Barnes Bracketology - February 25, 2010

If you're a fan of college basketball, then you had to be a fan of yesterday's action. Teams that had a chance to make a huge splash came close but yet, so far. Others made a splash but will it be big enough in the long run? Others were just hoping to tread water and not hurt their standings. And then there was others who were simply trying to avoid the upset but failed in doing so.

Thanks to yesterday's action, there has been some shake-ups in my field of 65. Teams are in and teams are out. But maybe more importantly, some teams did themselves a huge favor by improving their position on the bubble.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65

LOCKS: Teams like Maryland and Missouri are getting close to locking up their spot. Wins yesterday keep both teams on a roll. If they can avoid the big upset, you'll see both in this group soon. But for now, no changes.

LOCKS (25): Duke, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Texas A+M, Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, New Mexico, BYU, Temple, Xavier, Gonzaga and Butler.


AUTOS: No change here from yesterday.

AUTOS (22): America East - Stony Brook, Atlantic Sun - Campbell, Big Sky - Weber State, Big South - Coastal Carolina, Big West - UC Santa Barbara, Colonial - Old Dominion, Conference USA - UTEP, Ivy - Cornell, MAAC - Siena, MAC - Akron, MEAC - Morgan State, MVC - Northern Iowa, Northeast - Robert Morris, Ohio Valley - Murray State, Pac-10 - California, Patriot - Lehigh, Southern - Wofford, Southland - Sam Houston State, SWAC - Jackson State, Summit - Oakland, Sun Belt - Middle Tennessee State, WAC - Utah State

AT-LARGE: Yesterday's action really shook this group up. That's because many of these teams played and with mixed results. The big winner in the group is UTEP who I think with 11 wins in a row has done enough to warrant a spot in this group. The big loser is no doubt William & Mary, who with their loss to Towson now find themselves 5th in the Colonial conference. Sorry, that's not gonna cut it. They're back on the bubble, where they will probably stay. Also not in as good of shape anymore is Virginia Tech, who lost to BC in a game the Hokies needed to win. They now find themselves on the edge of the AT-LARGE cliff.

AT-LARGE (18): Richmond, Missouri, Maryland, Louisville, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, UNLV, Florida, Marquette, UConn, Rhode Island, Illinois, UTEP, Washington, St. Mary's, and Virginia Tech

BUBBLE WATCH

Thanks to last night's games, the BUBBLEs group is one smaller as Saint Louis has had their bubble burst. With a win over Xavier, the Billikens had a chance to make a big jump. But now, their chances are slim to none and until they get another marquee victory, they're toast. Meanwhile, Notre dame has vaulted up in the ranks with a huge win over Pitt. It's not enough quite yet but they're on the right track. The news is not good for South Florida though who continue to fall, after losing to Villanova last night.

BUBBLE (39): Richmond, Northern Iowa, Missouri, Maryland, Louisville, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, UNLV, Florida, Marquette, UConn, Rhode Island, Illinois, UTEP, Washington, St. Mary's, Virginia Tech, California, Utah State, Dayton, Siena, San Diego State, Charlotte, Cincinnati, UAB, Seton Hall, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, William & Mary, Mississippi State, Arizona State, South Florida, Northeastern, Wichita State, and Cornell.

That's the field as of now. We'll see what happens next.

SEEDING

As far as the top four seeds, I'm not willing to change anything quite yet. The loss to Notre Dame was not good for Pitt in their quest for a #2 seed but at the same time, it wasn't that bad of a loss to knock them down to a #4 seed. BYU is getting close to a #4 seed, thanks to a quality win over San Diego State. Also, don't sleep on Temple, who had a quality win over Dayton, and Texas, who beat a good Oklahoma State team. There's still time for both to jump into a top 4 seed.

Tomorrow, I will make my first complete bracket so this section will be interesting tomorrow. Today though, here are my unchanged top 4 seeds:

MIDWEST REGION - St. Louis
1. Kansas (Oklahoma City) -- TOP OVERALL SEED.
2. West Virginia (New Orleans)
3. Michigan State (Buffalo)
4. New Mexico (San Jose)

EAST REGION - Syracuse
1. Kentucky (New Orleans)
2. Kansas State (Oklahoma City)
3. Georgetown (Jacksonville)
4. Wisconsin (Spokane)

SOUTH REGION - Houston
1. Syracuse* (Buffalo)
2. Duke (Jacksonville)
3. Pittsburgh (Providence)
4. Vanderbilt (San Jose)

WEST REGION - Salt Lake City
1. Purdue (Milwaukee)
2. Villanova (Providence)
3. Ohio State (Milwaukee)
4. Gonzaga (Spokane)

*NOTE: Syracuse is ineligible to play in the East Region because their home court is being used as the region site.

THURSDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH

South Carolina @ Kentucky - UK has one loss this season. It came to USC. A win by UK just moves them closer to locking up a #1 seed.
Wisconsin @ Indiana - This shouldn't be a problem for the Badgers, but if they lose, they probably lose the #4 seed I have them projected to be.
Georgia @ Vanderbilt - Vandy is in good shape right now but they better bring their "A" game against UGA, who has been playing well as of late, especially against good teams.
Arizona @ California - Simply said, Cal needs to win every game if they want to feel safe.
Arizona State @ Stanford - It wouldn't be a quality win for the Sun Devils but a road win nonetheless.

Check back tomorrow as I will have my first bracket right here. Should be fun. After I post the first one, it will be updated every day.

Don't forget, you can share your opinion in the comments section below, on Twitter @MattBarnesWRDW, or my Facebook page. I'd love to hear what you think. See ya tomorrow.

MB

Barnes Bracketology - February 24, 2010

It's starting to get tough for yours truly. Putting together my top 65 was mainly a gut decision for me yesterday. But putting the teams in order really forced me to compare records, resumes, RPI rankings and still, my gut. It wasn't an easy task by any means but I did it. Of course, much will be changed by time I come out with my final bracket in about 2 weeks. But for now, enjoy the structured randomness that is today's bracketology.

As I mentioned, what's new is that I put in order the AT-LARGE teams and the BUBBLE teams to give you a better idea of where they stand. While some teams may seem high or low right now, that is strictly because I feel they have some more to prove. Some of them have crucial games coming up that if they win will vault up the list. Others though who may win but play scrubs will find themselves either treading water or sinking slowly.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65

LOCKS: I was all set to add Northern Iowa to this list on Tuesday but I told myself that they needed to avoid the big upset on the road to Evansville, who at the time had just 7 wins. Well guess what, UNI lost. Therefore, they remain an AUTO and not a LOCK. While they are still in great shape, the loss keeps them from LOCK status for another day or two. Other than that, no changes.

LOCKS (25): Duke, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Texas A+M, Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, New Mexico, BYU, Temple, Xavier, Gonzaga and Butler.


AUTOS: No change here from yesterday.

AUTOS (22): America East - Stony Brook, Atlantic Sun - Campbell, Big Sky - Weber State, Big South - Coastal Carolina, Big West - UC Santa Barbara, Colonial - Old Dominion, Conference USA - UTEP, Ivy - Cornell, MAAC - Siena, MAC - Akron, MEAC - Morgan State, MVC - Northern Iowa, Northeast - Robert Morris, Ohio Valley - Murray State, Pac-10 - California, Patriot - Lehigh, Southern - Wofford, Southland - Sam Houston State, SWAC - Jackson State, Summit - Oakland, Sun Belt - Middle Tennessee State, WAC - Utah State

AT-LARGE: As I stated up top, these names are now in order from most secure to least secure. That should give you an idea of who I think is also getting close to LOCK status. Teams near the beginning of this list are probably just a big win away from being a LOCK.

There is a change though in who is in this list and who is out. Illinois jumps into my field with a solid road victory over Michigan. Out of the group is Dayton for now.

AT-LARGE (18): Richmond, Missouri, Clemson, Maryland, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, UNLV, Florida, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, Marquette, UConn, Rhode Island, Illinois, Washington and St. Mary's

BUBBLE WATCH

Of course, there is still a BUBBLE category. You will see repeat names in the category because though a team may be an AT-LARGE, they are still always on the BUBBLE until they become a LOCK. No changes to this group but they are now in order from best chance to worst chance.

BUBBLE (39): Richmond, Northern Iowa, Missouri, Clemson, Maryland, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Old Dominion, UNLV, Florida, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, Marquette, UConn, Rhode Island, Illinois, Washington, St. Mary's, Dayton, California, San Diego State, Utah State, Siena, Seton Hall, Charlotte, Cincinnati, UTEP, UAB, Ole Miss, South Florida, Saint Louis, Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Northeastern, Wichita State, and Cornell

Hopefully, that clears things up a bit. Again, I reserve the right to make drastic changes to this field of 65 as I continue to compare each team's bodies of work. The more time I look the numbers, the more I change my mind so changes will come.

