The Road to Selection Sunday: Field of 68 Projection — Big Ten Likely to Get 6 Bids

Heading into conference tournament play, it appears the Big Ten has four locks for the NCAA Tournament. … Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Illinois. The main question to be answered Thursday through Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is, will Michigan, Michigan State and/or Penn State be able to join the NCAA party?

Michigan is in the best shape of the three — perhaps not even needing a win over Illinois in Friday’s 4-5 quarterfinal — but to feel secure the Wolverines would be well-advised to seal the deal by beating the Illini. Michigan State (1) and Penn State (at least 2) simply need to win games. Sparty’s likely in simply by avoiding a bad loss vs. Iowa in Thursday’s first round, while Penn State is the wildcard. The bracketologists and talking heads on ESPN aren’t talking much about Penn State, but I think if the Nittany Lions beat Indiana on Thursday and then Wisconsin in the quarterfinals, they legitimately will be in the at-large conversation. In the end, I think the Big Ten will land six teams in the tournament.

If there’s one positive about the Gophers’ late-season pratfall and inability to even land on the bubble, it’s that Gopher fans don’t have to worry about bid-stealers from other conference tournaments. So I say, heist away bid-stealers. If ever there’s a year where the NCAA Tournament needs bid-stealers, this is the one. Upsets in conference tournaments will help clear out some of the at-large garbage that otherwise would qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

I’ll post my final NCAA Tournament field projection late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Enjoy Championship Week.

FIELD OF of 68 (Monday, March 7)
America East (1): *Boston U (134)

ACC (4): Duke (5), *North Carolina (6), Florida State (46), Clemson (57)

Atlantic Sun (1): BELMONT (51)

Atlantic 10 (3): *Xavier (21), Temple (29), Richmond (55)

Big East (11): *Pitt (7), Notre Dame (9), Georgetown (11), West Virginia (15), Syracuse (18), Louisville (20), St. John’s (22), UConn (23), Villanova (31), Cincinnati (32), Marquette (68)

Big Sky (1): *Northern Colorado (113)

Big South (1): NORTH CAROLINA-ASHEVILLE (149)

Big 10 (6): *Ohio State (2), Purdue (8), Wisconsin (13), Illinois (40), Michigan State (48), Michigan (56)

Big 12 (6): *Kansas (1), Texas (14), Kansas State (19), Texas A&M (30), Missouri (33), Colorado (76)

Big West (1): *Long Beach State (90)

Colonial (3): *Old Dominion (24), George Mason (27), VCU (49)

Conference USA (1): *UAB (28)

Horizon (2): Butler (37), *Milwaukee (92)

Ivy (1): Harvard (35)

Metro Atlantic (1): *Iona (65)

MAC (1): *Kent State (87)

MEAC (1): *Bethune-Cookman (195)

Missouri Valley (1): INDIANA STATE (85)

Mountain West (3): San Diego State (3), *BYU (4), UNLV (25)

Northeast (1): *Long Island (80)

Ohio Valley (1): MOREHEAD STATE (77)

Pac 10 (3): *Arizona (16), UCLA (34), Washington (47)

Patriot (1): *Bucknell (82)

SEC (5): *Florida (10), Kentucky (12), Vanderbilt (26), Tennessee (36), Georgia (39)

Southern (1): *College of Charleston (67)

Southland (1): *McNeese State (163)

SWAC (1): *Texas Southern (175)

Summit (1): *Oakland (61)

Sun Belt (1): *Middle Tennessee State (207)

West Coast (2): *St. Mary’s (44), Gonzaga (62)

WAC (1): *Utah State (17)

Last 4 In: VCU (49), Gonzaga (62), Marquette (68), Colorado (76)

First 4 Out: Boston College (45), Penn State (54), Virginia Tech (64), USC (69)

Others Still Under Consideration (8): Memphis (38), Missouri State (42), Colorado State (43), New Mexico (71), Washington State (75), Nebraska (78), Alabama (79), Baylor (84)

Non-BCS At-Larges (8): San Diego State (3), UNLV (25), George Mason (27), Temple (29), Butler (37), VCU (49), Richmond (55), Gonzaga (62)

BCS Teams in the Field: 35 (51.5%)

Non-BCS Teams in the Field: 33 (48.5%)

All RPI references are courtesy of Jerry Palm at collegerpi.com. An * denotes the conference leader or highest remaining seed in the conference tournament. ALL CAPS = earned automatic bid.