2014 Barnes Bracketology - Feb. 24

Well, that was an eventful weekend of college basketball. Forget Jim Boeheim and his "technical" difficulties. There were a lot of games that shook up the bracket and could have some lasting effects as we creep closer to March. Trying to separate the teams that should be in and out is getting harder instead of easier as in other years. I think that just furthers the point that the move to 68 teams really dilutes the quality of the tournament. Teams that have been really mediocre are still alive when in a field of 64, likely would be NIT-bound.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 68
(changes in italics)

LOCKS: Added 2 more teams to this group and both are well-deserved. Ohio State earned another top-50 RPI win, beating Minnesota. Buckeyes should be safe now. Same goes for UMass. The Minutemen took down a top-50 foe in VCU and their resume is strong enough to graduate to this group. Besides the additions, a lot of shakeups. Syracuse falls out of my top 4 teams and teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Louisville and North Carolina make healthy moves up.

These are in order so you have an idea of how I rank the teams.

LOCKS (27): Florida, Arizona, Kansas, Wichita State, Duke, Syracuse, Creighton, Michigan, Wisconsin, VIllanova, Saint Louis, Michigan State, Louisville, Cincinnati, Iowa State, San Diego State, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, UCLA, Iowa, UConn, Oklahoma, Memphis, Ohio State, UMass


AUTOS: Few amendments to this group as some teams that struggled over the past week caused me to re-consider if they will walk away with the conference tournament title.

Teams that have clinched their berth will appear in bold

AUTOS (22): America East - Vermont, Atlantic Sun - Mercer, Big Sky - Weber State, Big South - VMI, Big West - UC-Santa Barbara, Colonial - Delaware, Conference-USA - Middle Tennessee, Horizon - Green Bay, Ivy - Harvard, MAAC - Iona, MAC - Western Michigan, MEAC - NC Central, Northeast - Robert Morris, Ohio Valley - Belmont, Patriot - Boston Univ., Southern - Davidson, Southland - Stephen F. Austin, SWAC - Southern, Summit - North Dakota State, Sun Belt - Georgia State, WAC - New Mexico State, WCC - Gonzaga

AT-LARGE: Some decent movement here. 3 teams move in (Nebraska, Richmond, and Baylor) while 3 teams move out (Tennessee, Minnesota, Xavier). Besides that, New Mexico and SMU got quality victories that have them knocking on the door of being a LOCK. Arizona State and Pittsburh hut themselves with bad losses. And now that Oklahoma State has Marcus Smart, may be a good time to prove to the masses they are better than where they are ranked now.

These are in order, so the last four teams will be playing in the "First Four" in Dayton

AT-LARGE (19): Kansas State, SMU, New Mexico, Colorado, Stanford, VCU, Pittsburgh, George Washington, Arizona State, St. Joseph's, California, BYU, Oklahoma State, Dayton, Baylor, Nebraska, Richmond, Missouri, St. John's

BUBBLE WATCH

BUBBLE: For now, the bubble has burst on Ole Miss, Indiana State and West Virginia. At a time when all they need to win, they lost. So we may see them again...or we may not. Florida State beat Pitt on the road and stays alive. Georgetown helped themselves out by beating Xavier and LSU came oh so close to a huge road win at Kentucky before falling in OT. They doesn't help obviously, but didn't hurt too badly as they remain alive.

These are in order, so the teams after the last team in the AT-LARGE category are the first ones out.

BUBBLE (30): Kansas State, SMU, New Mexico, Colorado, Stanford, VCU, Pittsburgh, George Washington, Gonzaga, Arizona State, St. Joseph's, California, BYU, Oklahoma State, Dayton, Baylor, Nebraska, Richmond, Missouri, St. John's, Georgetown, Minnesota, Tennessee, Xavier, Providence, LSU, Arkansas, Clemson, Oregon, Florida State

SEEDING

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
  Big 12 (7), A-10 (6), Big Ten (6), Pac-12 (6), AAC (5), ACC (5), Big East (4), SEC (3), MWC (2), WCC (2)

(Click on bracket to enlarge)
SOUTH vs. EAST
WEST vs. MIDWEST

**Florida is the overall top seed

Next update will come after Thursday's games.

MB