Shaping the 68: Last of the At-Large Bids Will Be Sorted Out Saturday

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SelectionSunday

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Updated through games played March 10.

Estimated Available At-Large Bids through Friday: 4

This will be the final daily update. I'll post my final Field of 68 projection in the wee hours of Selection Sunday morning. Automatic bids are bolded ALL CAPS.

NET rankings are noted in in parentheses.

SHAPING THE FIELD OF 68
Automatic Bids (tournament winner or highest remaining tournament seed) (32)
1 America East: #1 Vermont (111)
2 American: #1 Houston (1)
3 ACC: #2 Virginia (29)
4 ASUN: #1 KENNESAW STATE (113)
5 Atlantic 10: #1 VCU (63)
6 Big East: #1 Marquette (12)
7 Big Sky: #2 MONTANA STATE (104)
8 Big South: #1 UNC-ASHEVILLE (140)
9 Big Ten: #1 Purdue (5)
10 Big XII: #1 Kansas (8)
11 Big West: #2 UCSB (103)
12 Colonial: #2 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (50)
13 Conference USA: #1 FAU (15)
14 Horizon: #4 NORTHERN KENTUCKY (156)
15 Ivy: #1 Yale (65)
16 MAAC: #1 Iona (62)
17 MAC: #1 Toledo (79)
18 MEAC: #1 Howard (217)
19 Missouri Valley: #2 DRAKE (53)
20 Mountain West: #1 San Diego State (16)
21 NEC: #2 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (299)
22 OVC: #5 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE (243)
23 Pac 12: #1 UCLA (4)
24 Patriot: #1 COLGATE (100)
25 SEC: #1 Alabama (2)
26 SoCon: #1 FURMAN (88)
27 Southland: #1 TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (176)
28 SWAC: #2 Grambling (173)
29 Summit: #1 ORAL ROBERTS (37)
30 Sun Belt: #2 LOUISIANA (89)
31 WCC: #2 GONZAGA (6)
32 WAC: #3 Southern Utah (105)

AT-LARGE LOCKS (32) -- this gets us to 64 teams in the field
1 Tennessee (4)
2 UConn (8)
3 Texas (9)
4 Arizona (10)
5 Saint Mary's (11)
6 Baylor (13)
7 Creighton (16)
8 Duke (17)
9 Utah State (18)
10 Xavier (19)
11 Texas A&M (20)
12 Iowa State (21)
13 Arkansas (22)
14 Kansas State (24)
15 West Virginia (25)
16 Kentucky (26)
17 Indiana (27)
18 Boise State (28)
19 TCU (29)
20 Mayland (30)
21 Memphis (31)
22 Auburn (32)
23 Michigan State (33)
24 Illinois (34)
25 Miami (35)
26 Iowa (39)
27 Northwestern (41)
28 Missouri (42)
29 Mississippi State (49)
30 USC (50)
31 Penn State (55)
32 Arizona State (66)

SQUARELY ON THE BUBBLE (6) -- 4 of these will make the field
1 Nevada (37) -- regular season complete
2 Rutgers (40) -- regular season complete
3 Providence (56) -- regular season complete
4 Clemson (57) -- regular season complete
5 Pitt (67) -- regular season complete
6 Vanderbilt (79) -- Saturday: vs. Texas A&M (SEC semifinal)

NO LONGER UNDER CONSIDERATION
#38 North Texas (24-7)
#43 Oklahoma State (18-15)
#45 NC State (23-10)
#46 North Carolina (20-13)
#47 Oregon (19-14)
#58 Michigan (17-15)
#82 Wisconsin (17-14)
 
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Tuesday Movement
Boise State, Iowa, Michigan State, and Texas A&M become locks.

Clemson falls from squarely on the bubble to wing & a prayer.

Villanova added to wing & a prayer.

Wake Forest eliminated from at-large consideration.
 
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SelectionSunday said:
Tuesday Movement
Boise State, Iowa, Michigan State, and Texas A&M become locks.

Clemson falls from squarely on the bubble to wing & a prayer.

Villanova added to wing & a prayer.

