Field Of 68 Settling In, Only 8 New Teams In The Bracket

[SelectionSunday]

Things are starting to settle in, as this week’s Field of 68 projection only has 8 new teams. … Arkansas, Florida, Grand Canyon, Liberty, Prairie View A&M, Stanford, Syracuse, and Wofford.

I don’t particularly like the tail end of the at-large teams in my bracket. There are some teams with pretty weak resumes, cases in point Arkansas and LSU, both among my “last 4 in” despite gaudy NET rankings in the 30s. I would argue the only significant win either team has is the Tigers’ win over the Razorbacks. That’s it.

Obviously, we still have a ways to go until Selection Sunday, but there are plenty of teams I feel comfortable saying definitely will hear their name called. I won’t use the word “lock” in January, but these teams (looking at their remaining schedules) would have to have a complete meltdown to not make the field:

Alabama, Baylor, BYU, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, Villanova, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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 Jan. 23)
America East (1): UMBC (138)

American (1): Houston (4)

ACC (7): *Virginia (8), Florida State (20), Syracuse (36), Louisville (43), Virginia Tech (48), North Carolina (50), Clemson (52)

ASUN (1): Liberty (85)

Atlantic 10 (2): Saint Louis (21), *Saint Bonaventure (46)

Big East (5): *Villanova (6), Creighton (27), Xavier (38), UConn (44), Seton Hall (53)

Big Sky (1): Montana State (179)

Big South (1): Winthrop (54)

Big Ten (9): *Michigan (3), Iowa (5), Illinois (7), Ohio State (17), Wisconsin (18), Purdue (29), Maryland (34), Indiana (37), Minnesota (41)

Big XII (6): *Baylor (1), Texas (10), Texas Tech (13), Kansas (19), West Virginia (22), Oklahoma (25)

Big West (1): UC-Irvine (119)

Colonial (1): Northeastern (118)

Conference USA (2): *UAB (66), Western Kentucky (80)

Horizon (1): Cleveland State (160)

MAAC (1): Siena (111)

MAC (1): Toledo (63)

MEAC (1): North Carolina A&T (316)

Missouri Valley (1): Drake (11)

Mountain West (3): *Boise State (14), San Diego State (39), Utah State (51)

NEC (1): Bryant (92)

OVC (1): Belmont (86)

Pac 12 (5): Colorado (16), USC (24), *UCLA (33), Oregon (45), Stanford (59)

Patriot (1): Navy (90)

SEC (6): *Alabama (9), Tennessee (12), Missouri (23), Florida (26), Arkansas (32), LSU (35)

SoCon (1): Wofford (83)

Southland (1): Sam Houston State (146)

SWAC (1): Prairie View A&M (206)

Summit (1): South Dakota (171)

Sun Belt (1): Texas State (140)

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

WAC (1): Grand Canyon (130)

Last 4 In: Arkansas (32), LSU (35), Syracuse (36), Western Kentucky (80)

First 4 Out: Loyola-Chicago (30), Colorado State (55), Georgia Tech (57), Michigan State (87)

8 to Watch: Colgate (15), Penn State (40), VCU (47), SMU (49), Rutgers (56), Pitt (58), Richmond (60), Providence (68)
_____________________
Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (5): Saint Louis (21), BYU (28), San Diego State (39), Utah State (51), Western Kentucky (80)

Power 6 At-Large Percentage (32 of 37): 86.5%

Non-Power 6 At-Large Percentage (5 of 37): 13.5%

Power 6 Overall Bids Percentage (38 of 68): 55.9%

Non-Power 6 Overall Bids Percentage (30 of 68): 44.1%
____________________________________
Out With The Old (8): Furman, Jacksonville, Marquette, Richmond, Rutgers, Southern U, Utah Valley, Wichita State

In With The New (8): Arkansas, Florida, Grand Canyon, Liberty, Prairie View A&M, Stanford, Syracuse, Wofford

NEXT PROJECTION: Saturday. Jan. 30/Sunday, Jan. 31

 

[SelectionSunday]

Rutgers picks up a key win @ Indiana.

I'll continue to add significant bubble or other developments to this thread as they occur this week.