Road to Selection Sunday: First In-Season Field of 68 Projection Welcomes 5 New At-Large Teams

[SelectionSunday]

By Buzz King

ROAD TO SELECTION SUNDAY, MN -- Our first in-season Field of 68 projection includes 15 new teams, spearheaded by Sun Belt automatic qualifier James Madison, upset victors over Michigan State in East Lansing. We have 5 new at-large entrants; BYU; Mississippi State; Nevada; Northwestern; and Oregon.

Among those knocked out of the field (for now) were a pair of Big Ten teams (Maryland, Rutgers) and Richard Pitino’s New Mexico squad, which fell 72-58 @ Saint Mary’s without the services of star grad-senior guard Jalen House.

We also learn the Pac 12 is off to a solid start this season, and that former Gopher PG Ta’Lon Cooper (South Carolina) and Raheem Anthony (St. Thomas) are among those making headway in their new locations.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played Nov. 12) -- Teams in ALL CAPS BOLD denote the projected automatic qualifier in a multiple-bid conference.

America East (1): Vermont

American (2): FAU, MEMPHIS

ACC (5): Clemson, DUKE, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia

ASUN (1): Eastern Kentucky

Atlantic 10 (1): Duquesne

Big East (6): CREIGHTON, Marquette, Providence, Saint John’s, UConn, Villanova

Big Sky (1): Weber State

Big South (1): Radford

Big Ten (6): Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, PURDUE, Wisconsin

Big XII (8): Baylor, BYU, Houston, KANSAS, Kansas State, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech

Big West (1): Long Beach State

Colonial (1): UNC-Wilmington

Conference USA (1): Liberty

Horizon (1): Purdue-Fort Wayne

Ivy (1): Princeton

MAAC (1): Iona

MAC (1): Akron

MEAC (1): Howard

Missouri Valley (1): Drake

Mountain West (3): BOISE STATE, Nevada, San Diego State

NEC (1): Sacred Heart

OVC (1): Morehead State

Pac 12 (5): ARIZONA, Colorado, Oregon, UCLA, USC

Patriot (1): Colgate

SEC (8): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, TENNESSEE, Texas A&M

SoCon (1): Furman

Southland (1): Nicholls

SWAC (1): Southern U

Summit (1): South Dakota State

Sun Belt (1): James Madison

WCC (2): GONZAGA, Saint Mary’s

WAC (1): Grand Canyon
___________________________
Last 4 In: Ole Miss, Kansas State, Nevada, Ohio State (last team in)

First 4 Out: Iowa State (first team out), Florida, Dayton, Pitt

12 to Watch: Bradley, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, San Francisco, Syracuse, Tulane, Utah, Yale

Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (4): FAU, Nevada, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State

Moving In (15): BYU, Iona, James Madison, Long Beach State, Mississippi State, Nevada, Nicholls, Northwestern, Oregon, Princeton, Purdue-Fort Wayne, Sacred Heart, Southern U, UNC-Wilmington, Weber State

Dropping Out (15): Appalachian State, College of Charleston, Eastern Washington, Florida, Maryland, McNeese, Merrimack, New Mexico, Rider, Rutgers, Texas Southern, UCSB, Wake Forest, Wright State, Yale

PRESEASON PICKS
Final 4: Creighton, Duke, Michigan State, Tennessee
NCAA Champion: Michigan State
NIT Champion: Arizona State
CBI Champion: St. Thomas

NOTABLE WEEK #1 BELT NOTCHES
Abilene Christian over Oklahoma State
Akron over South Dakota State
Baylor over Auburn
Bradley over UAB
Clemson over UAB
Davidson over Maryland
James Madison over Michigan State
Long Beach State over DePaul
Mississippi State over Arizona State
Nevada over Washington
Oregon over Georgia
Presbyterian over Vanderbilt
Purdue-Fort Wayne over DePaul
Saint Mary’s over New Mexico
UAB over Maryland
USC over Kansas State
Weber State over Saint Mary’s

