Bracketology: Eric Prisbell's NCAA tournament field of 68
By
Eric Prisbell
UPDATED AFTER SATURDAY'S GAMES
* - Projected conference champion
| Newark Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Team | Conf* | Note |
| 1 | Ohio State | Big Ten* | Survived Northwestern to stay unbeaten |
| 2 | San Diego State | MWC | Could not contain The Jimmer |
| 3 | Villanova | Big East | Upsets shake up Big East standings |
| 4 | Missouri | Big 12 | Tough part of schedule began Saturday at Texas |
| 5 | Georgetown | Big East | Hoyas hanging steady with No. 5 seed |
| 6 | Vanderbilt | SEC | Suffered first home loss of season to Arkansas |
| 7 | North Carolina | ACC | Barnes thrives in waning moments |
| 8 | Temple | A-10 | Two games back in Atlantic 10 standings |
| 9 | Cincinnati | Big East | Bearcats 2-4 vs. top 50 teams after West Virginia loss |
| 10 | Gonzaga | WCC | At-large berth slipping away? |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | Cowboys just 2-6 vs. top 100 |
| 12 | UCLA | Pac-10 | One of two teams to beat BYU |
| 13 | Oakland | Summit* | Faces soft schedule over next week |
| 14 | Coastal Carolina | Big South* | Radford was fourth straight road game |
| 15 | Fairfield | MAAC* | Nonconference SOS ranked 331st entering Saturday |
| 16 | Long Beach State/Jackson State | Play-in | Long Beach snapped two-game losing skid Wednesday |
| New Orleans Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Team | Conf* | Note |
| 1 | Pittsburgh | Big East* | Notre Dame lulled Panthers to sleep |
| 2 | Texas | Big 12 | Thompson leads in rebounds, blocks, steal |
| 3 | Purdue | Big Ten | Never challenged Buckeyes, bounced back vs. Minnesota |
| 4 | Kentucky | SEC* | Strength of schedule ranked 18th entering Saturday |
| 5 | Illinois | Big Ten | Weber's team stumbles vs. Indiana |
| 6 | Louisville | Big East | Few can figure out Cardinals |
| 7 | Tennessee | SEC | Fewer can figure out Vols |
| 8 | Xavier | A-10* | Again Atlantic 10 favorite after crushing Richmond |
| 9 | Saint Mary's | WCC* | Should end Zags' WCC title streak |
| 10 | Georgia | SEC | At bottom of balanced SEC East |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | ACC | Georgia Tech loss an anomaly or omen? |
| 12 | Kansas State/Old Dominion | Big 12/CAA | K-State more disappointing than Spartans? |
| 13 | Cleveland State | Horizon* | Kent State is only top 100 win |
| 14 | Kent State | MAC* | Flashes have won four of five |
| 15 | Florida Atlantic | Sun Belt* | Suffered first Sun Belt loss of season on Saturday |
| 16 | Bethune-Cookman | MEAC* | No team taking charge in MEAC race |
| Anaheim Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Team | Conf* | Note |
| 1 | Duke | ACC* | Could have run table with Irving? |
| 2 | Kansas | Big 12* | Jayhawks playing with heavy hearts |
| 3 | Notre Dame | Big East | Irish finally solve road woes |
| 4 | Syracuse | Big East | Defense lax during losing skid |
| 5 | Washington | Pac-10* | Best team no one notices |
| 6 | Minnesota | Big Ten | Purdue snapped Gophers' four-game win streak |
| 7 | UNLV | MWC | RPI boosted by games vs. SDSU, BYU |
| 8 | Michigan State | Big Ten | Most trying year of Izzo's tenure |
| 9 | St. John's | Big East | Red Storm continues to slide |
| 10 | Boston College | ACC | Eagles have lost three of four |
| 11 | Utah State | WAC* | Has not lost since Dec. 4 |
| 12 | Richmond/George Mason | A10/CAA | A "play-in" game with local interest |
| 13 | Charleston | Southern* | Holding steady at a No. 13 seed |
| 14 | Bucknell | Patriot* | 20-point loss at Army snapped nine-game win streak |
| 15 | Austin Peay | Ohio Valley* | Still has not beaten a top 100 team |
| 16 | McNeese State | Southland* | No clear front-runner in Southland |
| San Antonio Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Team | Conf* | Note |
| 1 | Connecticut | Big East | Huskies with four top 25 wins |
| 2 | BYU | MWC* | The nation's No. 1 team in RPI |
| 3 | Texas A&M | Big 12 | Aggies with five top 50 wins |
| 4 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | Best victory: Minnesota |
| 5 | Florida | SEC | Fortunate to survive Georgia game |
| 6 | West Virginia | Big East | Anyone left on roster? |
| 7 | Florida State | ACC | Seminoles with only 44 points in loss to Clemson |
| 8 | Arizona | Pac-10 | Wanted: more quality wins |
| 9 | Missouri State | MVC* | Nonleague SOS ranked 225th entering weekend |
| 10 | Marquette | Big East | Could be one of Big East teams to fade |
| 11 | Virginia Commonwealth | CAA* | Should be a multi-bid year for CAA |
| 12 | Memphis | C-USA* | Four-game winning streak snapped by Marshall |
| 13 | Harvard | Ivy* | Let the countdown to Princeton game begin |
| 14 | Belmont | Atlantic Sun* | Lost by nine at Lipscomb |
| 15 | Maine | America East* | Black Bears with seven straight winsy |
| 16 | LIU/Northern Colorado | Play-in | Play-in game we've been waiting for |
* - Projected conference champion
By
Eric Prisbell
| January 28, 2011; 11:01 AM ET
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Posted by: StikeDC1 | January 30, 2011 4:44 PM | Report abuse
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Eric, nice job but I wish you would explain sometime/somewhere how the field will work with the extra games, it's hard to tell from this. What we really want to know is how the brackets will shake out for those (millions) of us in or running pools.
Re the field, you are giving short shrift to the A-10 -- where's Duquesne? And Xavier an 8? Both teams are much better than that. I'm a Big East guy and know St. John's had a nice (home) win v Duke Sunday but they are very borderline.
Agree that GMU, VCU and maybe ODU all should get in from CAA.