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SelectionSunday

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With Super Bowl Sunday soon behind us, college basketball takes center stage. Here's a thumbnail look at how the Field of 68 is shaping up as we enter college hoops' prove-it-or-shut-up months. With only 42 days 'til Selection Sunday, I see 52 of the 68 tournament bids in pretty firm hands, with 32 of those the automatic qualifiers (current conference leader). Here's how it's looking, with teams currently in the hunt split into five categories. I have the Gophers in the 3rd of those five categories. ... in the field, but not far from the bubble. Current RPI is noted in parentheses.

The Automatics/Current Conference Leaders (32)
Kansas (1), Arizona (2), Syracuse (3), Florida (5), Wichita State (6), Michigan State (7), Creighton (8), Cincinnati (15), San Diego State (17), Gonzaga (21), Saint Louis (27), Toledo (31), Southern Miss (34), Harvard (41), Green Bay (59), Mercer (64), Delaware (66), Canisius (83), Georgia State (84), Stephen F. Austin (87), UCSB (99), Vermont (107), American (120), Fort Wayne (129), North Carolina Central (130), Utah Valley (153), Murray State (167), Robert Morris (172), Weber State (188), Southern U (192), Chattanooga (218), Coastal Carolina (219)

Virtual Locks (20) -- will be very difficult for these teams NOT to make the tournament
Villanova (4)
UMass (9)
Iowa State (10)
Duke (11)
Wisconsin (12)
Kentucky (13)
Michigan (14)
Virginia (16)
Oklahoma (18)
UCLA (19)
Ohio State (20)
Iowa (22)
Texas (23)
Oklahoma State (24)
Pitt (26)
VCU (28)
New Mexico (29)
Memphis (30)
UConn (33)
Louisville (35)

Currently in the the Field, But Not Far from the Bubble (8)
Colorado (25)
George Washington (32)
Xavier (36)
Providence (37)
GOPHERS (38)
North Carolina (42)
Cal (43)
Kansas State (44)

Squarely on the Bubble, Could Go Either Way (15)
Tennessee (39)
Florida State (40)
BYU (45)
Oregon (46)
Arizona State (47)
SMU (48)
Richmond (49)
Stanford (50)
Missouri (52)
LSU (54)
Baylor (55)
Indiana State (56)
Ole Miss (57)
Saint Mary's (58)
Indiana (67)

On the Radar, But Lotsa' Work to Do (9)
Saint Joseph's (53)
Boise State (60)
NC State (61)
Georgetown (62)
Dayton (65)
Maryland (68)
Clemson (71)
Nebraska (72)
Louisiana Tech (78)
 

Thanks for this. As a Broncos fans and after yesterday, having a tad of optimism is needed.
 

If Gophs win only 1 game this week. ...

If the Gophers are only gonna' win one game this week, it best be Indiana. Yes, the Gophers likely need another road win or two, but the Hoosiers have worked their way into the NCAA mix. It's imperative they stay ahead of the Hoosiers in the at-large pecking order. The Hoosiers closed the gap significantly with their win over Michigan. It didn't help the Gophers that their two best nonconference wins (Richmond and Florida State) had awful weeks, combining to go 0-4.
 




'Squarely on the Bubble' SMU hosts Cincinnati on the 8th. That should be a good one. Bearcats on a 14 game win streak at the moment.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
'Squarely on the Bubble' SMU hosts Cincinnati on the 8th. That should be a good one. Bearcats on a 14 game win streak at the moment.
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SMU one of those bubble teams with a rather nondescript resume, so the butt-kicking of Memphis over the weekend really helped. Beating Cincinnati likely puts them on the correct side of things, so that's a big one for Larry Brown.
 


Thanks for doing this.

I missed the match up of Wichita State visiting Indiana State on the 5th. The Shockers might run the table in regular season play. As it stands right now, there isn't a team left on their schedule with a winning conference record besides the Sycamores. (If I read it correctly.)
 



Section201 said:
What if Northwestern wins 11 conference games?
Click to expand...

A very good question, one I've already thought about. Hunch is that if NW gets to 11-7 (they'd be 18-13 overall heading into BTT), they'd be in decent shape, especially if one of those 6 wins down the stretch is @ Michigan State, or maybe even @ Ohio State. 10-8 it gets quite a bit more dicey because they did nothing during the nonconference season (best win is #161 Western Michigan).

In a nutshell, if they get to 10-8 heading to Indianapolis, I think the Wildcats could go in feeling like a trip to the BTT semifinals could sneak them into the NCAA tourney.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Thanks for doing this.

I missed the match up of Wichita State visiting Indiana State on the 5th. The Shockers might run the table in regular season play. As it stands right now, there isn't a team left on their schedule with a winning conference record besides the Sycamores. (If I read it correctly.)
Click to expand...

Yep, Indiana State looks like the last shot at someone keeping the Shockers from going undefeated in the regular season. If Indiana State wants any chance to make the field as an at-large, it has to win this game. Sycamores' resume isn't strong enough without a win over the Shockers.
 

SelectionSunday said:
A very good question, one I've already thought about. Hunch is that if NW gets to 11-7 (they'd be 18-13 overall heading into BTT), they'd be in decent shape, especially if one of those 6 wins down the stretch is @ Michigan State, or maybe even @ Ohio State. 10-8 it gets quite a bit more dicey because they did nothing during the nonconference season (best win is #161 Western Michigan).

In a nutshell, if they get to 10-8 heading to Indianapolis, I think the Wildcats could go in feeling like a trip to the BTT semifinals could sneak them into the NCAA tourney.
Click to expand...

Denials aside, there's a certain amount of politics to this. If NW is 11-7 or even 10-8, with their history of having never made it, there will be significant pressure to let them in. Especially with all the alums they have in the media. Plus it would make Coach K happy, and he if he's happy, everyone's happy.
 

You can predict this now, but it's still too early.
Wisconsin and Iowa as virtual locks doesn't make sense if they both crash and burn the second half.

Still too much basketball to be played.
It's a good picture of what things look like right now, but it takes two more weeks to really sort this out.
 



SelectionSunday said:
Yep, Indiana State looks like the last shot at someone keeping the Shockers from going undefeated in the regular season. If Indiana State wants any chance to make the field as an at-large, it has to win this game. Sycamores' resume isn't strong enough without a win over the Shockers.
Click to expand...

The politics isn't that significant. At worse you get two teams on the bubble switched around, but a team off the bubble doesn't move in without it being justified.
 

Face The Facts said:
It's a good picture of what things look like right now. ... Still too much basketball to be played
Click to expand...

That's the idea of this whole thing. That's why it's a snapshot.

Absolutely, a lot can and will happen over the last 5+ weeks of the season. There will be movement in & out, out & in, but least so in the "virtual locks" list.
 

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