The Road to Selection Sunday: Field of 68 Projection

It took the Gophers more than three months to completely wipe away what they accomplished in Puerto Rico, but they did it, or should I say, didn’t do it. The Gophers are no longer part of my NCAA projection, and it will take a miracle of epic proportions to change that. Good luck with that.

This lost 2010-11 season reminds me so much of the 2001-02 Gopher campaign. Both included meltdown after meltdown during crunch time, crippling what appeared to be sure-fire NCAA seasons. Even during that season of arguably the most epic Gopher choke-job (Illinois) in Gopher history, that Gopher team didn’t suffer three consecutive meltdowns like the three we’ve witnessed in a span of 10 days (@ Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan at Williams Arena).

As I prepare to go on another Big Ten Tournament adventure, sadly my motto — at least for this season — reverts back to what it was during most of the Monson regime. … just make it to Friday! We’ve sunk to needing to beat Northwestern in the 8-9 game just to get a crack at Ohio State (or perhaps Purdue) for the right to play on the Big Ten Tournament’s most exciting day (the quarterfinals). Not what a lot of us envisioned back in November, for sure.

All RPI references are courtesy of Jerry Palm at collegeRPI.com, through games played Sunday, Feb. 27. An * denotes conference leader/best RPI/#1 seed in conference tournament.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (February 28)
America East (1): *Vermont (86)

ACC (5): *Duke (5), North Carolina (10), Florida State (48), Virginia Tech (53), Clemson (69)

Atlantic Sun (1): *Belmont (55)

Atlantic Ten (3): *Xavier (22), Temple (30), Richmond (62)

Big East (11): *Pitt (7), Georgetown (8), Notre Dame (11), St. John’s (14), Syracuse (16), Louisville (17), UConn (20), West Virginia (21), Villanova (32), Cincinnati (39), Marquette (51)

Big Sky (1): *Northern Colorado (114)

Big South (1): *Coastal Carolina (96)

Big Ten (6): *Ohio State (3), Purdue (6), Wisconsin (13), Illinois (38), Michigan State (40), Michigan (57)

Big Twelve (6): *Kansas (2), Texas (9), Kansas State (25), Missouri (28), Texas A&M (29), Colorado (77)

Big West (1): *Long Beach State (93)

Colonial (2): *George Mason (24), Old Dominion (27)

Conference USA (1): *UAB (31)

Horizon (2): Butler (45), *Milwaukee (98)

Ivy (1): *Princeton (50)

Metro Atlantic (1): Fairfield (88)

MAC (1): *Kent State (97)

MEAC (1): *Bethune-Cookman (196)

Missouri Valley (1): *Missouri State (42)

Mountain West (3): *BYU (1), San Diego State (4), UNLV (26)

Northeast (1): *Long Island (87)

Ohio Valley (1): *Murray State (109)

Pac Ten (3): *Arizona (19), UCLA (35), Washington (43)

Patriot (1): *Bucknell (84)

SEC (5): *Florida (12), Kentucky (15), Vanderbilt (23), Tennessee (34), Georgia (36)

Southern (1): *College of Charleston (75)

Southland (1): *McNeese State (143)

SWAC (1): *Texas Southern (155)

Summit (1): *Oakland (60)

Sun Belt (1): Florida Atlantic (108)

West Coast (2): *St. Mary’s (49), Gonzaga (65)

WAC (1): *Utah State (18)

Non-BCS At-Larges (7): San Diego State (4), UNLV (26), Old Dominion (27), Temple (30), Butler (45), Richmond (62), Gonzaga (65)

Last 4 In: Michigan State (40), Butler (45), Clemson (69), Colorado (77)

First 4 Out: Memphis (33), Boston College (46), Colorado State (47), Penn State (56)

The Expanded Bubble (most of these are significant longshots)
37. Cleveland State (22-7, 13-5 Horizon)
41. Southern Miss (18-7, 9-5 C-USA)
44. Harvard (19-5, 10-2 Ivy)
52. Wichita State (22-7, 14-4 Missouri Valley)
59. Oklahoma State (17-11, 5-9 Big 12)
61. GOPHERS (17-11, 6-10 Big Ten)
66. VCU (21-10, 12-6 Colonial)
72. Baylor (17-10, 7-7 Big 12)
76. Washington State (18-10, 8-8 Pac 10)
79. Rhode Island (18-10, 9-5 A-10)
80. USC (17-12, 9-7 Pac 10)
82. Nebraska (18-10, 6-8 Big 12)
83. Maryland (18-11, 7-7 ACC)
89. Alabama (19-9, 11-3 SEC)

BCS Teams in the Field: 36 (52.9%)
Non-BCS Teams in the Field: 32 (47.1%)