Zach Hayes is RTC’s resident bracketologist. He’ll regularly be out-scooping, out-thinking and out-shining Lunardi over the next two months.
- Texas may not have dropped to the second line with just the loss Monday at Kansas State, but falling to Connecticut sealed their fate as far as a #1 seed is concerned for this week’s bracket. The beneficiary is Villanova, who moves to the top line along with Kentucky, Kansas and Syracuse.
- Duke’s win Saturday night at Clemson keeps them at a #2 seed despite the no-show at NC State. Georgetown’s huge road win at Pittsburgh bumps them up to a #2 seed. Kansas State could have been a #2 had they beaten Oklahoma State at home.
- Despite two losses this week, Pittsburgh’s overall slate of wins keeps them at the last #4 seed. They still have road wins at Syracuse, Connecticut and Cincinnati.
- BYU has a glamorous record at 20-1, but they just don’t have the quality wins at this point to move anywhere higher than a #5 seed.
- Two teams moving up quickly are Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
- Connecticut’s win over Texas moved them from bubble territory to a #7 seed. The #1 SOS is boosting their RPI drastically.
- William & Mary losing at home to Old Dominion hurts, but they still had those big road wins over Wake Forest and Maryland to sneak the Tribe into the field. Seton Hall has three more top-50 wins than Northwestern. Despite Cincinnati losing to Louisville Sunday, it’s about the overall portfolio, and the Bearcats simply have better wins. North Carolina, unbelievably, is skating dangerously close to the NIT.
- That’s right folks: the Pac-10 only has one bid to the tournament. And I’d say there’s a 75% chance that could be the case on Selection Sunday. The Atlantic 10 and CAA benefit.
Last Four In: William & Mary, Seton Hall, North Carolina, Cincinnati
Last Four Out: Louisville, Northwestern, Florida, Tulsa
Next Four Out: Minnesota, Wichita State, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame
Automatic bids: Maine, Temple, Duke, Campbell, Kansas, Villanova, Weber State, Coastal Carolina, Michigan State, Pacific, Old Dominion, UAB, Butler, Cornell, Siena, Central Michigan, Morgan State, Northern Iowa, BYU, Robert Morris, Murray State, California, Lehigh, Kentucky, Charleston, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, Oakland, Arkansas State, Gonzaga, Louisiana Tech.
Multiple bids per conference: Big East (8), Big 12 (7), ACC (7), SEC (5), Atlantic 10 (5), Big 10 (4), MWC (3), WCC (2), CAA (2).
Next bracket: February 1st.
View Comments (4)
You have Vanderbilt as one moving up quickly and a 5 seed currently. As a Vandy fan, I love that. How much respect have they earned by starting 4-0 in the SEC including 2-0 on the road? Having to go to Knoxville and Lexington this week is probably the toughest week any team in the country has. I think most Vandy fans would be elated with a split, but obviously a 4-2 conference record is very likely at the end of the week. If they do lose both games, will your projection of them as a 5 seed change based on losing to 2 top 15 teams on the road? Also, if they happen to win both, how far will they run up the board? Thanks. Go Dores!
Missouri over Wisconsin. That's why Zach Hayes is a college basketball genius.
Thought you might enjoy that, Pat.
I'm very high on Vandy's chances to be a top-6 seed come March. Losing those two games would probably drop them 1 or 2 seeds. Add 2 losses to the record but their SOS will go up and the RPI won't suffer drastically. If they earn a split, that's one huge quality road win and they may even move up. Win BOTH and we're talking a #3 seed, but the odds of that happening are slim to none. Thanks for the comment.
How Lunardi can have Arizona St in the field is absolutely hilarious. He gets paid for this?