All Things Championship Week & Building the Field of 68: (Saturday) Available At-Large Bids = 4

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SelectionSunday

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I hope you've found this useful over the last 12 days. Join me for the final Field of 68 projection in the wee wee hours of Selection Sunday morning.

Through Friday, March 15
I waited as long as I could, but I've finally added New Mexico to the "lock" list after the Lobos' Mountain West semifinal win over Colorado State. Adding that win to the one over Boise State in the quarterfinals, I see no way the Lobos will be left out despite having no non-conference wins of true consequence.

Heading into the weekend we have 32 locks and 4 available at-large bids.

Automatic Bid/Placeholders (32)
America East: #1 Vermont
American: #1 USF
ACC: #1 North Carolina
ASUN: #2 STETSON
Atlantic 10: #5 VCU
Big East: #1 UConn
Big Sky: #5 MONTANA STATE
Big South: #5 LONGWOOD
Big Ten: #1 Purdue
Big XII: #1 Houston
Big West: #2 UC-Davis
Coastal: #1 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Conference USA: #3 Western Kentucky
Horizon: #1 OAKLAND
Ivy: #1 Princeton
MAAC: #2 Fairfield
MAC: #2 Akron
MEAC: #4 Howard
Missouri Valley: #2 DRAKE
Mountain West: #5 San Diego State
NEC: #6 WAGNER
OVC: #3 MOREHEAD STATE
Pac 12: #3 Colorado
Patriot: #1 COLGATE
SEC: #4 Auburn
SoCon: #1 SAMFORD
Southland: #1 McNEESE
SWAC: #1 Grambling
Summit: #1 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
Sun Belt: #2 JAMES MADISON
WCC: #1 SAINT MARY'S
WAC: #1 Grand Canyon

Locks (32) -- this gets us to 64 teams in the field & 4 available at-large bids
1 Alabama
2 Arizona
3 Baylor
4 Boise State
5 BYU
6 Clemson
7 Colorado State
8 Creighton
9 Dayton
10 Duke
11 Florida
12 FAU
13 Gonzaga
14 Illinois
15 Iowa State
16 Kansas
17 Kentucky
18 Marquette
19 Michigan State
20 Nebraska
21 Nevada
22 New Mexico
23 Northwestern
24 South Carolina
25 Tennessee
26 Texas
27 Texas A&M
28 TCU
29 Texas Tech
30 Utah State
31 Washington State
32 Wisconsin

Squarely On the Bubble (8)
1 Indiana State
2 Mississippi State: Saturday vs. Auburn
3 Oklahoma
4 Pitt
5 Providence
6 Saint John's
7 Seton Hall
8 Virginia

Off the Board (8)
1 Cincinnati (20-14)
2 Iowa (18-14)
3 Kansas State (19-14)
4 Memphis (22-10)
5 Ohio State (20-13)
6 Utah (19-14)
7 Villanova (18-15)
8 Wake Forest (20-13)
 
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I think Colorado will find their way in. I see you have them right on the edge. It gets difficult and quality teams always get left out. Hopefully we see Drake for instance. I can live without watching snooze fest Virginia.
 

Available at-large bids remain at 20 through Monday, March 4.

Lots of potential movement on Tuesday. Four teams can lock up a bid, and one will for sure when Nevada visits Boise State. ... win & in for either the Wolf Pack or Broncos.
 


FAU locks its spot into the field with a Wednesday win @ North Texas.

We now have 16 available at-large bids through Wednesday, March 6.
 


Wisconsin finally cements its spot in the Field of 68 with a win over Rutgers.

15 at-large bids still there for the taking.
 

Boise State locks in with an overtime win @ San Diego State. Mountain West currently has 4 teams locked in: Utah State (conference leader), Boise State, Nevada, and San Diego State.

14 at-large bids still out there.

Game of the day in college basketball Saturday is #6 Maine @ #3 Bryant (1 p.m. CT/ESPN+) in the America East quarterfinals. The Black Bears seek their first conference tournament win since 2005.
 
