2014 Barnes Bracketology: Feb. 28

March is here. And I for one, couldn't be happier about that. Now every game REALLY matters, as conference regular season titles are coming down to the final few games. And then, it's conference tournament time with NCAA berths on the line. And then of course, the Madness. Should be fun.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 68
(changes in italics)

LOCKS: Did not add one team here from the games through Thursday but the order did change slightly due to some wins/losses.

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, Louisville, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Iowa State, San Diego State, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, UCLA, Kentucky, UConn, Oklahoma, UMass, Memphis, Iowa, Ohio State


AUTOS: Only one change among the group. Found out that Southern as of now is ineligible for the NCAA Tourney. They are in the middle of an appeal process but for now, ineligible. So I replaced them with Alabama State in the SWAC.

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 - Alabama State, Summit - North Dakota State, Sun Belt - Georgia State, WAC - New Mexico State, WCC - Gonzaga

AT-LARGE: Lot more movement here than expected. Not just in the order but of the teams from the BUBBLE that jumped in. 5 teams in all who all snagged good wins. So welcome in Minnesota, Arkansas, Tennessee, Xavier and Oregon. The teams that dropped out are Nebraska, Richmond, Missouri, Dayton and St. John's.

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, VCU, Arizona State, Stanford, Pittsburgh, George Washington, St. Joseph's, BYU, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Arkansas, California, Baylor, Tennessee, Xavier, Oregon

BUBBLE WATCH

BUBBLE: Still holding strong at 29 teams in this group fighting for what is still 19 AT-LARGE spots right now. And remember Gonzaga is in this group in case they lose their conference tourney so they may/may not really need to be in this group.

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

BUBBLE (29): Kansas State, SMU, New Mexico, Colorado, VCU, Arizona State, Stanford, Pittsburgh, George Washington, Gonzaga, St. Joseph's, BYU, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Arkansas, California, Baylor, Tennessee, Xavier, Oregon, Dayton, Nebraska, Richmond, St. John's, Missouri, Providence, LSU, Georgetown, Florida State

SEEDING

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
  Big 12 (7), Pac-12 (7), Big Ten (6), AAC (5), ACC (5), A-10 (5), Big East (4), SEC (4), 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 Sunday's games.

MB