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Bracket Breakdown: Mock Tournament 3.0

February 26, 2010 Columns No Comments

What a difference two weeks can make. Less than 14 days ago, Connecticut was left for dead after Cincinnati completed a season sweep of the Huskies with a 60-48 win in Storrs. But just when everyone was ready to relegate Connecticut to the NIT, the Huskies flipped the switch and started beating the Big East’s beasts.

Almost two weeks later, Connecticut has wins against Villanova and West Virginia — two marquee wins to brag about, in addition to the No. 2 toughest schedule. As a result of the Huskies’ recent hot streak, Connecticut makes its debut in the tournament as a No. 8 seed. Yes, teams can go from the wrong side of the bubble to a solid middle-of-the-road seed in less than two weeks. With remaining games against Louisville, Notre Dame and South Florida, Connecticut has an opportunity to build a six-game winning streak heading into the Big East Tournament and move up the seed chart.

While Connecticut rises, William & Mary continues to falter. After dropping a must-win BracketBusters game at Iona, the Tribe returned home to lose to Towson, ranked No. 273 in the RPI. That loss gives William & Mary three losses to teams in the bottom 150 of the RPI. That’s just too many losses to bad teams, which neutralizes the strength of quality wins against Wake Forest, Richmond and Maryland. Unless the Tribe make a run to capture the Colonial Athletic Association’s automatic bid, the Tribe will once again fail to reach the NCAA Tournament. The team has never gone to the Big Dance since it started in 1939.

Here are some of the other highlights of Mock Tournament 3.0.

  • The No. 1 seeds remain the same, but watch Purdue’s performance without Robbie Hummel.
  • Baylor and Missouri inch higher in seeding, which reflects the strength of the Big 12 Conference this season.
  • Florida State and Virginia Tech are entering bubble trouble, while Louisville can start to feel a little more secure.
  • Florida is coming on strong at the right time of year, and Utah State and UTEP are getting closer to earning an at-large bid if they don’t win their conferences’ automatic bids.

Without further ado, here are the Mock Tournament 3.0 seeds. UAB and Cincinnati in the tournament? Florida and Charlotte out? Am I crazy or right on point? Submit a comment to share your thoughts and opinions.

For comparison, also check out Mock Tournament 1.0 and Mock Tournament 2.0. Also, check out a map of NCAA Tournament sites and the schedule for all rounds of the tournament.

1

 Kansas

Syracuse

Purdue

Kentucky

2

 Georgetown

Duke

Villanova

Kansas State

3

 Wisconsin

Pittsburgh

West Virginia

Temple

4

 Ohio State

New Mexico

Texas

Tennessee

5

 Wake Forest

Richmond

Vanderbilt

Michigan State

6

 Baylor

Xavier

Butler (Horizon)

Texas A&M

7

 BYU

Georgia Tech

Oklahoma State

Missouri

8

 Old Dominion (CAA)

UNLV

Gonzaga (West Coast)

Connecticut

9

 Maryland

Dayton

Clemson

Illinois

10

 Louisville

Florida State

Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)

Virginia Tech

11

 Rhode Island

UAB

Marquette

Saint Mary’s

12

 Cincinnati

California (Pac-10)

Utah State (WAC)

UTEP (Conference USA)

13

 Siena (Metro Atlantic)

Kent State (MAC)

Cornell (Ivy)

Weber State (Big Sky)

14

 Oakland (Summit)

Murray State (Ohio Valley)

Sam Houston State (Southland)

Wofford (Southern)

15

 Santa Barbara (Big West)

Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun)

Morgan State (MEAC)

North Texas (Sun Belt)

16

 Stony Brook (America East)

Coastal Carolina (Big South)

Robert Morris (Northeast)

Lehigh (Patriot)

Jackson State (SWAC)

Last Eight In:

 Florida State

Northern Iowa (if needed)

Virginia Tech

Rhode Island

UAB

Marquette

Saint Mary’s

Cincinnati

First Eight Out:

 Utah State (if needed)

Florida

Charlotte

South Florida

Seton Hall

William & Mary

Mississippi

UTEP (if needed)

Conference
Breakdown:

 Big East: 9
ACC: 7

Big 12: 7

Atlantic 10: 5

Big Ten: 5

Mountain West: 3

SEC: 3

Conference USA: 2

West Coast: 2

22 one-bid conferences

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