Bracketology – March 11th, 2011
Alright, big day in College Hoops.
Kansas almost slipped up against OK State, but escaped with a narrow 1 point victory. Following that game Colorado upset Kansas State for a third time this year. Colorado as now moved very close to lock status, in fact I’m almost inclined to say the Buffs are definitely in. K State might drop a bit from the loss, but they should be in for a decent seed.
Kemba Walker hit a big shot against Pittsburgh to upset the Panthers. Its possible that the Panthers lose their #1 seed now. If Notre Dame wins the Big East and Duke or UNC sneaks ahead of them, then they are probably out. Both Notre Dame and Pitt could earn the #1 seed. Kansas is a little vulnerable still too, so they could also get bumped from the 1 line too.
Miami and Virginia played a wild one in the first ACC tournament game. Virginia had a ten point lead with 40 seconds left and it disappeared in all of about the next twenty five seconds, before they went to overtime and Miami came out on top. I don’t think I’ve seen a team blow a lead like that in a very long time, simply an amazing collapse.
UAB got upset by ECU, and now the Blazers go from a comfortable conference leader to the wrong side of the bubble. UAB is not dead in the water, but they need teams to lose ahead of them because for now they are out. Also in CUSA, Memphis beat Southern Miss to advance to the semifinals. Memphis still has work to do, and might need to win the conference now that ECU doesn’t present a quality win opportunity. UTEP advanced as well and could matchup with Memphis is the final. UTEP, Memphis and UAB are all alive on the bubble, but its very possible only one does.
Michigan State came back to beat Iowa today and avoid a disaster. Michigan State is probably safe, even with a likely loss tomorrow, but its very very close. After tomorrow Michigan State’s chances will either be near 100, or hinging on the other bubble teams.
Georgia beat Auburn and now moves on to the Alabama game. Georgia could lose the game and be in the same position as Michigan State, but Alabama can not lose and keep any hope alive.
USC beat Cal to move in the Pac Ten tourney. USC needs more wins and it will take atleast one, probably two more to get them into the field.
New Mexico beat Colorado State to advance on to play BYU again tomorrow. Colorado State is now NIT bound, and New Mexico will probably still need to win the Mountain West, even with a third BYU win tomorrow.
(Click Below For More Plus Predictions)
Penn State beat Indiana to keep any hope alive, but they need to beat Wisconsin and Purdue to reach the Big Ten finals to garner an atlarge bid opportunity.
Tennessee beat Arkansas to move on to play Florida. The Vols should be a lock now, as a loss won’t knock them out of the tournament.
UCLA got upset by Oregon, and that will hurt their seeding now as that is a bad loss.
Finally, Virginia Tech beat Georgia Tech to advance to play Florida State. The Hokies avoided a season ending loss, and now will get a chance to lock up a bid tomorrow against FSU. A loss to the Noles will keep the Hokies right on the bubble and make them sweat it out down to the last second, per usual.
Washington beat Washington State to lock up their bid and likely knock out the Cougars.
Tomorrow’s games to watch:
Colorado vs Kansas
New Mexico vs BYU
Michigan State vs Purdue
USC vs Arizona
San Jose State vs Utah State
Georgia vs Alabama
Boston College vs Clemson
Michigan vs Illinois
ECU vs Memphis
Rhode Island vs Richmond
Weber State vs St. Mary’s
Locks in my opinion:
Big East (11):
Pittsburgh, Louisville, Notre Dame, UConn, St. John’s, West Virginia, Marquette, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown
ACC (3):
UNC, Duke, Florida State
Big Ten (4):
Wisconsin, Ohio State, Illinois, Purdue
Big 12 (5):
Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M
Pac Ten (3):
Washington, UCLA, Arizona
Mountain West (3):
UNLV, BYU, San Diego State
SEC (4):
Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, Tennessee
Colonial (2):
George Mason, Old Dominion
A10 (2):
Xavier, Temple
All other conference are locked it with atleast one team: 22 Conferences and Bids (including five with multi-bid opportunities)
Locked Bids: 59
Bubble spots available: 8
Teams Alive, 13 – 2 automatic bids=11): Georgia, Clemson, Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Richmond, Alabama, Memphis, UAB, (UTEP), (Utah State), St. Mary’s
(***)=projected conference champ receiving auto bid
TAKE A LOOK AT THE ACTUAL BRACKET IN THIS LINK BELOW!!!
1 Seeds-
Ohio State
Kansas
Pittsburgh
Notre Dame
2 Seeds-
Duke
BYU
San Diego State
North Carolina
3 Seeds-
Texas
Purdue
Syracuse
Wisconsin
4 Seeds-
Louisville
Florida
UConn
Kentucky
5 Seeds-
Arizona
Georgetown
St. John’s
Vanderbilt
6 Seeds-
West Virginia
Cincinnati
Xavier
Texas A&M
7 Seeds-
Temple
Kansas State
Missouri
UNLV
8 Seeds-
George Mason
Florida State
Old Dominion
Villanova
9 Seeds-
Utah State
Illinois
UCLA
Marquette
10 Seeds-
Washington
Tennessee
Boston College
Richmond
11 Seeds-
Gonzaga
Georgia
Michigan
Colorado
12 Seeds-
Butler
Clemson
UTEP
Virginia Tech
Michigan State
St. Mary’s
13 Seeds-
Belmont
Harvard
Oakland
Indiana State
14 Seeds-
Bucknell
Long Island
Wofford
Long Beach State
15 Seeds-
St. Peter’s
Kent State
Morehead State
Northern Colorado
16 Seeds-
Boston University
UNC Asheville
Arkansas Little Rock
Texas Southern
McNeese State
Bethune Cookman
Last Four In-
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Michigan State
St. Mary’s
The Four Out-
Alabama
USC
UAB
Memphis
Teams with Maybe a slight Pulse but very unlikely to grab an At-large-
Maryland
New Mexico
VCU
Washington State
Penn State
Mississippi
Miami?
Northwestern?
Bids by Conference:
Big East-11
ACC-6
Big 12-6
Big Ten-6
SEC-5
Pac Ten-3
A10-3
MWC-3
Colonial-2
WCC-2
5 BOROUGH SPORTS 
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