SEEDING

For the second night in a row, no changes. Georgetown's win over Louisville was huge, keeping them as a solid #3 seed. Same can be said for Syracuse's road win. A loss there may have opened the door slightly for a team like Kansas State (who also won on the road) to creep closer to a #1 seed. New Mexico avoided upset and stays where they are. Meanwhile Tennessee, who had a chance to make a move toward a top 4 seed suffered a loss to Florida, keeping a team like Vanderbilt breathing easy for now.

The goal was to have a bracket up by tomorrow but instead, it will be Friday. With all the big games tomorrow, that will allow me to first make changes to the teams in the actual field and then, give me time on Thursday to place them into my first bracket.

For now though, here are my projected top 4 seeds:

MIDWEST REGION - St. Louis
1. Kansas (Oklahoma City) -- TOP OVERALL SEED.
2. West Virginia (New Orleans)
3. Michigan State (Buffalo)
4. New Mexico (San Jose)

EAST REGION - Syracuse
1. Kentucky (New Orleans)
2. Kansas State (Oklahoma City)
3. Georgetown (Jacksonville)
4. Wisconsin (Spokane)

SOUTH REGION - Houston
1. Syracuse* (Buffalo)
2. Duke (Jacksonville)
3. Pittsburgh (Providence)
4. Vanderbilt (San Jose)

WEST REGION - Salt Lake City
1. Purdue (Milwaukee)
2. Villanova (Providence)
3. Ohio State (Milwaukee)
4. Gonzaga (Spokane)

*NOTE: Syracuse is ineligible to play in the East Region because their home court is being used as the region site.

WEDNESDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH

Purdue @ Minnesota - For Purdue, staying as a #1 seed is on the line. For Minnesota, a chance to get back in the bubble talk.
South Florida @ Villanova - USF needs a win like this badly to boost their resume. Villanova just better not be looking ahead to their showdown at Syracuse on Saturday
San Diego State @ BYU - The Aztecs could really help their cause with a win on the road. BYU won the first meeting at SDSU by just 2 points. Cougars also right on cusp of grabbing a top 4 seed.
Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame - A must-win for Notre Dame if they want to stay a bubble team. For Pitt, a must-win if they want to even be considered for anything higher than a 3 seed.
Dayton @ Temple - Temple is safely in the tournament and now, fighting for a high seed. Dayton could help themselves immensely with a road victory in Philly.
Oklahoma State @ Texas - I think it's safe to say a win in Austin would move the Cowboys from at-large to lock status. The Longhorns have been struggling as of late but are safely in the dance.
UTEP @ Southern Miss - The Miners have won 10 in a row and are quickly rising up my rankings. Gotta get past their road test though against USM, who nearly beat UAB last week.
Virginia Tech @ Boston College - This is a game the Hokies are supposed to win. If they lose, they may lose their spot among the at-large crowd too.
Florida State @ North Carolina - UNC's chances are on life support. They need to win out and then some. FSU needs to avoid this loss and win a couple more to feel safe about their standing.
Xavier @ Saint Louis - The Billikens are a desperate team in need of a marquee win so Xavier better be ready. A loss by Saint Louis probably bursts their bubble, despite their great play as of late.
Clemson @ Maryland - With a loss, neither team will lose their spot in the field. But with a win, they can really shore up their spot in the at-large pool.

There you have it. Should be a great day of basketball as there's a lot at stake for many teams. Bubbles could be burst tomorrow but at the same time, we could see more teams added to the discussion. I'll be watching closely as I try to figure out who is worthy of a spot in my field of 65.

Ddon't forget, you can share your opinion in the comments section below, on Twitter @MattBarnesWRDW, or my Facebook page. I'd love to hear what you think. See ya tomorrow.

MB

Barnes Bracketology - February 23, 2010

What a difference a year makes when it comes to bracketology. This time last year, teams like North Carolina, UConn, Louisville, and Memphis were fighting for top seeds. This year, all are fighting to just make the field of 65. Last year, teams like Kentucky, Kansas State, and Vanderbilt didn't even make the tournament. This year, they're fighting for a top 4 seed. Crazy huh?

But that's just another example of why I love doing this bracketology series. It's so unpredictable but yet, my job is to predict. So far, I have predicted the top 4 seeds by region and included my LOCKS, AUTOS, and BUBBLE teams. Today, I am going to complete the field of 65 by adding my AT-LARGE teams. Of all the groups, the AT-LARGE group is the one that will see the most movement. With each day of games, I will shift teams in and out, making for fun times once I actually fill out an entire bracket.

