 41): The Yellow Jackets gave the Selection Committee a good reason to put them in by beating North Carolina Thursday night. Tech should not cloud the issue by not being ready for Sunday’s home finale with Boston College. Win that one and Georgia Tech should be a lock.
• Texas (22-7, RPI 31): You do not want to play the Longhorns right now. Texas has won six straight and could tie Kansas for the regular-season Big 12 championship with a win at Lawrence on Saturday.
• Maryland (23-7, RPI 11): That goes double for the Terps, who have won six straight and just posted back to back wins over North Carolina and Duke.
• Virginia (19-8, RPI 34): Win at Wake Forest on Saturday and the Cavaliers are the regular season champions. Virginia has five wins in the Top 25, which includes two over Maryland and one over Duke.
FALLING
• Florida (25-5, RPI 10): Yes the Gators may have lost a No. 1 seed with three losses in their last four games. But don’t forget that last season Florida ended February with a three-game losing streak. But when the calendar turned to March, the Gators won 11 straight games on the way to the national championship.
• Southern Cal (21-9, RPI 52): The Trojans looked like a lock two weeks ago but now they have posted road losses at Arizona State (6-21) and Washington (17-12). Another loss looms Saturday at Washington State (23-6, RPI 29)
• Air Force (22-7, RPI 24): It wasn’t that long ago that we had the Falcons as a No. 4 seed. Now they have lost three straight going into next week’s Mountain West Tournament.
• Florida State (18-11, RPI 50) at Miami: With four wins in the RPI Top 25, the Seminoles still have a shot if they can win at Miami on Saturday and then win a couple of games in the ACC Tournament. Lose at Miami and it’s over for the Seminoles.
• Alabama (20-9, RPI 39) at Mississippi State: The Crimson Tide, playing without guard Ronald Steele, is still in the hunt after beating Ole Miss at home on Wednesday. Lose in Starkville and Alabama finishes 7-9 in the SEC.
• Ohio State at Michigan (20-10, RPI 48): After beating Michigan State earlier this week, the Wolverines will stake a claim to an NCAA bid up they can upset the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor.
• Syracuse (21-8, RPI 49) at Villanova (19-9, RPI 19): We put Syracuse in the field after the Orange beat Georgetown on Monday night. Others aren’t so sure. A win at Villanova on Saturday would remove all doubt.
TOP 65 BY SEEDS
1: UCLA, Kansas, Ohio State, Wisconsin
2: Texas A&M, North Carolina, Georgetown, Florida
3: Memphis, Southern Illinois, Duke, Pittsburgh
4: Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisville
5: Texas, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Washington State
6: Marquette, Michigan State, Boston College, Kentucky
7: Nevada, Butler, Indiana, UNLV
8: Southern Cal, Stanford, Villanova, Arizona
9: Air Force, Oregon, Georgia Tech, BYU
10: Notre Dame, Xavier, Syracuse, Creighton
11: Texas Tech, Winthrop, Alabama, Old Dominion
12: VCU, Purdue, Missouri State, Gonzaga
13: Davidson, Drexel, Holy Cross, Long Beach State
14: Toledo, Vermont, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston
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
BY CONFERENCE
We project that 22 of the 31 conferences will receive only one bid. The other 43 spots in the NCAA Field will be divided among the nine remaining conferences as follows:
• ACC (7) Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech.
Tournament: March 8-11, Tampa.
• Big East (7): Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova.
Tournament: March 7-10, New York.
• Big Ten (5): Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin.
Tournament: March 8-11, Chicago
• Big 12 (4): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.
Tournament: March 8-11, Oklahoma City.
• Colonial (3): Drexel, Old Dominion, VCU.
Tournament: Today-March 5, Richmond.
• Missouri Valley (3): Creighton, Missouri State, Southern Illinois.
Tournament: Today-Sunday, St. Louis.
• Mountain West (3): Air Force, BYU, UNLV
Tournament: March 6, 8-10, Las Vegas.
• PAC-10 (6): Arizona, Oregon, Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State.
Tournament: March 7-10, Los Angeles.
• SEC (5): Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.
Tournament: March 8-11, Atlanta.
• How do you see it?
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