SelectionSunday
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EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – Happy New Year!
Our first look at a 2023 Field of 68 projection finds the field rounding into shape. Conference play has started in every conference except the MAC, MEAC, and SWAC, so we’ll start finding out who the November/December pretenders were, and who the NCAA Tournament contenders are from each of the 32 conferences.
Every season there are teams from both ends of the spectrum. There are teams that start fast but fade into oblivion and miss the tournament, and then there are those who do next to nothing during the nonconference season but find themselves in the bracket on Selection Sunday because of a strong conference showing. Here are a few guesses, let’s see how they pan out:
Fast Start Frauds? Maryland, Mississippi State, Utah State
Strong Conference Performance Salvages Selection Sunday: Kentucky, Michigan, Texas Tech
Week 8 Team of the Week: #20 Xavier (12-3, 4-0 Big East) – On Saturday the Musketeers knocked off previously unbeaten UConn 83-73 while moving to the top of the Big East standings. The Travis Steele era clearly is over in Cincinnati. Sean Miller has X back on track for the NCAA Tournament, a place Steele never took the program in his four seasons in The Queen City.
An * denotes the automatic qualifier (conference leader and/or best NET ranking) in a multiple-bid conference. Current NET ranking is noted in parentheses.
FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played January 1, 2023)
America East (1): UMass-Lowell (88)
American (1): Houston (1)
ACC (6): Virginia (16), Duke (17), North Carolina (29), *Miami (33), Virginia Tech (38), Pitt (70)
ASUN (1): Liberty (72)
Atlantic 10 (1): Dayton (73)
Big East (5): UConn (2), *Xavier (21), Marquette (28), Creighton (34), Providence (48)
Big Sky (1): Eastern Washington (168)
Big South (1): Longwood (111)
Big Ten (9): *Purdue (4), Ohio State (10), Indiana (19), Rutgers (20), Illinois (39), Wisconsin (47), Maryland (51), Penn State (59), Michigan State (68)
Big XII (7): *Kansas (7), Texas (9), West Virginia (15), Baylor (24), Iowa State (26), Kansas State (27), TCU (36)
Big West (1): UCSB (91)
Colonial (1): College of Charleston (49)
Conference USA (2): FAU (11), *UAB (60)
Horizon (1): Northern Kentucky (220)
Ivy (1): Cornell (97)
MAAC (1): Iona (50)
MAC (1): Kent (30)
MEAC (1): NCCU (179)
Missouri Valley (1): Indiana State (104)
Mountain West (3): *New Mexico (18), San Diego State (22), Utah State (23)
NEC (1): Saint Francis-PA (338)
OVC (1): Eastern Illinois (322)
Pac 12 (4): Arizona (5), *UCLA (6), Utah (31), Arizona State (55)
Patriot (1): Colgate (133)
SEC (6): *Tennessee (3), Alabama (8), Arkansas (12), Missouri (32), Auburn (35), Mississippi State (37)
SoCon (1): UNC-Greensboro (152)
Southland (1): Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (190)
SWAC (1): Grambling (164)
Summit (1): Oral Roberts (43)
Sun Belt (1): James Madison (44)
WCC (2): Gonzaga (13), *Saint Mary’s (14)
WAC (2): Sam Houston (25), *Utah Valley (79)
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Last 4 In: Utah State (23), Arizona State (55), Penn State (59), Pitt (70)
First 4 Out: UCF (52), Nevada (53), LSU (75), Wake Forest (81)
8 to Watch: Oklahoma State (40), Kentucky (41), Oklahoma (45), Southern Miss (46), Boise State (56), Memphis (57), Clemson (78), UNC-Wilmington (86)
Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (5): FAU (11), Gonzaga (13), San Diego State (22), Utah State (23), Sam Houston (25)
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In With the New (15): Colgate, Cornell, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Washington, Indiana State, James Madison, Northern Kentucky, Pitt, Providence, Saint Francis-PA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UAB, UCSB, UNC-Greensboro, Utah Valley
Out With the Old (15): American, Bradley, Furman, Kentucky, Memphis, Milwaukee, Montana State, Nicholls, Oklahoma, Southern Miss, SIU-Edwardsville, UC-Irvine, UNLV, Wagner, Yale
NEXT PROJECTION: Sunday, January 8
Our first look at a 2023 Field of 68 projection finds the field rounding into shape. Conference play has started in every conference except the MAC, MEAC, and SWAC, so we’ll start finding out who the November/December pretenders were, and who the NCAA Tournament contenders are from each of the 32 conferences.