Wake Forest eliminated from at-large consideration.
Click to expand...
Clemson was on a list of frauds in early January, I.e. teams whose standing and record would not hold up. Talking head was right about that one. Shows the pitfalls of giant conferences and unbalanced schedules that cay really skew perceptions.
 

Wednesday Movement
Mizzou locks its place in the field.

Providence fails to lock itself in at home vs. Xavier, however, Friars still in pretty good shape for a bid.

Penn State improves its spot on the bubble with a ginormous win over Northwestern in Evanston.

Utah State takes care of business @ UNLV, close regular season at home vs. tourney-bound Boise State.

Auburn with a game efffort in Tuscaloosa, but Tigers fall short against the nation's #2 team. Bubblicious Tigers get another shot at a big boy when they host Tennessee on Saturday.
 


SelectionSunday said:
Wednesday Movement
Mizzou locks its place in the field.

Providence fails to lock itself in at home vs. Xavier, however, Friars still in pretty good shape for a bid.

Penn State improves its spot on the bubble with a ginormous win over Northwestern in Evanston.

Utah State takes care of business @ UNLV, close regular season at home vs. tourney-bound Boise State.

Auburn with a game efffort in Tuscaloosa, but Tigers fall short against the nation's #2 team. Bubblicious Tigers get another shot at a big boy when they host Tennessee on Saturday.
Click to expand...

Providence is a lock
 


Thursday Movement
Helter Skelter Illinois, welcome to the NCAA Tournament.

Memphis gets a "can't afford to lose to that team" win @ SMU, setting the stage for Sunday's home game vs. #1 Houston. Beat the Cougars and the Tigers are lock, stock, and barrel in the field.

Rutgers, that one could leave a mark. Sunday game at the RAC vs. Northwestern looms even larger now for the Scarlet Knights.

North Texas, even though you won Thursday night, we're saying bye-bye to you. No way you're getting an at-large bid with fellow mid-majors Oral Roberts and Charleston (if they don't earn auto bid) clearly ahead of you in the mid-major pecking order.
 

ESPN has Wisconsin as one of the "last 4 in". Huh? 8-11 conf record and 16-13 overall, is this just the state of college basketball this year? They're 12th in the conference. Admittedly I haven't really paid attention all year but I was surprised to see that when I glanced through ESPN.com this morning.
 



Friday Movement
New Mexico's second-half of the season meltdown is now complete. A loss @ Colorado State last night knocks the Lobos completely from at-large consieration. It's now win the Mountain West Tournament or bust.

Morehead State (Ohio Valley) became the first #1 conference tournament seed to be sent packing. #5 seed Southeast Missouri State knocked off the Eagles in the semifinals, meaning #2 seed Tennessee Tech (16-16) is our new placeholder for the OVC's automatic bid.

Lots of Bubblicious and meaningful conference tournament games on Saturday's slate!
 

saintpauljeff said:
ESPN has Wisconsin as one of the "last 4 in". Huh? 8-11 conf record and 16-13 overall, is this just the state of college basketball this year? They're 12th in the conference. Admittedly I haven't really paid attention all year but I was surprised to see that when I glanced through ESPN.com this morning.
Click to expand...
Not after Sunday 🤓
 

SelectionSunday said:
Friday Movement
New Mexico's second-half of the season meltdown is now complete. A loss @ Colorado State last night knocks the Lobos completely from at-large consieration. It's now win the Mountain West Tournament or bust.
Click to expand...

Heartbreaking............NOT!
 

saintpauljeff said:
ESPN has Wisconsin as one of the "last 4 in". Huh? 8-11 conf record and 16-13 overall, is this just the state of college basketball this year? They're 12th in the conference. Admittedly I haven't really paid attention all year but I was surprised to see that when I glanced through ESPN.com this morning.
Click to expand...

If Wisconsin makes the tournament as an at large team, that would be disgusting. That would give the impression that some teams will be selected if there is any possible reason to justify it.
 



cjbfbp said:
If Wisconsin makes the tournament as an at large team, that would be disgusting. That would give the impression that some teams will be selected if there is any possible reason to justify it.
Click to expand...
Don’t they have 7 Quad 1 wins or something like that?