NEW FACES OR IN NEW PLACES
Raheem Anthony (St. Mary’s MN to St. Thomas) – 21.7 MPG, 10.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 42.9 3PFG%
Ta’Lon Cooper (Minnesota to South Carolina) – 27.0 MPG, 13.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 55.6 3PFG%
Dennis Evans (Louisville freshman) – 15.5 MPG, 4.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.0 BPG
Cam Heide (Purdue redshirt freshman) – 17 MPG, 9.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.0 APG, 60.0 3PFG%
Jaden Henley (Minnesota to DePaul) – 18 MPG, 5.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 33.3 3PFG%, 4.0 TPG
Andrew Rohde (St. Thomas to Virginia) – 31 MPG, 6.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 37.5 3PFG%
Treyton Thompson (Minnesota to Stetson) – 31 MPG, 9.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 25.0 3PFG%
Nolan Winter (Wisconsin freshman) – 13.0 MPG, 4.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG

POWER 6 HEAD-TO-HEAD STANDINGS THROUGH WEEK #1
1 Pac 12 (3-1)
2 SEC (5-3)
3 ACC (2-3)
4 Big XII (1-2)
5 Big East (0-0)
6 Big Ten (0-2)

 

[Unregistered User]

When is the last time you only had 6 B10 teams?

Not complaining, just curious.

 

[Cayman]

Maryland and Rutgers seem to be disappointing early on. Do Michigan or Indiana have a good shot at getting in this year? Indiana got a big time transfer big man and a 5 star freshman this year. I thought I remember Michigan losing a lot to the portal in the offseason and that they were supposed to take a bit of a dive, but I see they're a slight favorite on the road against your projected tournament team Rick Pitino's St. John's on Monday.

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

Nice to have a Treyton Thompson sighting. I kept waiting for him to develop.

 

[SelectionSunday]

When is the last time you only had 6 B10 teams?

Not complaining, just curious.

It’s probably been a while. Conference not off to a good start.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Maryland and Rutgers seem to be disappointing early on. Do Michigan or Indiana have a good shot at getting in this year? Indiana got a big time transfer big man and a 5 star freshman this year. I thought I remember Michigan losing a lot to the portal in the offseason and that they were supposed to take a bit of a dive, but I see they're a slight favorite on the road against your projected tournament team Rick Pitino's St. John's on Monday.

Not sold on Indiana yet. I don’t like their guards other than Xavier Johnson.

I had Michigan in Weakling Wednesday heading into the season, but they’ve been impressive so far.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

When is the last time you only had 6 B10 teams?

Not complaining, just curious.

in 2017-18 there were only four conference teams selected to the NCAA tournament. Nebraska was left out with 13-5 conference and 22-11 overall records.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Not sold on Indiana yet. I don’t like their guards other than Xavier Johnson.

With a little over 3 minutes left, they only had a one point lead on Army.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Indiana got a big time transfer big man and a 5 star freshman this year.

The transfer big man is playing very well. The five star freshman hasn't shown much yet.

 

[Holy Man]

in 2017-18 there were only four conference teams selected to the NCAA tournament. Nebraska was left out with 13-5 conference and 22-11 overall records.

Nebraska played themselves out of the tournament with a horrible schedule and horrible performance in the preseason. Also recall that the unbalanced conference schedule benefited them immensely that year. The larger the conference grows, the more likely we are to see similar situations in the future.

 

[gopherguy15]

Nevada looked pretty impressive last night, which I'm guessing is why you moved them in. Now, who knows what Washington team we'll get this year, but that's a big road win for them regardless.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Nevada looked pretty impressive last night, which I'm guessing is why you moved them in. Now, who knows what Washington team we'll get this year, but that's a big road win for them regardless.

Yep, I stayed up to watch that one last night. Moved Nevada in after the win.