Every season there are teams from both ends of the spectrum. There are teams that start fast but fade into oblivion and miss the tournament, and then there are those who do next to nothing during the nonconference season but find themselves in the bracket on Selection Sunday because of a strong conference showing. Here are a few guesses, let’s see how they pan out:
Fast Start Frauds? Maryland, Mississippi State, Utah State
Strong Conference Performance Salvages Selection Sunday: Kentucky, Michigan, Texas Tech
Week 8 Team of the Week: #20 Xavier (12-3, 4-0 Big East) – On Saturday the Musketeers knocked off previously unbeaten UConn 83-73 while moving to the top of the Big East standings. The Travis Steele era clearly is over in Cincinnati. Sean Miller has X back on track for the NCAA Tournament, a place Steele never took the program in his four seasons in The Queen City.
An * denotes the automatic qualifier (conference leader and/or best NET ranking) in a multiple-bid conference. Current NET ranking is noted in parentheses.
FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played January 1, 2023)
America East (1): UMass-Lowell (88)
American (1): Houston (1)
ACC (6): Virginia (16), Duke (17), North Carolina (29), *Miami (33), Virginia Tech (38), Pitt (70)
ASUN (1): Liberty (72)
Atlantic 10 (1): Dayton (73)
Big East (5): UConn (2), *Xavier (21), Marquette (28), Creighton (34), Providence (48)
Big Sky (1): Eastern Washington (168)
Big South (1): Longwood (111)
Big Ten (9): *Purdue (4), Ohio State (10), Indiana (19), Rutgers (20), Illinois (39), Wisconsin (47), Maryland (51), Penn State (59), Michigan State (68)
Big XII (7): *Kansas (7), Texas (9), West Virginia (15), Baylor (24), Iowa State (26), Kansas State (27), TCU (36)
Big West (1): UCSB (91)
Colonial (1): College of Charleston (49)
Conference USA (2): FAU (11), *UAB (60)
Horizon (1): Northern Kentucky (220)
Ivy (1): Cornell (97)
MAAC (1): Iona (50)
MAC (1): Kent (30)
MEAC (1): NCCU (179)
Missouri Valley (1): Indiana State (104)
Mountain West (3): *New Mexico (18), San Diego State (22), Utah State (23)
NEC (1): Saint Francis-PA (338)
OVC (1): Eastern Illinois (322)
Pac 12 (4): Arizona (5), *UCLA (6), Utah (31), Arizona State (55)
Patriot (1): Colgate (133)
SEC (6): *Tennessee (3), Alabama (8), Arkansas (12), Missouri (32), Auburn (35), Mississippi State (37)
SoCon (1): UNC-Greensboro (152)
Southland (1): Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (190)
SWAC (1): Grambling (164)
Summit (1): Oral Roberts (43)
Sun Belt (1): James Madison (44)
WCC (2): Gonzaga (13), *Saint Mary’s (14)
WAC (2): Sam Houston (25), *Utah Valley (79)
________________________________________________
Last 4 In: Utah State (23), Arizona State (55), Penn State (59), Pitt (70)
First 4 Out: UCF (52), Nevada (53), LSU (75), Wake Forest (81)
8 to Watch: Oklahoma State (40), Kentucky (41), Oklahoma (45), Southern Miss (46), Boise State (56), Memphis (57), Clemson (78), UNC-Wilmington (86)
Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (5): FAU (11), Gonzaga (13), San Diego State (22), Utah State (23), Sam Houston (25)
___________________________
In With the New (15): Colgate, Cornell, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Washington, Indiana State, James Madison, Northern Kentucky, Pitt, Providence, Saint Francis-PA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UAB, UCSB, UNC-Greensboro, Utah Valley
Out With the Old (15): American, Bradley, Furman, Kentucky, Memphis, Milwaukee, Montana State, Nicholls, Oklahoma, Southern Miss, SIU-Edwardsville, UC-Irvine, UNLV, Wagner, Yale
NEXT PROJECTION: Sunday, January 8
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