Barnes Bracketology - March 8th

Well, Saturday brought us plenty more big wins and plenty more upsets. As usual, I am staying on top of all the actions and results and well, it isn't making my job much easier. Bubble teams refuse to play their way and now, with conference tournaments on the way, it's only gonna get harder.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65
(new teams in italics)

LOCKS: Only one addition to this category and it goes to the Aggies of Texas A+M. The team dominated a good Missouri team from start to finish and no doubt, proved they were worthy of a spot in the Big Dance.

LOCKS (31): 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 and Texas A+M.

AUTO: Well, after a week, there are some changes and in fact, some teams are actually LOCKS thanks to their conference tournament. But to keep it fairly easy to understand, I am just going to bold them in this category instead of moving them. New additions are in italics still.

AUTO (20): Binghamton (Am. East), East Tennessee St (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), Northern Iowa (MVC), Robert Morris (Northeast), Morehead St (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: Well, we are down to just 14 spots and things got a little more complicated with Creighton losing. They have been on the bubble but could have earned their spot through their conference tournament until they lost last night. But with that no more, they know are moving into the at-large category. Meanwhile, there were more big losses by bubble teams at home, including by Minnesota (vs. Michigan) and Rhode Island (vs. UMass). For now, they are moving out. But with the conference tournaments coming, there's still time.

AT-LARGE (14): Ohio St, BYU, OKST, Michigan, St. Mary's. BC, Dayton, Creighton, Providence, Penn State, UNLV, Kansas St, Arizona, and South Carolina.

BUBBLE WATCH

This late in the season, being on the bubble is not a good thing. Just ask teams like Maryland, Cincinnati, Penn State, Minnesota and Rhode Island. All those teams lost, causing them more stress than probably wanted. So whose bubble has burst? Well, I think Maryland is toast. Losing on the road is on thing. Losing to UVA is another. Same said for Cincinnati. Despite it being senior day in Cincinatti, the Bearcats lost to lowly Seton Hall. Obviously, Texas A+M is already out.

BUBBLE (25): BC, VT, Providence, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio St, Michigan, Penn St, OKST, 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

No new seeding today. I am gonna wait until the entire weekend is over. No, not because I am lazy but because it just makes more sense to re-do the whole bracket once every team gets a chance to win or lose. Trust me, there will be changes. In the meantime, check out my photo slideshow to see just how hard I have been working on this endeavor.



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)

SUNDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH
Duke @ North Carolina - A number one seed could be on the line in the greatest rivalry in college basketball
Purdue @ Michigan State - Very important for seeding purposes
Clemson @ Wake Forest - For Clemson, this is a chance to move in the seeding.
Virginia Tech @ Florida State - A win by the Hokies may be enough to secure an at-large.
Northwestern @ Ohio State - Both teams are on the bubble. NW needs this win and a good conference tourney showing. OSU probably just needs to win to get in for sure.
Indiana @ Wisconsin - The Badgers know this one should be easy. If it's even close, they're gonna lose "style points" with the committee.
Arkansas @ Vanderbilt - A loss by the Commodores all but secures a bid...to the NIT. They need to win this and get some help.


Again, make sure you check out the slideshow. I worked really hard on it. And don't forget to also leave any and all comments. Brackets will be re-done Sunday night after a full weekend of games. Adios.