Im all for the badgers missing the field but they seem like a prime candidate for the first 4 play-in games.

I expect us to win tomorrow, let’s go.
 


Poll Question: How many Gopherholers are rooting for New Mexico to shock Gopher Nation and win the Mountain West Tournament?
My gosh, New Mexico was THE last undefeated team in mens college basketball. They go onto lose 7 of their last 9 games. Their straw player House missed a couple games with injury, they lost a couple with no time on the clock but pretty tough to explain away losing 7 of your last 9. When they are at their best they play with a tremendous amount of energy and play a very fast tempo scoring 90 points....tough to do 4 days in a row. But they played like they wanted the #6 seed vs the 4 or 5 game. Do they slink away or lose on Saturday or shock everybody? I dunno...
 

60's Guy said:
Poll Question: How many Gopherholers are rooting for New Mexico to shock Gopher Nation and win the Mountain West Tournament?
My gosh, New Mexico was THE last undefeated team in mens college basketball. They go onto lose 7 of their last 9 games. Their straw player House missed a couple games with injury, they lost a couple with no time on the clock but pretty tough to explain away losing 7 of your last 9. When they are at their best they play with a tremendous amount of energy and play a very fast tempo scoring 90 points....tough to do 4 days in a row. But they played like they wanted the #6 seed vs the 4 or 5 game. Do they slink away or lose on Saturday or shock everybody? I dunno...
Click to expand...
crazy.....Pitino is doing what i think he hoped to do at MN. get guys that can get up and down and score the basketball in bunches but play very little defense. maybe a bit like what Iowa does. and in there loses they have allowed 82 points a game!

i am going to be following them in the conference tourney. Wont really be rooting for them or against them. But they do play a fun game of basketball
 

60's Guy said:
Poll Question: How many Gopherholers are rooting for New Mexico to shock Gopher Nation and win the Mountain West Tournament?
Click to expand...

That would be a good official poll question. Maybe you should post that. My guess is that it could be close to 50/50.

I'll give my vote: NO!
 

cjbfbp said:
If Wisconsin makes the tournament as an at large team, that would be disgusting. That would give the impression that some teams will be selected if there is any possible reason to justify it.
Click to expand...
Iowa State is 18-12. That sounds like a borderline NIT record.
 


3 Charleston (27-3) (53) -- Sunday: vs. North Carolina A&T/Stony Brook winner (CAA quarterfinal)
Click to expand...
I realize they're in a very minor conference, but a 27-3 record is beyond impressive.
 



Does Utah State big win over Boise seal the deal for them?
 

I’m sure Richard would prefer a calendar without February and March in it. Those months are his kryptonite.
 


60's Guy said:
Poll Question: How many Gopherholers are rooting for New Mexico to shock Gopher Nation and win the Mountain West Tournament?
My gosh, New Mexico was THE last undefeated team in mens college basketball. They go onto lose 7 of their last 9 games. Their straw player House missed a couple games with injury, they lost a couple with no time on the clock but pretty tough to explain away losing 7 of your last 9. When they are at their best they play with a tremendous amount of energy and play a very fast tempo scoring 90 points....tough to do 4 days in a row. But they played like they wanted the #6 seed vs the 4 or 5 game. Do they slink away or lose on Saturday or shock everybody? I dunno...
Click to expand...
I’m not so sure about the shock the Gopher Nation part but I hope they win the Mountain West tournament. I have no I’ll feeling towards Richard and hope both he and Mashburn do well in the tournament.
 


Saturday Movement
Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC) and Southeast Missouri State (OVC) are the first of 32 automatic qualifiers.

And welcome 4 new locks to the field Auburn, Iowa State, USC, and Utah State.

We'll have 3 more automatic bids secured today (Sunday): ASUN (#2 Liberty @ #1 Kennesaw State); Big South (#1 UNC-Asheville vs. #7 Campbell); and Missouri Valley (#1 Bradley vs. #2 Drake).
 


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