As the season winds closer to a conclusion and Selection Sunday approaches, a bracket snapshot each Monday just doesn’t quite seem adequate. From now until the end of the year, we’ll be providing a Friday seed update that outlines where each team inside and just outside the field of 65 currently stands along with reasoning why certain teams changed seed number since the previous Monday. Enjoy our first edition:

(Note: each of the four teams in one seed grouping is listed in pecking order in terms of who is closer to moving up a seed line. This is used to determine game location and matchups similar to Joe Lunardi’s S-Curve listing).

#1 Seeds: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Purdue

#2 Seeds: Villanova, Duke, Kansas State, West Virginia

#3 Seeds: Michigan State, Georgetown, New Mexico, Vanderbilt

#4 Seeds: Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Wisconsin, BYU

#5 Seeds: Temple, Gonzaga, Wake Forest, Texas A&M

#6 Seeds: Tennessee, Texas, Baylor, Butler

#7 Seeds: Northern Iowa, Richmond, Xavier, UNLV

#8 Seeds: Maryland, Missouri, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech

#9 Seeds: Florida State, Old Dominion, Illinois, Dayton

#10 Seeds: Clemson, California, Siena, Louisville

#11 Seeds: UTEP, Rhode Island, UAB, Oklahoma State

#12 Seeds: Marquette, Utah State, Cornell, Florida

#13 Seeds: Charlotte, Northeastern, Kent State, Murray State

#14 Seeds: Oakland, Sam Houston State, Weber State, Charleston

#15 Seeds: Morgan State, North Texas, Belmont, UC-Santa Barbara

#16 Seeds: Coastal Carolina, Robert Morris, Stony Brook, Lehigh, Jackson State

Last Four In: Charlotte, Florida, Marquette, Oklahoma State

Last Four Out: Saint Mary’s, South Florida, Mississippi State, San Diego State

Next Four Out: Cincinnati, Mississippi, Connecticut, William & Mary

Bids per conference: ACC (7), Big 12 (7), Big East (7), Atlantic 10 (6), SEC (4), Big 10 (5), MWC (3), Conference USA (2), CAA (2).

Some notes:

• Purdue eclipses Villanova as the final #1 seed on the heels of the Wildcats stumble at home against Connecticut and the Boilers gigantic road win at Ohio State. The tiebreaker was three more victories for Purdue against the RPI top-25 than Villanova.

• Two teams climbing are Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh. The Commodores RPI/SOS is up to 12/22 and their road win at a desperate Ole Miss team Thursday was very impressive. Pittsburgh’s mid-Big East struggle is a thing of the past with the Panthers taking down West Virginia last Friday at home then traveling to red-hot Marquette and dispatching of the Golden Eagles.

• Texas’ portfolio continues to suffer and the Longhorns now stand as a middling #6 seed. Who would have ever thought that just one month ago?

• UNLV has stumbled a bit but their overall resume is still solid with a 4-4 record vs. the RPI top-50 and seven wins vs. the RPI top-100. The schedule also becomes much more favorable in the last two weeks. The Rebels are fine for a bid.

• One team falling out of at-large favor is UAB. The Blazers cannot afford to fall too much further down the Conference USA standings. Meanwhile, conference rival UTEP is beginning to make an at-large case, but their lack of quality wins out-of-conference is holding the Miners back.

• The last team in this week is Charlotte and the last team out is Saint Mary’s. The 49ers receive the nudge based on their two wins over Temple and at Richmond. The Gaels cannot match those two victories, although the win at Utah State continues to look stronger.

Bracket-Impacting Weekend Games:

Friday- Old Dominion @ Northern Iowa– The winner of this game will inch closer to wrapping up an at-large bid. The Panthers need it more, though; they don’t have notable wins out-of-conference (only Siena) like Old Dominion and are playing at home.

Friday- William & Mary @ Iona– The Tribe picked up huge wins over Northeastern and at George Mason in the past week. They did defeat Wake Forest and Maryland outside of CAA play but they have questionable losses all over the portfolio. Lose to Iona and their at-large chances will have evaporated.

Saturday- Siena @ Butler– Butler has secured a bid, so Siena has plenty more at stake here. Win in Hinkle and the Saints corral that RPI top-25 win they so severely lack. It might be enough to garner a bid regardless of a MAAC Tournament upset.

Saturday- Florida @ Mississippi– The biggest bubble game of the season to date. Florida wins and they remain in the field while Mississippi might be forced to win out in SEC play. Florida loses and they drop back out of the field and Ole Miss most likely makes a return into the Last Four Our category.

Saturday- Texas @ Texas Tech– The Red Raiders have plenty of elite competition entering Lubbock in the last two weeks. They need this one to stay alive for a bid.

Saturday- Xavier @ Charlotte– Can it get any bigger for Charlotte as the Last Team In? They have an RPI top-25 team facing them at the exact right time.

Saturday- UTEP @ Tulsa– This game is important for the Miners at-large hopes should they lose in the Conference USA Tournament. That tournament happens to be taking place on this very floor.

Saturday- Wichita State @ Utah State– Elimination game for at-large consideration. Color me suspicious the road-allergic Shockers have a chance at a place where almost nobody wins. Utah State’s RPI just keeps climbing.

Sunday- Dayton @ Duquesne– The Dukes just went into Charlotte and shocked the 49ers. Could they play spoiler against another A-10 bubble team that has had their road woes?

Sunday- Marquette @ Cincinnati– Another enormous bubble game in the Big East. The Golden Eagles could drop out of the bracket with a loss here, while Cincinnati desperately needs this game at home to remain on the fringe.

zhayes9 (301 Posts)

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 1:07 pm by zhayes9 and is filed under bracketology, bubble watch. Tagged: charlotte, pittsburgh, purdue, saint mary\'s, st mary's, texas, uab, unlv, utep, vanderbilt, villanova. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.