The Predictor Top 25, Tournament Bids & Bracket 3/1/10

The two top teams lost this week, but that doesn’t mean I’m changing things around too much.

1. Kansas (27-2), LW-1: Loss at a desperate and talented OK State team is no reason to drop the Jayhawks.
2. Kentucky (27-2), LW-2: Probably won’t be sold on UK until they prove they can get to the Final Four. Any team with John Wall, Patrick Patterson and company should still get the benefit of the doubt.
3. Syracuse (27-2), LW-4: Would love to see these guys score a decent road win, but the Big East has kowtowed so they have no tough road games.
4. Purdue (24-4), LW-4: Robbie Hummel was important, but this isn’t a Kenyon Martin situation. Plenty of good players left for Purdue.
5. Kansas State (24-4), LW-6: Perhaps the quietest 24-4 team in history.
6. Villanova (23-5), LW-5: Entire team seems to be going through a shooting slump during the past two weeks. I’m sure they’ll straighten it out by mid-March
7. Duke (25-4), LW-7: Tulsa? Really? Not exactly scheduling tough during a bye week.
8. New Mexico (27-3), LW-8: Don’t know why the Lobos aren’t being considered for a potential 2-seed. They are certainly one of the best 8-10 teams in the country.
9. Vanderbilt (22-6), LW-13: Are the Commodores really the 9th best team in the country? No, but they are one of the few teams that didn’t lose this week.
10. West Virginia (22-6), LW-9: Got destroyed by UConn, but that’s not the same UConn team we all saw in January.
11. Michigan State (22-7), LW-12: Good win over Purdue, need to win conference tournament to get back in discussion
12. Ohio State (22-7), LW-15: Reluctantly keep moving the Buckeyes up. Makes no sense to have them past WVU since they lost to them and have a worse record.
13. BYU (26-4), LW-10: Had a chance to cement themselves in the Top 10, but couldn’t protect home court against New Mexico.
14. Temple (24-5), LW-14: Beat Dayton in a thrilling 49-41 slobber knocker. Win against La Salle won’t help them move up any.
15. Gonzaga (24-5), LW-16: I still can’t believe I have four non-BCS schools in my Top 15. It’s been a very strange season.
16. Baylor (22-6), LW-21: Not quite sure what to do with the Big XII. Texas beat Ok State, but lost to A&M. A&M lost to Baylor. Baylor not really a team that should be ranked 16th. This is my best guess.
17. Texas A&M (20-8), LW-18: Like Baylor, the Aggies are probably a few spots too high. Next couple of weeks should sort out the Big XII South.
18. Texas (22-7), LW-11: Good win against Oklahoma State, but they were dominated by in-state rival A&M. They also lost two of their better guards for the considerable future.
19. Maryland (21-7), LW-24: I honestly feel this is too low for the Terps. A couple of wins this week will vault them up into the Top 15.
20. Pittsburgh (22-7), LW-19: Not sure why losing to a Notre Dame team without Luke Harangody is suddenly a popular trend.
21. Butler (26-4). LW-20: Ooooooh. Five-point win over Valparaiso this week. Am I supposed to be impressed?
22. Tennessee (21-7), LW-22: Good loss to Kentucky and a bad loss to Florida means the Vols don’t move from the 22nd spot.
23. Wisconsin (21-7), LW-23: What I said for Butler goes for Wisconsin. They only had one game this week and it was against Indiana.
24. UTEP (22-5), LW-NR: The Miners have been hot recently, and were ranked last week. So I’ll bite and put them in this week.
25. Georgetown (19-8), LW-17: This team could still potentially be in the AP Top 15 this week. Not sure what it is about this team that screams Top 15. Or even Top 25 for that matter.

Next 5: Florida State, Xavier, UNLV, Missouri, Mississippi State


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: Changes from last week…and there aren’t many. UConn is in, I don’t agree with it, but I can’t see the committee leaving them out. Wichita State finally leaves. Illinois, which is in most of the mock brackets, doesn’t make mine. They are 10-6 in a lousy conference and their RPI is in the 70’s. Other than that, the other changes came in the small conferences. Virginia Tech and Rhode Island continue to hold on to bids by their chinny-chin-chins.

POWER
ACC (7): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Big East (8): Connecticut, 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: Northern Iowa
Sun Belt: North Texas
West Coast (2): Gonzaga, St. Mary’s
Western Athletic: Utah State

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

EAST REGION (Syracuse)
Milwaukee
(1) Purdue vs. (16) Belmont
(8) UTEP vs. (9) Clemson
New Orleans
(4) Baylor vs. (13) Cornell
(5) Pittsburgh vs. (12) Utah State
Spokane
(6) Texas vs. (11) Florida
(3) BYU vs. (14) Murray State
Providence
(7) Xavier vs. (10) Georgia Tech
(2) Villanova vs. (15) Coastal Carolina

SOUTH REGION (Houston)
New Orleans
(1) Kentucky vs. (16) Lehigh/Jackson State
(8) Northern Iowa vs. (9) Marquette
San Jose
(4) Michigan State vs. (13) Rhode Island
(5) Texas A&M vs. (12) Virginia Tech
Buffalo
(6) Butler vs. (11) San Diego State
(3) West Virginia vs. (14) Sam Houston State
Jacksonville
(7) Oklahoma State vs. (10) St. Mary’s
(2) Duke vs. (15) Morgan State

MIDWEST REGION (St. Louis)
Oklahoma City
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Quinnipiac
(8) California vs. (9) Richmond
Spokane
(4) Gonzaga vs. (13) Kent State
(5) Tennessee vs. (12) Connecticut
Jacksonville
(6) Wisconsin vs. (11) Old Dominion
(3) Vanderbilt vs. (14) Wofford
San Jose
(7) Florida State vs. (10) Louisville
(2) New Mexico vs. (15) UC Santa Barbara

WEST REGION (Salt Lake City)
Buffalo
(1) Syracuse vs. (16) Stony Brook
(8) Missouri vs. (9) UAB
Providence
(4) Temple vs. (13) Weber State
(5) Maryland vs. (12) Siena
Milwaukee
(6) Georgetown vs. (11) Mississippi State
(3) Ohio State vs. (14) Oakland
Oklahoma City
(7) UNLV vs. (10) Wake Forest
(2) Kansas State vs. (15) North Texas