After clinching the ACC Tournament title with three straight double-digit wins, Miami was riding high. The media present in Greensboro — including myself — were riding a similar high after watching one of the best offensive basketball games of the year. It felt like a slap in the face to watch as the seeds were announced and the Hurricanes weren’t rewarded for their efforts with a #1 seed. It was the first time in history that the consensus ACC champion failed to earn a spot on top of a region.

Miami’s Eye Test couldn’t overcome its losses Selection Sunday. (Photo: Robert Mayer / USA TODAY Sports)

In Miami’s case, admittedly, a #1 seed was an uphill battle thanks to several bad losses in the non-conference and down the stretch in ACC play. First there was Miami’s game (without suspended Durand Scott) at Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles are dancing this week, but only because of the Atlantic Sun’s automatic bid. Then Miami lost neutral-site games to Arizona and Indiana State when the team was very banged up. After the win Sunday, Jim Larranaga documented the injuries plaguing his team in Hawaii: “Trey McKinney-Jones was in the hospital with a 105-degree temperature, Durand Scott‘s back tightened up on the trip — he couldn’t bend over, Shane Larkin tweaked his ankle, and Reggie Johnson broke his thumb.”

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The NCAA Tournament is here and there’s more news, commentary and analysis than any of us can possibly keep up with. To make things a little easier, we’ll bring you a list of daily links gathered about teams in each of the four regions all the way through the Final Four.

Midwest Region

• Louisville did not really get rolling until the final month of the season, thus the question has emerged: Can Rick Pitino lead the Cardinals to a national title?
• Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy confirmed his commitment to the school by saying, “It’s my final job in college.”
• Missouri coach Frank Haith is still waiting for his transfer-heavy roster to click as the NCAA Tournament is set to begin.
• Could Oklahoma State‘s late-game ability overcome its lack of NCAA Tournament experience?
• Oregon big man Arsalan Kazemi is enjoying a storybook ending to his collegiate career with the Ducks.
• Saint Louis starting forward Grandy Glaze does not have very impressive statistics, but he provides a lot of energy that helps spark the Billikens.
• Memphis had a great regular season, but what it is really looking for is the first NCAA Tournament win of the Josh Pastner era.
• The match-up between Middle Tennessee State point guard Bruce Massey and Saint Mary’s point guard Matthew Dellavedova is going to be key in Tuesday’s First Four game between the programs.
• Michigan State coach Tom Izzo acknowledged that he will be very disappointed if his team falls short of its goal of a deep NCAA Tournament run.
• Creighton coach Greg McDermott‘s impressions of Round of 64 opponent Cincinnati: “Cincinnati will test you with their length and toughness and athletic ability.”

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of RTC. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Under the assumption that a #16 seed won’t make history this year by beating a #1 seed in the round of 64, the Indiana Hoosiers should be able to handle the game against the winner of LIU-Brooklyn and James Madison. Ohio State was rewarded with the #2 seed out west because it won the Big Ten Tournament and should also be able to win its first game against Iona. The Gaels’ Lamont Jones (23.0 PPG) is a dynamic scorer whose impact should be mitigated by Aaron Craft’s superb on-ball defense. Even though the Hoosiers and the Buckeyes are clear favorites in their first game, the other five Big Ten teams – Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin – will have their work cut out for them on Thursday and Friday. The following are some key thoughts around each team’s first match-up in the NCAA Tournament.

• Michigan vs. South Dakota State: This could be a trendy upset pick because the Jackrabbits’ Nate Wolters has been one of the hidden gems of the college basketball season. Wolters is more than just a scorer because he gets his teammates involved and will force the Wolverines to play effective defense. But let’s not forget that he will be exposed on the defensive end when guarding Trey Burke and as a result won’t be as fresh offensively. The Wolverines will benefit from playing in Auburn Hills where they will have a decent amount of support and it should help them beat the Jackrabbits to move into the next round. After playing teams very physical teams like Wisconsin and Michigan State, John Beilein’s team should be rejuvenated to play a team outside of the Big Ten who won’t necessarily try to slow down the pace of the game. If the Wolverines are allowed to run, they will take care of business comfortably on Friday.

