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Bracket Breakdown: Mock Tournament 6.0

March 8, 2010 Columns No Comments

We’re down to the final week before Selection Sunday, and the field is starting to take shape with five teams already in the field: Cornell, East Tennessee State, Murray State, Northern Iowa and Winthrop. While those teams played their way into the field, others appear intent on playing their way out.

For the second consecutive weekend, big losses were rampant throughout the basketball nation. Connecticut’s loss to South Florida gives the Huskies 14 losses, meaning that they would need to become the first at-large team with 15 losses to make the NCAA Tournament unless they find a way to win the Big East tournament this week. Cincinnati finds itself in the same boat after losing its third straight game and fifth in six tries.

In the Big Ten, Illinois paralleled the Bearcats’ poor finish with its third straight defeat Sunday, a 72-57 loss in Champaign to Wisconsin. Illinois has a more compelling case for an at-large bid than Cincinnati does thanks to three wins against the RPI top 25. However, the Illini have 13 losses and an RPI of 73. Illinois will get another crack at the Badgers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, and the Illini might need to win that game to avoid getting bounced off the bubble.

Besides the bubble teams, several others lost big games that affect their seeding in the latest version of the Mock Tournament.

  • Kansas State drops to a No. 3 seed after inexplicably losing at home in overtime to Iowa State, ranked No. 113 in the RPI.
  • Villanova also drops to the No. 3 line after losing at home in overtime. However, these Wildcats shouldn’t be as ashamed to lose because West Virginia is finishing the season strongly.
  • Vanderbilt also suffered a home loss — to South Carolina — and falls to the No. 6 line.

Here are the latest brackets and links to previous projections.

Teams in bold have won an automatic bid.

Midwest

(St. Louis)

 (1) Kansas vs. (16) Troy (Oklahoma City)

(8) Gonzaga vs. (9) Marquette (Oklahoma City)

(4) Georgetown vs. (13) Siena (Spokane)

(5) Maryland vs. (12) California (Spokane)

(2) West Virginia vs. (15) Quinnipiac (Buffalo)

(7) Butler vs. (10) Virginia Tech (Buffalo)

(3) Ohio State vs. (14) Wofford (Jacksonville)

(6) Vanderbilt vs. (11) South Florida (Jacksonville)

South

(Houston)

 (1) Duke vs. (16) Winthrop (Jacksonville)

(8) Texas vs. (9) Old Dominion (Jacksonville)

(4) Tennessee vs. (13) Kent State (New Orleans)

(5) Baylor vs. (12) Illinois (New Orleans)

(2) Purdue vs. (15) Oakland (Milwaukee)

(7) UNLV vs. (10) Notre Dame (Milwaukee)

(3) Villanova vs. (14) Morgan State (Providence)

(6) Richmond vs. (11) Georgia Tech (Providence)

West

(Salt Lake City)

 (1) Syracuse vs. (16) Lehigh/Jackson State (Buffalo)

(8) Clemson vs. (9) Utah State (Buffalo)

(4) Texas A&M vs. (13) Cornell (San Jose)

(5) Xavier vs. (12) Florida (San Jose)

(2) Wisconsin vs. (15) Sam Houston State (Oklahoma City)

(7) Louisville vs. (10) Florida State (Oklahoma City)

(3) New Mexico vs. (14) Santa Barbara (San Jose)

(6) Michigan State vs. (11) UTEP (San Jose)

East

(Syracuse)

 (1) Kentucky vs. (16) East Tennessee State (Milwaukee)

(8) Missouri vs. (9) Northern Iowa (Milwaukee)

(4) Temple vs. (13) Weber State (Spokane)

(5) Oklahoma State vs. (12) Mississippi (Spokane)

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (15) Vermont (Providence)

(7) Wake Forest vs. (10) Saint Mary’s (Providence)

(3) Kansas State vs. (14) Murray State (New Orleans)

(6) BYU vs. (11) UAB (New Orleans)

Last Eight In:

 Notre Dame

Georgia Tech

UTEP (if needed)

UAB

South Florida

Illinois

Florida

Mississippi

First Eight Out:

 Seton Hall

Dayton

Rhode Island

Connecticut

Washington

Memphis

San Diego State

California

Conference
Breakdown:

 Big East: 9

ACC: 7

Big 12: 7

Big Ten: 5

SEC: 5

Atlantic 10: 3

Mountain West: 3

Conference USA: 2

West Coast: 2

22 one-bid conferences

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Phil Kasiecki on Twitter

  • We're about 30 minutes from the tip of Florida State-Boston College at Conte Forum. FSU has won 7 straight, BC has lost 6 straight. about 44 minutes ago from web
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