Weekly Bracketology: 01.24.10
Posted by zhayes9 on January 24th, 2011
Zach Hayes is RTC’s official bracketologist.
Last Four In: Butler, Colorado State, Oklahoma State, UCLA.
Last Four Out: Dayton, Colorado, Wichita State, UAB.
Next Four Out: Washington State, George Mason, UCF, Kansas State.
Conference Call
- America East (1)-Maine
- Atlantic 10 (3)– Temple, Xavier, Richmond
- ACC (5)- Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Boston College, Virginia Tech
- Atlantic Sun (1)– Belmont
- Big 12 (5)- Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Oklahoma State
- Big East (11)- Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Villanova, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, West Virginia, Georgetown, Cincinnati, St. John’s, Marquette
- Big Sky (1)– Northern Colorado
- Big South (1)– Coastal Carolina
- Big Ten (6)– Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota
- Big West (1)– Long Beach State
- CAA (2)– VCU, Old Dominion
- Conference USA (1)– Memphis
- Horizon (2)– Valparaiso, Butler
- Ivy (1)– Harvard
- MAAC (1)– Fairfield
- MAC (1)– Ball State
- MEAC (1)– Hampton
- Missouri Valley (1)– Missouri State
- Mountain West (4)– San Diego State, BYU, UNLV, Colorado State
- Northeast (1)– Long Island
- Ohio Valley (1)– Tennessee State
- Pac-10 (3)– Washington, Arizona, UCLA
- Patriot (1)– Bucknell
- SEC (5)– Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Tennessee
- Southern (1)– Charleston
- Southland (1)– Lamar
- Summit (1)– Oakland
- Sun Belt (1)– Florida Atlantic
- SWAC (1)– Texas Southern
- WCC (2)– Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga
- WAC (1)– Utah State
Automatic bids: Maine, Xavier, Florida State, Belmont, Texas, Pittsburgh, Northern Colorado, Coastal Carolina, Ohio State, Long Beach State, VCU, Memphis, Valparaiso, Harvard, Fairfield, Ball State, Hampton, Missouri State, BYU, Long Island, Tennessee State, Washington, Bucknell, Florida, Charleston, Lamar, Oakland, Florida Atlantic, Texas Southern, St. Mary’s, Utah State.
Analysis:
- Trying to sort through this week’s bubble was a trying task. Combine the fact it’s only mid-January with the expansion of the field and the lack of bid stealers, the weak nature of the bubble and the minute differences between each candidate on the fringe of the bracket creates very little separation. The fact that Butler, who was swept by Milwaukee on Sunday, can still make the field as an at-large despite three defeats in the Horizon League, sums it up.
- Numerous bubble teams lost key games this past week but still remained in the bracket. Take Old Dominion, Oklahoma State, Washington State, Butler, Colorado State, UAB and Colorado as some examples. With the field expanding three spots and about seven weeks till Selection Sunday, teams are going to have plenty of chances to work their way into the 68-team field.
- The Big East still has 11 bids in the field. St. John’s lost at home to Cincinnati, but they remain an NCAA team due to their three wins over the RPI top 25. Marquette has home dates with Syracuse and Connecticut upcoming to prove they belong.
- Tonight’s matchup between Kansas State and Baylor is of great importance. The Wildcats have fallen from preseason #1 seed to completely out of the field. They absolutely cannot afford to lose at home to the Bears, another squad that’s dropped tremendously since our preseason projections. Baylor needs a quality win in the worst way. The Big 12 only has five representatives in this week’s field after Colorado’s rough week, losing to both Nebraska and Oklahoma.
- The final #1 seed was a close call between San Diego State and Duke. What’s hurting the Blue Devils is that many of their non-conference opponents have underachieved and the ACC is in the midst of a down year. As a result, their RPI, SOS and non-conference SOS have suffered. The Aztecs keep their #1 seed with a victory Wednesday at BYU. A loss moves Duke back to a #1 seed and BYU up to a #2 seed with San Diego State.
- Gonzaga is slipping into dangerous territory. Their non-conference wins over Baylor and Oklahoma State are losing some luster and back-to-back defeats at Santa Clara and San Francisco are troublesome. The Zags really need to split with St. Mary’s and beat Memphis.
Next bracket: Monday, January 31.
