The Predictor Tournament Bids & Brackets: 3/14/10

So here we go. Last bracket projection of the season. Washington, Houston and New Mexico State starting squeezing the bubble yesterday. It was nice to see teams playing their way in instead of waiting for other teams to play their way out. UTEP is a lock. Utah State should be a little nervous. As I said all season, there was no way the A-10 was going to get more than four teams. It looks as if they’ll only get three (I'd also been saying for months that the Pac-10 would get two teams in). Illinois is likely out as well…which is not a problem for me because the Illini play boring Big Ten style basketball. We don't need to be subjected to another weekend of that. Virginia Tech would be my first teams out of the pool. That would be fantastic if the Hokies missed The Dance. There’s a great chance that Seth Greenberg’s head would actually explode. That's what happens when you play one of the easiest schedules in history. Anyway, the Big Ten tournament is still going on. Minnesota should be in either way. Every other conference winner is in bold. Syracuse can’t be in the East Region. Houston can’t be in the South Region. Marquette can’t play in Milwaukee. BYU has to play in one of the Thursday/Saturday regions (hopefully the NCAA doesn’t forget this time). Unlike Joe Lunardi, I'm not going to sneak on here 30 minutes before the selection show after receiving leaked information...then pretending like I got 33 of the 34 at-large teams correctly. What you see is what you get.

POWER
ACC (6): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest
Big East (8): Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
Big Ten (5): Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Big XII (7): Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M
Pac-10 (2): California, Washington
SEC (4): Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

MAJOR
Atlantic-10 (3): Richmond, Temple, Xavier
Conference USA (2): Houston, UTEP
Mountain West (4): BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV

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

SMALL
America East: Vermont
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State
Big Sky: Montana
Big South: Winthrop
Big West: UC-Santa Barbara
Ivy: Cornell
MAAC: Siena
MEAC: Morgan State
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Patriot: Lehigh
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Sam Houston State
Southwestern: Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Summit: Oakland


EAST REGION (Syracuse)
New Orleans
(1) Kentucky vs. (16) Lehigh/Arkansas-Pine Bluff
(8) Florida State vs. (9) Notre Dame
San Jose
(4) BYU vs. (13) Houston
(5) Wisconsin vs. (12) Cornell
New Orleans
(6) Xavier vs. (11) Wake Forest
(3) Baylor vs. (14) Sam Houston State
Buffalo
(7) Northern Iowa vs. (10) St. Mary’s
(2) West Virginia vs. (15) Morgan State

SOUTH REGION (Houston)
Buffalo
(1) Syracuse vs. (16) Robert Morris
(8) California vs. (9) Missouri
Spokane
(4) Temple vs. (13) New Mexico State
(5) Maryland vs. (12) Mississippi State
Providence
(6) Butler vs. (11) Siena
(3) Georgetown vs. (14) Wofford
Milwaukee
(7) Texas vs. (10) San Diego State
(2) Ohio State vs. (15) North Texas

MIDWEST REGION (St. Louis)
Oklahoma City
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Winthrop
(8) Richmond vs. (9) Clemson
Jacksonville
(4) Tennessee vs. (13) Murray State
(5) Pittsburgh vs. (12) Minnesota
Milwaukee
(6) Texas A&M vs. (11) Old Dominion
(3) Purdue vs. (14) Ohio
Providence
(7) UNLV vs. (10) Georgia Tech
(2) Villanova vs. (15) Vermont

WEST REGION (Salt Lake City)
Jacksonville
(1) Duke vs. (16) East Tennessee State
(8) Oklahoma State vs. (9) Louisville
Spokane
(4) Michigan State vs. (13) Oakland
(5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Utah State
San Jose
(6) Gonzaga vs. (11) Washington
(3) New Mexico vs. (14) Montana
Oklahoma City
(7) Marquette vs. (10) UTEP
(2) Kansas State vs. (15) UC-Santa Barbara