Barnes Bracketology - March 15th (FINAL)

The final bracket is in. This is the final projected field. Here we go. Enjoy.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65
(new teams in italics)

LOCKS: Nothing new after the early games. This is my final list.

LOCKS (39): 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, Oklahoma State, BYU, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Dayton, and Boston College.

AUTO: The biggest news is that Mississippi State has burst yet another team's bubble by securing a spot in the field with theri SEC title game win. I also put Stephen F. Austin in bold after two weeks of projecting they would win.

AUTO (24): Binghamton (Am. East), East Tennessee St (A-Sun), Temple (A-10), Portland State (Big Sky), Radford (Big South), Cal State Northridge (Big West), VCU (Colonial), Cleveland State (Horizon), Cornell (Ivy), Siena (MAAC), Akron (MAC), Morgan St (MEAC), Northern Iowa (MVC), Robert Morris (Northeast), Morehead St (Ohio Valley), USC (Pac-10), American (Patriot), Mississippi State (SEC), Chattanooga (SoCon), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Alabama St (SWAC), ND State (Summit), Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), and Utah St (WAC).

AT-LARGE: Sorry Arizona. But thanks to Mississippi State, your bubble has burst. Down to two spots and SDSU and Maryland are the teams I think will get in.

AT-LARGE (2): San Diego State and Maryland

BUBBLE WATCH

9 bubble teams and just two spots. After a fun two weeks, I think these are the nine teams who will be biting their nails until they hear their name announced tonight. And if they don't get in, hey, there's always the NIT right?

BUBBLE (9): San Diego State, Maryland, Arizona, Penn State, UNLV, St. Mary's, Creighton, Auburn, and Providence.

SEEDING

Alright, I have made some major changes to the bracket. These are the last of my major changes. My one seeds have changed as UConn is now a 2 seed after a dominating performance by Memphis. Syracuse has moved up to a 3 seed due to their deep run, dropping Wake Forest to a 4 seed. Florida State is also up a seed while LSU drops one. Ohio State jumps from 9 to 7. Teams moving up just a seed include Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Xavier, and Utah State. Some teams fell for various reasons. Most of those reasons dealing with just trying to balance the bracket.

UPDATE: Mississippi State's win puts them in the bracket. They could have simply replaced Arizona, but that would mean two SEC teams in that region which makes no sense when there are going to just be 3 teams in. So I replaced Arizona with USC and put Mississippi State in USC's spot.

Also, with OSU-Purdue going on right now, here is how my final bracket will look depending on the outcome of the game. If Purdue wins, they will swap spots with Arizona State in the South Region. If OSU wins, they will swap spots with Gonzaga in the East Region.

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

SOUTH REGION (Memphis)
1 North Carolina vs. 16 Morgan State (Greensboro)
2 Oklahoma vs. 15 Stephen F. Austin (Kansas City)
3 Villanova vs. 14 Akron (Philadelphia)
4 Arizona State vs. 13 Western Kentucky (Portland)
5 Purdue vs. 12 Temple (Portland)
6 Clemson vs. 11 Wisconsin (Philadelphia)
7 Marquette vs. 10 San Diego State (Kansas City)
8 Oklahoma State vs. 9 Utah State (Greensboro)

MIDWEST REGION (Indianapolis)
1 Louisville vs. 16 Chattanooga/Cal State Northridge (Dayton)
2 Michigan State vs. 15 Robert Morris (Minneapolis)
3 Missouri vs. 14 Binghamton (Boise)
4 Florida State vs. 13 Cleveland State (Miami)
5 LSU vs. 12 Michigan (Miami)
6 West Virginia vs. 11 USC (Boise)
7 Utah vs. 10 Boston College (Minneapolis)
8 California vs. 9 Siena (Dayton)

EAST REGION (Boston)
1 Pittsburgh vs. 16 Morehead State (Dayton)
2 Duke vs. 15 East Tennessee State (Greensboro)
3 Syracuse vs 14 Cornell (Minneapolis)
4 Washington vs. 13 North Dakota State (Portland)
5 Xavier vs. 12 Northern Iowa (Portland)
6 Gonzaga vs. 11 Mississippi State (Minneapolis)
7 Ohio State vs. 10 Texas A+M (Greensboro)
8 BYU vs. 9 Minnesota (Dayton)

WEST REGION (Phoenix)
1 Memphis vs. 16 Alabama State (Kansas City)
2 UConn vs. 15 Radford (Philadelphia)
3 Kansas vs. 14 Portland State (Boise)
4 Wake Forest vs. 13 American (Miami)
5 UCLA vs. 12 VCU (Miami)
6 Illinois vs. 11 Maryland (Boise)
7 Tennessee vs. 10 Dayton (Philadelphia)
8 Butler vs. 9 Texas (Kansas City)

MY BRACKETOLOGY GOALS

1. Get 63 out of 65 teams correct
2. Do not miss any team's seed by more than 2
3. Have 14 out of 16 right among the top 4 seeds AND have them in correct locations
4. Get all 4 top seeds correct AND in correct region/location
5. Have all my LOCKS get in. (It would be embarassing if they did not)
6. Correctly match up 8 out of 32 matchups. (This is a puzzle that can be done multiple ways. If I match up 25%, I'll be ecstatic)


Well, it's been fun folks. Hope you enjoyed the first ever Barnes Bracketology. Thanks for checking it out. Selection Show is just moments away!!!