The Predictor Top 25, Tournament Bids & Brackets: 2/22/10

New set of rankings and brackets for you.

1. Kansas (26-1), LW-1: Not much has changed. They are playing the best basketball in the country.
2. Kentucky (26-1), LW-3: Finally starting to play some decent teams. Two good road wins for the Cats.
3. Purdue (23-3), LW-4: Other than Kansas, no team playing better right now. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the quality of their conference.
4. Syracuse (25-2), LW-5: Move up only because Villanova moves down. Still have them targeted to lose well before the Final Four.
5. Villanova (22-4), LW-2: The loss at Pittsburgh not surprising. Loss to UConn? Well, that shouldn’t happen to a team this talented.
6. Kansas State (22-4), LW-6: Chugging along in the shadow of Kansas and struggling Texas. Uninspired win over Nebraska keeps them at #6.
7. Duke (23-4), LW-7: Another impressive 1st half at Miami. Did I say impressive? I meant dreadful. Luckily, the Dookies got the calls in the 2nd half.
8. New Mexico (25-3), LW-8: I didn’t really believe they were the 8th best team in the country last week despite my ranking. Now I’m starting to.
9. West Virginia (21-5), LW-11: Finally put together two good halves against Providence, then reverted right back to playing one half against Seton Hall.
10. BYU (25-3), LW-12: Didn’t fool around last week against some of the lesser teams in the Mountain West.
11. Texas (21-6), LW-10: Rick Barnes needs to figure out if this is an inside team or a guard-oriented team. I still don’t know. Barnes still doesn’t know. That’s not a good thing in late-February.
12. Michigan State (21-7), LW-9: Spartans continue to sink in the rankings. Loss at home, to an overrated Ohio State team, with Kalin Lucas in the lineup, should be a red flag.
13. Vanderbilt (20-6), LW-13: Won’t fault the Commodores for 2-point loss to Kentucky. They did earn a good road win at desperate Ole Miss.
14. Temple (22-5), LW-16: They didn’t have any impressive wins, but teams ahead of them keep losing.
15. Ohio State (20-7), LW-18: Lost any real chance at a conference title with their loss to Purdue, but road win at Michigan State is good enough to bump them up in the standings.
16. Gonzaga (22-5), LW-14: Loss to LMU is the second time this season Gonzaga has lost focused in the WCC. This could be another first weekend flame out for Mark Few.
17. Georgetown (18-7), LW-15: Oh, I love seeing the Hoyas fall in the rankings. Maybe Little Racist III shouldn’t wait 25 minutes until getting the ball to Greg Monroe.
18. Texas A&M (19-7), LW-17: Arguably outplayed Kansas for 35 minutes, then decided not to score for the final five. Interesting strategy…needless to say, it didn’t work.
19. Pittsburgh (21-6), LW-24: With two wins over Marquette and Villanova, Panthers make the biggest leap in the rankings.
20. Butler (25-4), LW-22: No matter what happens, I can’t justify moving the Bulldogs much higher than this. They’ve been playing nobodies for the past two months.
21. Baylor (20-6), LW-19: Win against Texas Tech was probably enough to lock up a tournament bid. Loss to Oklahoma State helped the Cowboys get close to one for themselves.
22. Tennessee (20-6), LW-23: Their win over Kansas remains the only impressive thing the Vols have done this season.
23. Wisconsin (20-7), LW-21: Bad loss to Minnesota was followed by a near loss to Northwestern. Barely staying in my rankings this week.
24. Maryland (19-7), LW-NR: Gotta put the Terps in for three wins in six days. Fully anticipate taking them out next week since they’ll probably lose one of their next two.
25. Northern Iowa (24-3), LW-25: Panthers continue to play like a 6/7 seed that will lose to an average power conference team in the first round.

Next 5: Clemson, Richmond, Missouri, San Diego State, Xavier


Here are the 65 teams that would make the NCAA tournament right now. It could completely change by next week. You can call it a lazy man’s version of Bracketology. The conference bids are separated into four groups. First you have your traditional six-power conferences. Then the conferences that are better than the mid-majors, but aren’t the BCS six. Those are followed by the true mid-major conferences. Finally, the small conferences that are only going to get one bid no matter how you slice it. The conference leaders are in italics.

Notes: Since Thursday, there have been a couple of changes. Florida and Rhode Island are both back in. Mississippi State is also in. Illinois, Mississippi and Dayton all come out. I debated for a good period about Wichita State, but decided to keep them in. They are walking a fine line the rest of the way. North Texas and Bucknell get in for leading their respective conferences.

POWER
ACC (7): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Big East (7): Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
Big Ten (4): Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Big XII (7): Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M
Pac-10 (1): California
SEC (5): Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

MAJOR
Atlantic-10 (4): Rhode Island, Richmond, Temple, Xavier
Conference USA (2): Alabama-Birmingham, UTEP
Mountain West (4): BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV

MID-MAJOR
Colonial: Old Dominion
Horizon: Butler
Mid-American: Kent State
Missouri Valley (2): Northern Iowa, Wichita State
Sun Belt: North Texas
West Coast (2): Gonzaga, St. Mary’s
Western Athletic: Utah State

SMALL
America East: Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun: Campbell
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: UC Santa Barbara
Ivy: Cornell
MAAC: Siena
MEAC: Morgan State
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Patriot: Bucknell
Southern: Charleston
Southland: Sam Houston State
Southwestern: Jackson State
Summit: Oakland


EAST REGION (Syracuse)
Milwaukee
(1) Purdue vs. (16) Robert Morris
(8) Wake Forest vs. (9) Louisville
Providence
(4) Temple vs. (13) Cornell
(5) Tennessee vs. (12) Siena
Spokane
(6) Butler vs. (11) Virginia Tech
(3) BYU vs. (14) Oakland
Providence
(7) Missouri vs. (10) UTEP
(2) Villanova vs. (15) North Texas

SOUTH REGION (Houston)
New Orleans
(1) Kentucky vs. (16) Campbell
(8) Florida State vs. (9) San Diego State
Spokane
(4) Georgetown vs. (13) Weber State
(5) Texas A&M vs. (12) Old Dominion
Milwaukee
(6) Baylor vs. (11) Rhode Island
(3) Michigan State vs. (14) Charleston
Jacksonville
(7) Northern Iowa vs. (10) Florida
(2) Duke vs. (15) Coastal Carolina

MIDWEST REGION (St. Louis)
Oklahoma City
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Bucknell/Jackson State
(8) California vs. (9) UAB
Jacksonville
(4) Ohio State vs. (13) Wichita State
(5) Pittsburgh vs. (12) Mississippi State
San Jose
(6) Maryland vs. (11) St. Mary’s
(3) New Mexico vs. (14) Sam Houston State
Buffalo
(7) Xavier vs. (10) Oklahoma State
(2) West Virginia vs. (15) Morgan State

WEST REGION (Salt Lake City)
Buffalo
(1) Syracuse vs. (16) Stony Brook
(8) Richmond vs. (9) Georgia Tech
San Jose
(4) Texas vs. (13) Kent State
(5) Gonzaga vs. (12) Utah State
New Orleans
(6) Wisconsin vs. (11) UNLV
(3) Vanderbilt vs. (14) Murray State
Oklahoma City
(7) Clemson vs. (10) Marquette
(2) Kansas State vs. (15) UC Santa Barbara