Barnes Bracketology - March 6th

Another good night of basketball if I may so myself. A couple games have caused some ripples in my projected field. Some teams are on the move and that means, my seeding needs to be re-done. No worries though, I am up the task and will be until Selection Sunday. The countdown is above and well, let's just say, it can't count fast enough.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65
(new teams in italics)

LOCKS: Two new teams I think have secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament. They are Tennessee, who won on the road against BUBBLE team South Carolina 86-70. The Vols are now more than worthy of being a LOCK. Also moving in is California. They also beat a BUBBLE team on the road in Arizona 83-77..

LOCKS (30): 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, and California.

AUTO: No changes here yet again. I am sticking with the teams I have chosen. None of them lost in their respective tournament as well.

AUTO (20): Vermont (Am. East), Belmont (A-Sun), Weber State (Big Sky), Radford (Big South), Long Beach St (Big West), VCU (Colonial), Cornell (Ivy), Siena (MAAC), Buffalo (MAC), Morgan St (MEAC), Creighton (MVC), Robert Morris (Northeast), Tenn-Martin (Ohio Valley), American (Patriot), Davidson (SoCon), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Alabama St (SWAC), ND State (Summit), Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), and Utah St (WAC)

AT-LARGE: Big changes here. With Tennessee and Cal moving up, we're down to just 15 at-large spots, and of course, that could shrink if mid-major LOCK teams don't win their conference tournament. Providence, Dayton, Arizona, and South Carolina all lost. They lost to teams currently in the LOCK category but when wins over teams like that are huge, they laid eggs. Meanwhile, Penn State got a big win over Illinois, really helping their chances. I also did some research and moved some teams around in the order of safe to not-so-safe. South Carolina is out. Rhode Island is in.

AT-LARGE (15): Ohio St, BYU, OKST, Penn State, UNLV, Texas A+M, Minnesota, St. Mary's, BC, Dayton, Michigan, Providence, Kansas St, Arizona, and Rhode Island.

BUBBLE WATCH

Again, I did some research and because of that, I have added another BUBBLE team in Northwestern. They have 7 wins against teams with a top-50 RPI ranking. That's worthy enough to at least to be watched. The problem with many of the bubble teams on this list is that they all keep losing. Arizona has beaten 4 LOCKS and a BUBBLE team but have lost 4 in a row when it matters. Florida has lost 3 in a row. And many more have lost 2 of 3 or 3 of 4. It's about time for these teams to play like they want to make Selection Sunday a relaxing day and not a nerve-wracking one.

BUBBLE (28): BC, Maryland, VT, Cincinnati, Providence, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio St, Michigan, Penn St, OKST, Texas A+M, Kansas St, Arizona, South Carolina, Florida, BYU, UNLV, San Diego St, Dayton, Utah St, Creighton, St. Mary's, Rhode Island, Davidson, New Mexico, Vanderbilt and Northwestern.

SEEDING

Well folks, this is my second go-round with the seeding. After Thursday's games, I made some changes. Arizona State fell from their 5 seed to a 6. Tennessee is up to an 8 seed and Cal up to a 7. Illinois falls from the 4 seed in lieu of Syracuse and Arizona falls from an 8 to an 11 seed, where you'll also find Providence. The other minor changes, you'll just have to find by comparing posts. The bracket is below.

EAST-WEST vs. SOUTH-MIDWEST (Click on bracket to have it enlarged)

EAST REGION (Boston)
1 UConn vs. 16 Morgan State (Philadelphia)
2 Michigan State vs. 15 Belmont (Minneapolis)
3 Wake Forest vs 14 Weber State (Miami)
4 Xavier vs. 13 Western Kentucky (Portland)
5 Purdue vs. St. Mary's (Portland)
6 Texas vs. 11 Arizona (Miami)
7 West Virginia vs. 10 Utah State (Minneapolis)
8 BYU vs. 9 Texas A+M (Philadelphia)

SOUTH REGION (Memphis)
1 North Carolina vs. 16 Robert Morris (Greensboro)
2 Louisville vs. 15 STennesee-Martin (Dayton)
3 Missouri vs. 14 Cornell (Boise)
4 Syracuse vs. 13 VCU (Minneapolis)
5 Illnois vs. 12 Rhode Island (Minneapolis)
6 Arizona State vs. 11 Davidson (Boise)
7 Florida State vs. 10 Minnesota (Dayton)
8 Tennessee vs. 9 Creighton (Greensboro)

MIDWEST REGION (Indianapolis)
1 Pittsburgh vs. 16 Long Beach St/Alabama St (Dayton)
2 Duke vs. 15 American (Greensboro)
3 Kansas vs. 14 Vermont (Miami)
4 LSU vs. 13 Buffalo (Boise)
5 Clemson vs. 12 Kansas State (Boise)
6 Butler vs. 11 Providence (Miami)
7 California vs. 10 Penn State (Greensboro)
8 Ohio State vs. 9 UNLV (Dayton)

WEST REGION (Phoenix)
1 Memphis vs. 16 Radford (Kansas City)
2 Oklahoma vs. 15 Stephen F. Austin (Kansas City)
3 Villanova vs. 14 North Dakota St. (Philadelphia)
4 Washington vs. 13 Siena (Portland)
5 Marquette vs. 12 Michigan (Portland)
6 UCLA vs. 11 Dayton (Philadelphia)
7 Gonzaga vs. 10 Boston College (Kansas City)
8 Oklahoma St vs. 9 Utah (Kansas City)

FRIDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH
None at all actually. Enjoy the Cavs-Celtics!

SATURDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH
UConn @ Pittsburgh - Overall #1 seed on the line possibly.
Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma - Oklahoma wants to reclaim a number one seed. Oklahoma State could find themselves in the tournament with a huge upset.
Louisville @ West Virginia - L'Ville is still hoping for a one seed. Possible if they run the table the rest of the way before Selection Sunday.
Missouri @ Texas A+M - Upset by the Aggies would help their at-large status. Mizzou is hoping to improve upon their projected third seed.
Georgia Tech @ Boston College - Tech already has one upset this week. BC cannot afford to be their second victim.
UMass @ Rhode Island - The Rams are the definition of a bubble team. They need to not only win this, but win it big.
Maryland @ Virginia - The Terps are hangin by a thread. They lose this game, consider their bubble to be burst.
UNLV @ San Diego State - UNLV can probably lose this and still be okay. SDSU needs this to stay in the conversation.
Michigan @ Minnesota - Not sure what to make of this game. Both teams need the win. Loser needs to do work in the Big Ten Tournament.
Seton Hall @ Cincinnati - The Bearcats know how important this game is. Add this win and a semifinal appearance in the conference tournament and they may get in.
Penn State @ Iowa - PSU can't follow that win over Illinois with a dud against Iowa.
Kentucky @ Florida - The Wildcats are toast but the Gators are alive and kicking. This won't get them in but a loss will keep them out.
South Carolina @ Georgia - The Gamecocks cannot, I repeat, cannot lose this game and expect to make the tournament.
Stanford @ Arizona - Stanford just beat ASU on the road. They do the same to Arizona and the 'Cats will have lost 5 in a row and probably any chances of an at-large berth.


Because of the lack of games, I will not be posting anything tomorrow. Simply doesn't make sense. I hope to have one up though for Sunday. Comments are welcome below.