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 65

LOCKS: With only two really big games playing yesterday, there were no changes to my LOCKS group. So I'm sticking with the 25 I have, though I am very close to adding 2-3 more. I just think they need one more good win or just simply avoid an upset on the road this coming week.

LOCKS (25): Duke, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Texas A+M, Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, New Mexico, BYU, Temple, Xavier, Gonzaga and Butler.


AUTOS: Nothing new to report. This section will pretty stay unchanged until conference tournament week, though you may some shifting these next 2 weeks as some conferences have matchups between the top two teams ahead.

AUTOS (22): America East - Stony Brook, Atlantic Sun - Campbell, Big Sky - Weber State, Big South - Coastal Carolina, Big West - UC Santa Barbara, Colonial - Old Dominion, Conference USA - UTEP, Ivy - Cornell, MAAC - Siena, MAC - Akron, MEAC - Morgan State, MVC - Northern Iowa, Northeast - Robert Morris, Ohio Valley - Murray State, Pac-10 - California, Patriot - Lehigh, Southern - Wofford, Southland - Sam Houston State, SWAC - Jackson State, Summit - Oakland, Sun Belt - Middle Tennessee State, WAC - Utah State

AT-LARGE: This is where it gets fun. After comparing regular season resumes, RPI rankings and at times, just going with my gut, here are the 18 AT-LARGE teams as of now. I will say thanks to UConn's win over West Virginia yesterday, they moved from BUBBLE to AT-LARGE. It was their third straight win, with two of them against top-tier teams (WVU and Villanova).

This time, the AT-LARGE teams are in no particular order at all but as time goes on, they will be in order from most secure to least secure.

AT-LARGE (18): Georgia Tech, Clemson, Richmond, Missouri, Florida State, Florida, Maryland, UConn, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, UNLV, Marquette, Rhode Island, William & Mary, Dayton, St. Mary's and Washington

BUBBLE WATCH

Of course, there is still a BUBBLE category. You will see repeat names in the category because though a team may be an AT-LARGE, they are still always on the BUBBLE until they become a LOCK. No changes to this group so again, the BUBBLE teams are listed here in no particular order at all. Again, with time, this group will be in order from best chances to worst chances.

BUBBLE (39): Georgia Tech, Clemson, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, South Florida, Marquette, Notre Dame, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma State, California, Washington, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Florida, Mississippi State, San Diego State, UNLV, Richmond, Rhode Island, Dayton, Charlotte, Saint Louis, Northern Iowa, UAB, Siena, Utah State, Old Dominion, St. Mary's, William and Mary, Wichita State, Cornell, UTEP, and Northeastern.

So there you have it. My current field of 65 and the teams that are close to crashing the Big Dance. With some big games today, expect some teams to jump in and fall out in tomorrow's post.

SEEDING

No changes here. Kansas' win over Oklahoma just further strengthened their stranglehold on a #1 seed AND the top overall seed. Meanwhile, WVU's loss to UConn did not cause them to fall from a #2 seed just yet. But there are some very good teams that are right on their heels, such as Pittsburgh and Ohio State.

In case you missed yesterday's post, this year, the 8 first and second round sites are New Orleans, LA, Providence, RI, San Jose, CA Oklahoma City, OK Buffalo, NY, Jacksonville, FL, Milwaukee, WI and Spokane, WA.

The regional sites are Syracuse, NY (EAST), St. Louis, MO (MIDWEST), Salt Lake City, UT (WEST) and Houston, TX (SOUTH).

After today, I will no longer explain why there are cities next to the names of the universities and regions in the interest of space.

Here are my projected top 4 seeds:

MIDWEST REGION - St. Louis
1. Kansas (Oklahoma City) -- TOP OVERALL SEED.
2. West Virginia (New Orleans)
3. Michigan State (Buffalo)
4. New Mexico (San Jose)

EAST REGION - Syracuse
1. Kentucky (New Orleans)
2. Kansas State (Oklahoma City)
3. Georgetown (Jacksonville)
4. Wisconsin (Spokane)

SOUTH REGION - Houston
1. Syracuse* (Buffalo)
2. Duke (Jacksonville)
3. Pittsburgh (Providence)
4. Vanderbilt (San Jose)

WEST REGION - Salt Lake City
1. Purdue (Milwaukee)
2. Villanova (Providence)
3. Ohio State (Milwaukee)
4. Gonzaga (Spokane)

*NOTE: Syracuse is ineligible to play in the East Region because their home court is being used as the region site.

TUESDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH

Syracuse @ Providence - Providence has about zero chance of gaining an at-large big but they've played some good teams tough. The Friars have lost 6 straight though. A win over Syracuse would be great for morale but bad for the 'Cuse, who are hoping to stay a #1 seed.
Kansas State @ Texas Tech - A win by Tech puts them back in the bubble discussion and probably drops K-State from a #2 seed.
Georgetown @ Louisville - Huge game for the Cardinals. A win gives them a second top-15 RPI victory in 4 games, something that will resonate well with the committee this late. As for G'Town, losing this game might not hurt the seeding too much but a third loss in a row may shake the confidence of the team.
Tennessee @ Florida - The Gators need this one badly. With really just one marquee win (vs. Mich. St.), this would add a much-needed feather to their cap.
Illinois @ Michigan - Tough road test for the Illini but one they need to pass if they want to stay in the at-large group. Illinois has lost their last 2 games (vs. OSU, @ Purdue).

That's it for today. Hopefully, the addition of the AT-LARGE group was enough to whet your appetite. Tomorrow, my goal is to order the AT-LARGE and BUBBLE group so you have an idea of who I think is in better shape than others. Then, on Thursday, I hope to reveal my first bracket. Of course, that's all subject to change as Wednesday is a very active basketball night with a lot of meaningful games taking place.

Either way, I hope you'll return. And don't forget, you can share your opinion in the comments section below, on Twitter @MattBarnesWRDW, or my Facebook page.

MB

Barnes Bracketology - February 22, 2010

It's hard to believe that Selection Sunday is now less than 3 weeks away. Just seemed like yesterday the ACC/Big Ten challenge was beginning. But alas, the tournament is just weeks away and that means, it's time to kick off my bracketology series.

As I stated in my introduction post, this is a gradual process. I will reveal more and more as the days go on. Today, I will be revealing my current top 4 seeds and their regions as well as my locks, autos and my bubble teams. In the coming days, I will reveal complete my field of 65 and add seeding as well.

So here's how it will work. Every post will start with the LOCKS. These are the teams that have done plenty already to assure themselves of a spot in the field of 65. This is clearly the group teams want to be in. They are, in no particular order:

LOCKS (25): Duke, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Texas A+M, Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, New Mexico, BYU, Temple, Xavier, Gonzaga and Butler.

If you're not a LOCK, then you definitely want be an AUTO. That means being the team to earn the automatic bid from your conference. For all conferences except the Ivy League, this will be earned by winning the conference tournament. So for now, many of these names are just guesses of who will win the conference tournament in a few weeks. You'll also notice not every conference will be listed in this category. That's because if a team is already a LOCK, their name will not appear in the AUTO category too. So the AUTOS are, in alphabetical order by conference:

AUTOS (22): America East - Stony Brook, Atlantic Sun - Campbell, Big Sky - Weber State, Big South - Coastal Carolina, Big West - UC Santa Barbara, Colonial - Old Dominion, Conference USA - UTEP, Ivy - Cornell, MAAC - Siena, MAC - Akron, MEAC - Morgan State, MVC - Northern Iowa, Northeast - Robert Morris, Ohio Valley - Murray State, Pac-10 - California, Patriot - Lehigh, Southern - Wofford, Southland - Sam Houston State, SWAC - Jackson State, Summit - Oakland, Sun Belt - Middle Tennessee State, WAC - Utah State

Normally, after the AUTO category, I will have the AT-LARGE category. But I'm not quite ready for that yet. But I will reveal my BUBBLE category. This is the list that is one no one wants to be on. It means come Selection Sunday, the team will be biting their fingernails, waiting until their name is called, if at all.

You will see some teams in the BUBBLE category that are also in the AUTO category. That's because if the team does not end winning their conference tournament, they still have a chance of still reaching the Big Dance as an AT-LARGE. As the days go by, I will put the teams in the BUBBLE category in order so you know how close each team is to cracking my field of 65. But for now, here are the BUBBLE teams in no particular order:

BUBBLE (39): Georgia Tech, Clemson, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, South Florida, Marquette, Notre Dame, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma State, California, Washington, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Florida, Mississippi State, San Diego State, UNLV, Richmond, Rhode Island, Dayton, Charlotte, Saint Louis, Northern Iowa, UAB, Siena, Utah State, Old Dominion, St. Mary's, William and Mary, Wichita State, Cornell, UTEP, and Northeastern.

