Barnes Bracketology - March 13th

Talk about a busy day of basketball. Every major conference had their tournament in action and that meant plenty of projected tourney teams in action. What started at noon with Louisville vs. Providence and Northwestern vs. Minnesota ended with a 6OT instant classic between Syracuse vs. UConn. Seriously, if you missed that game, you made a huge mistake.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65
(new teams in italics)

LOCKS: Of all the games that were played last night, only one produced a new team in this category. That team is Oklahoma State, on the heels of an upset of rival Oklahoma. The Cowboys were already pretty safe but the win over the Sooners assures them of dancing come Selection Sunday.

LOCKS (33): Duke, UNC, Clemson, Florida St, Wake, Pitt, UConn, L'Ville, Villanova, West Virginia, Syracuse, Marquette, Michigan St, Illinois, Purdue, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, UCLA, Arizona St, LSU, Utah, Memphis, Xavier, Butler, Gonzaga, Texas, Tennessee, California, Texas A+M, Ohio State and Oklahoma State.

AUTO: After a flurry of changes to this category this week, nothing new to report actually. I know, kind of depressing. But don't worry. There are plenty more games to be played and more teams to clinch their spots.

AUTO (21): Binghamton (Am. East), East Tennessee St (A-Sun), Portland State (Big Sky), Radford (Big South), Long Beach St (Big West), VCU (Colonial), Cleveland State (Horizon), Cornell (Ivy), Siena (MAAC), Buffalo (MAC), Morgan St (MEAC), Northern Iowa (MVC), Robert Morris (Northeast), Morehead St (Ohio Valley), American (Patriot), Chattanooga (SoCon), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Alabama St (SWAC), ND State (Summit), Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), and Utah St (WAC).

AT-LARGE: This is starting to getting tough. Of the 13 teams in this section, 11 played yesterday. 8 won and 3 lost. Oklahoma State's win was enough to move them to a LOCK. The other 7 are staying in great shape. Arizona and Providence lost to superior teams while UNLV lost to a fellow BUBBLE team. As I have been from the start, I am going with my gut as I make my picks here. Again, these are in order.

AT-LARGE (11): BYU, Michigan, Dayton, Wisconsin, Minnesota, BC, Penn State, South Carolina, St. Mary's, UNLV, and Arizona.

BUBBLE WATCH

Plenty of movement among the BUBBLE teams. Since I am putting these in order, it makes my job a little bit harder. Utah State keeps winning, which is good news for the BUBBLE teams. Also good news, a few teams in this category lost and their losses burst their bubbles for sure. Those teams are New Mexico (vs. Wyoming), Northwestern (vs. Minnesota), Rhode Island (vs. Duquense), Kansas State (vs. Texas) and Vanderbilt (vs. Alabama). I'm not ready to burst Providence's bubble yet though their chances are quite slim. But while those teams are out of the watch, time to welcome back Maryland. The Terps took down NC State and with a win over Wake Forest on Friday, they will receive (and deserve) plenty of talk.

BUBBLE (20): BYU, Michigan, Dayton, Wisconsin, Minnesota, BC, Penn State, South Carolina, Utah State, St. Mary's, UNLV, Arizona, San Diego State, Florida, Maryland, Providence, VT, Creighton, Davidson, and Temple.

SEEDING

Well after an eventful day of basketball, I have successfully re-seeded my bracket. The top seeds stay unchanged but if Louisville wins against Villanova, expect them to overtake Memphis. Oklahoma and Kansas fall down in my S-Curve but stay the same seed. Meanwhile, Clemson moves down to a 6 seed while WV moves up from a 7 to a 6. Other than that, there have been minor changes. Hopefully, you'll be able to figure them out.

