Field of 68 Projection: Underrated Mountain West Now Has 4 Teams Making The Grade

[SelectionSunday]

Non-Power 6 conferences had a good week, upping their at-large bid total from 6 to 8 with the additions of Loyola-Chicago and Boise State to this week's Field of 68 at-large pool. The Broncos move from an auto-bid holder to an at-large with Utah State taking over the conference lead in the Mountain West. The MW now has 4 teams in the field.

There are 7 new teams in this week’s projection: Eastern Washington (Big Sky auto bid); Loyola (at-large); Texas State (Sun Belt auto bid); UCSB (Big West auto bid); UNC-Greensboro (SoCon auto bid); Utah State (Mountain West auto bid); and Vermont (America East auto bid).

An * denotes the leader in a multiple-bid conference or -- in the event of a standings tie -- the team with the best NET ranking (noted in parentheses).

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played Feb. 6)
America East (1): Vermont (100)

American (1): Houston (5)

ACC (6): *Virginia (6), Florida State (23), Louisville (35), Virginia Tech (36), Clemson (47), North Carolina (50)

ASUN (1): Liberty (92)

Atlantic 10 (3): *Saint Bonaventure (40), VCU (41), Saint Louis (43)

Big East (5): *Villanova (11), Creighton (33), Xavier (34), Seton Hall (46), UConn (55)

Big Sky (1): Eastern Washington (153)

Big South (1): Winthrop (81)

Big Ten (9): *Michigan (3), Illinois (4), Iowa (7), Ohio State (8), Wisconsin (17), Purdue (24), Rutgers (26), Indiana (48), Minnesota (52)

Big XII (6): *Baylor (1), Texas Tech (12), Texas (19), Oklahoma (20), West Virginia (21), Kansas (27)

Big West (1): UCSB (53)

Colonial (1): Northeastern (133)

Conference USA (2): *UAB (68), Western Kentucky (78)

Horizon (1): Cleveland State (156)

MAAC (1): Siena (117)

MAC (1): Toledo (61)

MEAC (1): North Carolina A&T (305)

Missouri Valley (2): *Drake (13), Loyola (14)

Mountain West (4): San Diego State (22), Boise State (32), Colorado State (45), *Utah State (49)

NEC (1): Bryant (139)

OVC (1): Belmont (69)

Pac 12 (5): *USC (16), Colorado (18), UCLA (38), Stanford (57), Oregon (58)

Patriot (1): Navy (96)

SEC (4): *Alabama (9), Tennessee (10), Missouri (25), Florida (31)

SoCon (1): UNC-Greensboro (93)

Southland (1): Sam Houston State (163)

SWAC (1): Prairie View A&M (150)

Summit (1): South Dakota (154)

Sun Belt (1): Texas State (151)

WCC (2): *Gonzaga (2), BYU (28)

WAC (1): Grand Canyon (118)

Last 4 In: Saint Louis (43), UConn (55), Oregon (58), Western Kentucky (78)

First 4 Out: Arkansas (30), Maryland (39), LSU (42), Georgia Tech (62)

8 to Watch: Colgate (15), Penn State (29), Richmond (51), Wright State (56), SMU (59), Memphis (60), Ole Miss (64), Saint John’s (65)
______________________
Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (8): Loyola-Chicago (14), San Diego State (22), BYU (28), Boise State (32), VCU (41), Saint Louis (43), Colorado State (45), Western Kentucky (78)

Power 6 At-Large Percentage (29 of 37): 78.4%

Non-Power 6 At-Large Percentage (8 of 37): 21.6%

Power 6 Overall Bids Percentage (35 of 68): 51.5%

Non-Power 6 Overall Bids Percentage (33 of 68): 48.5%

Out With The Old (7): East Tennessee State, Georgia Tech, Louisiana, LSU, Montana State, UC-Irvine, UMBC

In With The New (7): Eastern Washington, Loyola-Chicago, Texas State, UCSB, UNC-Greensboro, Utah State, Vermont

NEXT PROJECTION: Saturday. Feb. 13/Sunday, Feb. 14

 

[Stan]

Thanks SS. How far away are we from the "last 4 in" group?

 

[Otis]

We gotta be right on top of the bubble with a pin in our hands!

 

[SelectionSunday]

Thanks SS. How far away are we from the "last 4 in" group?

I would guesstimate about 8 spots.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Do you have Colorado St in if they don't get the auto bid?

 

[SelectionSunday]

Do you have Colorado St in if they don't get the auto bid?

As of now, yes.

In the end I don’t think Mountain West gets 4 bids, but 3 is very possible. SDSU and Boise State have a leg up because they both have at least one quality non-conference win.