John Beilein’s Wolverines may be re-energized in their first match-up against a team from outside of the Big Ten (AnnArbor.com/Lon Horwedel)

• Michigan State vs. Valparaiso: Like the Wolverines, the Spartans will have a healthy amount of green and white represented in Auburn Hills for their game against the Crusaders. Bryce Drew’s team won’t necessarily wow you with its athleticism but the Crusaders score very well in the half-court. They have two versatile forwards – Ryan Broekhoff and  Kevin Van Vijk – who can spread the floor, but the Spartans have the personnel to lock them down defensively. Branden Dawson and Adreian Payne are versatile enough to defend Valpo on the perimeter and can dominate the boards which will make a big difference in the game. It’ll be interesting to see if Keith Appling can get some of his confidence back because assuming they move onto the Third Round, Tom Izzo will need him to be very effective in the final minutes.

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And there you have it. With the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s bracket that was released on Sunday night, there are now only 68 teams left competing for the 2013 national championship. There will be no back-to-back champion, as Kentucky was relegated to the NIT along with eight other bubbling teams. Now that the Circle of March has been reduced from a robust 310 competitors all the way down to the final 68 over the last two weeks, this is where the real fun begins! Onward to 66…

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.17.13)

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Here they are, just released by CBS…

For the last week or so, we’ve been writing up brief descriptions of what to consider on each of the 31 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament. While it’s true that there are 37 other NCAA teams in the field, we’re going to bank on the fact that you already know most of those. This series will help you break down many of the smaller conference teams that you may not have seen play all season (or at most, once). And keep in mind that we’ll be coming hard with analysis on each region Monday and game-by-game breakdowns as well throughout the week. The best time of the year is here, folks — let’s enjoy it!

For the entire series of posts, click here. Otherwise find the team(s) you’re interested in below.

East Region

• #2 Miami (FL)
• #11 Bucknell
• #13 Montana
• #14 Davidson
• #15 Pacific
• #16 LIU-Brooklyn
• #16 James Madison

South Region

• #1 Kansas
• #12 Akron
• #13 South Dakota State
• #14 Northwestern State
• #15 Florida Gulf Coast
• #16 Western Kentucky

Midwest Region

• #1 Louisville
• #4 Saint Louis
• #6 Memphis
• #7 Creighton
• #12 Oregon
• #13 New Mexico State
• #14 Valparaiso
• #15 Albany
• #16 North Carolina A&T
• #16 Liberty

West Region

• #1 Gonzaga
• #2 Ohio State
• #3 New Mexico
• #11 Belmont
• #12 Ole Miss
• #14 Harvard
• #15 Iona
• #16 Southern

Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is RTC’s new resident bracketologist. According to Bracket Matrix, he ranks as one of the top bracketologists among those who have produced brackets for more than three years, including two seasons with perfect bracket projections. He updates the field daily on his site, Bracketology Expert, and will be producing a weekly bracket update here at RTC on Fridays. RTC Bubble Watch will publish on Sunday nights and Thursday afternoons for the rest of the season.

NOTES FROM THIS UPDATE:

• Although the graphic below does not reflect it, the brackets should be set up to allow for a true national title game, meaning Louisville (the top overall seed) and Gonzaga would not meet until the national title game. Louisville (MW) and Kansas (S) would have their regions matched up and so would Gonzaga (W) and Indiana (E).
• My debate about Ole Miss ended in a thud on Sunday when the Rebels knocked off Florida. Mississippi is in. Good for them, even for arrogant Marshall Henderson.
• I went back and forth between a ton of teams for my First Four in spots. Remember, everyone seems to be picking a La Salle/Tennessee and Boise State/Saint Mary’s game. Almost everyone! So, why would I pick that? I’m going Saint Mary’s/Tennessee and Boise State/Iowa State.
• I was asked earlier if I was nervous about losing my streak of never incorrectly picking a No. 1 seed. Of course! I have a really bad feeling Duke could ruin it for me this year.

LAST FOUR IN: Boise State, Saint Mary’s, Iowa State, Tennessee (last team in)
FIRST FOUR OUT: Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia
NEXT FOUR OUT: Southern Miss, Massachusetts, Baylor, Iowa

NOTE: Projected conference champions (or auto bid winners) are in capital letters.

(full bracket after the jump)

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Ethan Mann is a writer for the ACC microsite. He can be reached at emann970@gmail.com.