SOUTH-WEST vs. MIDWEST-EAST (Click on bracket for enlarged version)

SOUTH REGION (Memphis)
1 North Carolina vs. 16 Morgan State (Greensboro)
2 Michigan State vs. 15 Morehead State (Minneapolis)
3 Villanova vs. 14 Western Kentucky (Philadelphia)
4 Syracuse vs. 13 Buffalo (Boise)
5 Arizona State vs. 12 Northern Iowa (Boise)
6 Butler vs. 11 UNLV (Philadelphia)
7 Florida State vs. 10 Dayton (Minneapolis)
8 Texas A+M vs. 9 Ohio State (Greensboro)

MIDWEST REGION (Indianapolis)
1 Pittsburgh vs. 16 Long Beach St/Alabama St (Dayton)
2 Oklahoma vs. 15 Stephen F. Austin (Kansas City)
3 Wake Forest vs. 14 East Tennessee St (Miami)
4 LSU vs. 13 Cleveland State (Miami)
5 Purdue vs. 12 VCU (Miami)
6 Marquette vs. 11 Minnesota (Miami)
7 California vs. 10 Siena (Kansas City)
8 BYU vs. 9 Boston College (Dayton)

EAST REGION (Boston)
1 UConn vs. 16 Robert Morris (Philadelphia)
2 Duke vs. 15 Chattanooga (Greensboro)
3 Missouri vs 14 Cornell (Minneapolis)
4 UCLA vs. 13 Portland State (Portland)
5 Illinois vs. 12 South Carolina (Portland)
6 West Virginia vs. 11 Arizona (Minneapolis)
7 Gonzaga vs. 10 Wisconsin (Greensboro)
8 Tennessee vs. 9 Oklahoma State (Philadelphia)

WEST REGION (Phoenix)
1 Memphis vs. 16 Radford (Kansas City)
2 Louisville vs. 15 American (Dayton)
3 Kansas vs. 14 Binghamton (Boise)
4 Washington vs. 13 ND State (Portland)
5 Xavier vs. 12 Penn State (Portland)
6 Clemson vs. 11 St. Mary's (Boise)
7 Utah vs. 10 Michigan (Dayton)
8 Texas vs. 9 Utah State (Kansas City)

FRIDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH
Minnesota vs. Michigan State - Michigan State has dreams of a number one seed (unlikely) while Minnesota has hopes for an upset that would seal the deal for them.
Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina - The Hokies could wreak bubble havoc with a win over the Heels. UNC is hoping to just maintain their top overall seed.
Kentucky vs. LSU - I still think Kentucky is out but for LSU, wins are important if they want a top-4 seed.
Georgia Tech vs. Florida State - Forget about Tech. This is a big one for FSU, who could really help their seeding with a deep ACC tournament run.
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin - The Buckeyes are safe. The Badgers would also be with a win over OSU. A loss doesn't eliminate them but just makes their foundation a bit shakier.
Mississippi State vs. South Carolina - This is definitely a must-win for the Gamecocks. Dropping out of the weak SEC tourney in the quarterfinals is unacceptable.
Michigan vs. Illinois - Illinois could be as high as a 3 seed to as low as a 6 seed depending on well they do in this conference tournament. As for Michigan, getting a win would be good. Better safe than sorry right?
Temple vs. Xavier - As Bon Jovi might say, the Owls are "Livin' On A Prayer". Their situation could improve with an upset of Xavier.
Villanova vs. Louisville - Winner goes to the Big East championship. For Villanova, a chance to possibly move up to a 2 seed. For the Cardinals, a chance to claim a top seed.
Maryland vs. Wake Forest - A must-win for the Terps. They need this one and probably one more. But you have to start here with Wake Forest, who is fighting for seeding as well.
San Diego State vs. BYU - BYU should be fine even with a loss but for SDSU, a loss may be the final straw. Beating UNLV three times is good and all but they need another marquee victory.
New Mexico State vs. Utah State - The Aggies don't want to have to mess with an at-large spot. Two more wins in the WAC tourney and they won't have to.
Duquense vs. Dayton - If the Flyers win this semifinal game, consider them a lock in the tournament. If they are upset, expect some tense times in Dayton until the brackets are announced.
Penn State vs. Purdue - Some may say this is a must-win for Penn State but I disagree. They win and they are in. They lose and they are still in decent shape.
Boston College vs. Duke - BC is in really good shape to grab an at-large berth. Another win over Duke would cement their spot in the field.
Florida vs. Auburn - The Gators cannot lose this game and really expect to have any chances of making the tournament.


We are now just 3 days away from Selection Sunday. Hope my bracketology is helping to pass the time by. Again, all compliments and criticisms are welcome in the comments section below. Thanks again for reading and check back tomorrow.