Oklahoma State gets postseason ban, so a tweak to preseason Field of 68 projection

[SelectionSunday]

The NCAA announced today that Oklahoma State is banned from the 2022 NCAA Tournament for infractions uncovered as part of the FBI scandal a few years ago. The postseason ban was supposed to happen last season, but OSU did an admirable job stalling the punishment so that it wouldn't occur during Cade Cunningham's one year, ahem, on campus.

I had the Cowboys in my "final" preseason Field of 68 projection, so here's the updated version, now sans Oklahoma State. UConn is the direct beneficiary of the Cowboys' absence. I also tweaked the "last 4 in" and "first 4 out" a bit.

Automatic qualifiers in multiple-bid conferences are noted in bold.

PRESEASON FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (11/3/21)
America East (1): Vermont

American (3): Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis

ACC (6): Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech

ASUN (1): Liberty

Atlantic 10 (2): Saint Bonaventure, VCU

Big East (5): Saint John’s, Seton Hall, UConn, Villanova, Xavier

Big Sky (1): Montana

Big South (1): Winthrop

Big Ten (8): Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers

Big XII (5): Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, West Virginia

Big West (1): UCSB

Colonial (1): UNC-Wilmington

Conference USA (1): Western Kentucky

Horizon (1): Milwaukee

Ivy (1): Penn

MAAC (1): Iona

MAC (1): Kent

MEAC (1): NCCU

Missouri Valley (1): Northern Iowa

Mountain West (2): Colorado State, Utah State

NEC (1): Mount Saint Mary’s

OVC (1): Belmont

Pac 12 (5): Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington State

Patriot (1): Bucknell

SEC (7): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee

SoCon (1): East Tennessee

Southland (1): Northwestern State

SWAC (1): Texas Southern

Summit (1): North Dakota State

Sun Belt (1): Georgia State

WCC (3): BYU, Gonzaga, LMU

WAC (1): New Mexico State

Last 4 In: Kansas State, LMU (last team in), UConn, VCU

First 4 Out: Florida, Nevada (1st team out), Richmond, Texas Tech

12 Others to Watch: Cleveland, Drake, Louisville, Loyola-Chicago, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, San Diego State, UAB, Utah, Wichita, Wisconsin

Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (6): BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, LMU, Utah State, VCU
______________________________

Repeats from 2020-2021 Field (38): Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, East Tennessee, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iona, Kansas, Liberty, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Mount Saint Mary’s, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Rutgers, Saint Bonaventure, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Southern, UCLA, UConn, UCSB, USC, Utah State, Villanova, Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Winthrop

Ineligible for NCAA Tournament (9): Bellarmine, Cal Baptist, Dixie, Merrimack, North Alabama, Oklahoma State, Saint Thomas, Tarleton, UC-San Diego

Sweet 16 Sleepers: Belmont, Colorado State, Iona, Saint Bonaventure

Final 4: Kentucky, Memphis, Purdue, Texas

One Shining Moment: Texas

 

[Spottedmuskie]

What a joke, I hope Cade got paid the big bucks

 

[dlnavra]

The NCAA announced today that Oklahoma State is banned from the 2022 NCAA Tournament for infractions uncovered as part of the FBI scandal a few years ago. The postseason ban was supposed to happen last season, but OSU did an admirable job stalling the punishment so that it wouldn't occur during Cade Cunningham's one year, ahem, on campus.

I had the Cowboys in my "final" preseason Field of 68 projection, so here's the updated version, now sans Oklahoma State. UConn is the direct beneficiary of the Cowboys' absence. I also tweaked the "last 4 in" and "first 4 out" a bit.

Automatic qualifiers in multiple-bid conferences are noted in bold.

PRESEASON FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (11/3/21)
America East (1): Vermont

American (3): Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis

ACC (6): Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech

ASUN (1): Liberty

Atlantic 10 (2): Saint Bonaventure, VCU

Big East (5): Saint John’s, Seton Hall, UConn, Villanova, Xavier

Big Sky (1): Montana

Big South (1): Winthrop

Big Ten (8): Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers

Big XII (5): Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Big West (1): UCSB

Colonial (1): UNC-Wilmington

Conference USA (1): Western Kentucky

Horizon (1): Milwaukee

Ivy (1): Penn

MAAC (1): Iona

MAC (1): Kent

MEAC (1): NCCU

Missouri Valley (1): Northern Iowa

Mountain West (2): Colorado State, Utah State

NEC (1): Mount Saint Mary’s

OVC (1): Belmont

Pac 12 (5): Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington State

Patriot (1): Bucknell

SEC (7): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee

SoCon (1): East Tennessee

Southland (1): Northwestern State

SWAC (1): Texas Southern

Summit (1): North Dakota State

Sun Belt (1): Georgia State

WCC (3): BYU, Gonzaga, LMU

WAC (1): New Mexico State

Last 4 In: Kansas State, LMU (last team in), UConn, VCU

First 4 Out: Florida, Nevada (1st team out), Richmond, Texas Tech

12 Others to Watch: Cleveland, Drake, Louisville, Loyola-Chicago, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, San Diego State, UAB, Utah, Wichita, Wisconsin

Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (6): BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, LMU, Utah State, VCU
______________________________

Repeats from 2020-2021 Field (38): Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, East Tennessee, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iona, Kansas, Liberty, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Mount Saint Mary’s, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Rutgers, Saint Bonaventure, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Southern, UCLA, UConn, UCSB, USC, Utah State, Villanova, Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Winthrop

Ineligible for NCAA Tournament (9): Bellarmine, Cal Baptist, Dixie, Merrimack, North Alabama, Oklahoma State, Saint Thomas, Tarleton, UC-San Diego

Sweet 16 Sleepers: Belmont, Colorado State, Iona, Saint Bonaventure

Final 4: Kentucky, Memphis, Purdue, Texas

One Shining Moment: Texas

Thanks for sharing this. I'd encourage you to look closer at Colorado, and Nebraska. Andy Katz has noticed the Huskers for instance. He has them in the field, which would have been laughable past few years but Katz understands how that roster has transformed/improved. Tad Boyle has also built CU into a reliable winning program even with Mckinley Wright moving on. But Nebraska is going to be one of the big surprise teams this year, and sincerely hoping this is what Gophers look like a few years from what will at this stage be a rough start. . .