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SelectionSunday said:
Boise State locks in with an overtime win @ San Diego State. Mountain West currently has 4 teams locked in: Utah State (conference leader), Boise State, Nevada, and San Diego State.

14 at-large bids still out there.

Game of the day in college basketball Saturday is #6 Maine @ #3 Bryant (1 p.m. CT/ESPN+) in the America East quarterfinals. The Black Bears seek their first conference tournament win since 2005.
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Not sure I’ll be able to see Maine but I’ll follow the score. 17 years without a conference tournament win has to be some kind of record for futility.
 











Holy Man said:
Color guys always say that. I’ll take Selections take before Bonners. For the record, I’d like to them both in but there has been little suggestion up to now that either one would get an at-large.
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Indiana State would actually have a pretty good case. With a loss, they would be .500 in Q1/Q2(not great, but not terrible when comparing teams around the cut line), 15-6 against Q1-Q3, and their avg metrics would be top 40, with an SOR of 33(might move up a couple spots with a loss). Not saying they will get in, but if they miss, they'll be one of the first to miss.
 

Indiana State has been a top 25 team at one point and isn’t even considered on the bubble. They’re in. Then again a blowout loss to Drake wouldn’t look great to people that haven’t followed closely all year.
 

Drake University Gopher said:
Indiana State has been a top 25 team at one point and isn’t even considered on the bubble. They’re in. Then again a blowout loss to Drake wouldn’t look great to people that haven’t followed closely all year.
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I mean they certainly wouldn't be a lock. They'll either be in Dayton or not in IMO.
 


Drake University Gopher said:
Whether you believe them to be a lock or not, leaving them out with their NET would be unprecedented.
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It would be unprecedented, but we only have 3 years worth of data when working with the NET. There really isn't a good comparison to be had in previous years. Maybe San Fran in 2022, but they had 4 times as many Q1 wins. I mean I hope they get in.
 

We’re having the wrong debate. No one has Indiana State on the bubble. Drake on the other hand is playing for their Tournament life right now sadly enough. Not sure they’re in (most have them out). Hopefully they’ve shown enough today.
 




Drake University Gopher said:
We’re having the wrong debate. No one has Indiana State on the bubble. Drake on the other hand is playing for their Tournament life right now sadly enough. Not sure they’re in (most have them out). Hopefully they’ve shown enough today.
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???. Everyone has them on the bubble now. They haven't been in the discussion because they've been designated the "AQ" this whole time. If ISU gets in, they'll be in Dayton.
 

Seth Davis thinks Indiana State is out.

 

Gophers7633 said:
???. Everyone has them on the bubble now. They haven't been in the discussion because they've been designated the "AQ" this whole time. If ISU gets in, they'll be in Dayton.
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They were technically the AQ, but so was St Mary’s. At an 11 seed coming into the day, that’s not a lock, but not what I would call your average AQ (think 13 or less) that we think of that would be out with a loss. I think this loss puts them back on the bubble conversation, but they are in due to every metric in their favor.
 

Drake University Gopher said:
They were technically the AQ, but so was St Mary’s. At an 11 seed coming into the day, that’s not a lock, but not what I would call your average AQ (think 13 or less) that we think of that would be out with a loss. I think this loss puts them back on the bubble conversation, but they are in due to every metric in their favor.
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Yeah, buy St Mary's has a much better resume. Yeah, they aren't your avg AQ, but their resume certainly has holes in it. They don't have any wins over the at-large field, which will hurt their case.

I hope they get in, but they're far from a lock. When I think lock, I think avoiding Dayton. If they get in, they'll almost assuredly be there.
 

Updated at 5:45 p.m. Sunday. Will update occasionally tonight.

Michigan State to the bubble with its loss at Indiana.

Drake and Indiana State switch places. Bulldogs earn the MVC auto bid, while Sycamores move to squarely on the bubble.
 
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Holy Man said:
The giants must fall!
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Up next #6 Lehigh heads to Hamilton, NY to take on Colgate. They sprung the upset against #2 Boston U.

It's a rematch of the teams' Season Finale when visiting Colgate beat them 63-60.
 

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