So if you do the math, only 18 of the above 39 BUBBLE teams will receive an invite to the tournament. And that number can decrease if there are upsets in conference tournaments that add to the AUTO number. So yeah, it's going to be a fun next 3 weeks.

SEEDING

As far as my top 4 seeds, here's what I have so far. Again, these will shift like the field of 65 projections. I also assigned the teams to regions, keeping in mind the NCAA's goal of placing teams at sites that are closest to their universities.

This year, the 8 first and second round sites are New Orleans, LA, Providence, RI, San Jose, CA Oklahoma City, OK Buffalo, NY, Jacksonville, FL, Milwaukee, WI and Spokane, WA.

The regional sites are Syracuse, NY (EAST), St. Louis, MO (MIDWEST), Salt Lake City, UT (WEST) and Houston, TX (SOUTH).

With that in mind, here are my projected top 4 seeds:

MIDWEST REGION - St. Louis
1. Kansas (Oklahoma City)
2. West Virginia (New Orleans)
3. Michigan State (Buffalo)
4. New Mexico (San Jose)

EAST REGION - Syracuse
1. Kentucky (New Orleans)
2. Kansas State (Oklahoma City)
3. Georgetown (Jacksonville)
4. Wisconsin (Spokane)

SOUTH REGION - Houston
1. Syracuse* (Buffalo)
2. Duke (Jacksonville)
3. Pittsburgh (Providence)
4. Vanderbilt (San Jose)

WEST REGION - Salt Lake City
1. Purdue (Milwaukee)
2. Villanova (Providence)
3. Ohio State (Milwaukee)
4. Gonzaga (Spokane)

*NOTE: Syracuse is ineligible to play in the East Region because their home court is being used as the region site.

MONDAY'S GAMES TO WATCH
Oklahoma @ Kansas - The Jayhawks are firmly a #1 seed right now but could change with a few losses down the stretch. Oklahoma is not even considered a bubble team right now.
West Virginia @ UConn - For WVU, this could mean staying a #2 seed. For UConn, it may be a must-win as they continue to fight for a spot in the field after a rough stretch that saw them lose 8 out of 10 games.

That's it for today. Check back tomorrow for more as I continue to put together this crazy puzzle that is the NCAA Basketball Tournament field of 65.

Barnes Bracketology - Intro

Hello and welcome to Barnes Bracketology, the 2010 edition. After my inaugural run in 2009, I'm excited to give this another shot. Last year was fairly successful in both reader interaction and my picks. I had a somewhat solid following that gave me plenty of opinions, from start to finish. I also did a decent job with the picks, correctly guessing all the top seeds and predicting 64 of the 65 teams in the field (Arizona the lone miss).

But with a new year comes bigger goals. This year, I wanna get them all. Of course, that may not happen, because while I may see something one way, the selection committee may see it another, so in essence, there is no "wrong' answer. But that's not going to stop me from crunching the numbers every night and putting together the massive puzzle that is the field of 65.

While some may think it's easy, trust me, it's not. I figured that out quickly last year. There are tons of components that go into making a bracket. First, picking the 34 at-large teams. Then, seeding all the teams. With the seeding though comes the task of making sure conference foes (really tough, especially with Big East teams) OR teams that met each other in the regular season don't face each other in the first three rounds. Oh, and then don't forget the fact that you have to assign teams to regions. So yeah, it's not easy.

Despite all that, I'm going for it again. And if that means late nights for yours truly, that's quite fine. My plan is to update the blog with projections everyday, except for Saturday. That's because there aren't really any big Friday games, until the conference tournaments begin. Other than that though, expect a new post everyday. I will apologize now though if I miss a day. Things do come up.

With each and every post, I will reveal more and more. I make it a gradual process. I will start with the top 4 seeds. Then, I'll pick my 65 teams. From there, I'll make a full bracket. Each post will also include my locks (teams who've done enough to assure a spot), autos (teams with automatic bids in the tourney for winning conference tourneys), and at-larges (teams that will earn an at-large bid). I will also have a list of bubble teams and I will rank those in order, to let you know who is close and not close to being included in my bracket.

I also want to assure you that during this process, I will not look at any other bracket projections on any other website or publication. I pride myself on coming up with these predictions myself and not simply copy and pasting someone else's thoughts. I accomplished this feat last year successfully and see no reason why I can't do it again.

I think this will be fun, but it is more fun with interaction from you, the readers. I hope you'll check in everyday and let me know what you think. The first post will be up soon. Let the 2010 Barnes Bracketology begin!