Even taking into consideration that Miami won both the ACC regular season and conference tournaments and the fact that Duke lost on Quarterfinal Friday to a Maryland team that almost certainly will not make the NCAA Tournament, Duke still has a very strong case for a #1 seed despite what many analysts are saying. Yes, Miami, if they do not receive a #1 seed, will become the first team in the history of the ACC not to get a top-line seed after winning both the regular season and the tournament. It might be another story if Miami had knocked off Duke on the way to the ACC title, but defeating a #7-#8 seed North Carolina team in the finals for the third time does little (sans the “conference champion” label) to improve their profile. It seems a bit insane that Duke could be dropped from the overall #1 seed, as many analysts projected after their win against North Carolina last Saturday, all the way to the #2 line based on just this weekend’s results. Duke is ranked #1 in the RPI, has lost only once with Ryan Kelly in the lineup, and has no truly bad losses. At this point, through an objective analysis, the only team to consider as a lock for the top line is Louisville. Since the committee does not consider “regular season championships” or “conference tournament championships” nearly as much (or at all) in comparison to overall body of work, taking a look at all of the contenders for the #1 seeds yields these profiles:

Miami won the ACC Tournament, but did beating North Carolina, rather than Duke, really earn the ‘Canes a #1 seed? (USA Today)

Duke (RPI #1)

• 27-5 (14-4, 14-5 including tournament)
• Record against the RPI Top 25:  6-1 (Wins-Louisville [BE Champion], Miami [ACC Champion], Ohio State [potential B1G Champion], North Carolina x2, VCU, Losses-at Miami)
• Record against the RPI 26-50:  3-1 (Wins-NC State, Minnesota, Temple, Losses-at NC State)
• Record against the RPI 51-100:  5-3 (Wins-Kentucky, Davidson, Maryland, Florida State, FGCU, Losses-Maryland x2, at Virginia)
• Record against the RPI 101+:  13-0

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After an exhilarating Championship Saturday, it’s now Selection Sunday and we’ve eliminated 10 more schools to get down to a total of 78 teams still alive. There are four championship games today — Atlantic 10, ACC, Big Ten, and SEC — all involving teams that are likely hear their names called later tonight (Ole Miss is on the cut line of most bracket projections), so the NCAA Selection Committee will have to decide which of the remaining schools will be among the 10 unlucky names removed from the CoM.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.16.13)

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Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is RTC’s new resident bracketologist. According to Bracket Matrix, he ranks as one of the top bracketologists among those who have produced brackets for more than three years, including two seasons with perfect bracket projections. He updates the field daily on his site, Bracketology Expert, and will be producing a weekly bracket update here at RTC on Fridays. RTC Bubble Watch will publish on Sunday nights and Thursday afternoons for the rest of the season.

New in This Update:

• A lot of things happened on Friday. First, let’s recap the bubble: Alabama knocked off Tennessee. La Salle fell at Butler. Kentucky was blown out by Vanderbilt. Iowa blew a big lead to Michigan State. Ole Miss won a tight game with Missouri. Maryland upset Duke. I realize that Tennessee is now 2-4 against the other SEC bubble teams (ALA, KY, MISS) but the Vols also have the best overall profile out of those four teams. For now, I’m leaving the Vols in my field. Kentucky is still in, as the last team in. Why? Most people do not realize that the Wildcats’ best two wins of the season came without Nerlens Noel in the lineup, against Missouri and Florida. La Salle also stays in. The later in the day it got, the more the Explorers’ chance to dance increased due to the afternoon/night upsets. Alabama has a huge opportunity on Saturday. With a win on a neutral floor against Florida, Alabama would move into my field. Mississippi needs to make the SEC final and hope Alabama falls to Florida, because the Rebels will not gain anything by playing Vanderbilt. Maryland now owns two wins against Duke, but the Terrapins’ fourth-best win this year is Stony Brook. That’s not to hate on the Seawolves. It’s meant to show that the Terrapins probably need to win the ACC Tournament to get an at-large bid because their overall profile is probably just not good enough to get an at-large bid.
• At the top of the bracket, Georgetown’s loss to Syracuse moved the Hoyas down to a No. 2 seed. Louisville is now my fourth No. 1, with a chance to improve upon that in the Big East Tournament Championship Saturday. Duke is my third No. 1 after losing to Maryland. For the time being, Gonzaga is my No. 1 overall seed, but that will change if Louisville or Indiana wins their conference tournaments

LAST FOUR IN: Saint Mary’s, La Salle, Tennessee, Kentucky (last team in)
FIRST FOUR OUT: Mississippi (first team out), Alabama, Massachusetts, Middle Tennessee
NEXT FOUR OUT: Southern Miss, Virginia, Maryland, Baylor

NOTE: Projected conference champions (or auto bid winners) are in capital letters.

(full bracket after the jump)

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