Road to Selection Sunday (Week 13)/"Field of 65" (2/1/10)

All RPI rankings are courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.

BITS & PIECES
(1) The top 5 in the RPI. ... (1) Kansas (20-1); (2) Syracuse (21-1); (3) Georgetown (16-4); (4) Villanova (19-1); and (5) Duke (17-4).

(2) Put a fork in 'em (the Gophers' at-large hopes) if they lose at Penn State on Saturday. If this season hasn't already gone completely south, it certainly will if they lose in Happy Valley.

(3) Big Ten Road Tote Board -- There have been 17 road wins thus far in the Big Ten. Unbeaten Michigan State leads with 4 (Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern), followed by Illinois (Indiana, Penn State), Ohio State (Iowa, Purdue), Purdue (Illinois, Iowa) and Wisconsin (Northwestern, Penn State) with 2 apiece. Indiana (Penn State), Iowa (Indiana), Michigan (Penn State), the Gophers (Iowa) and Northwestern (Michigan) have 1 apiece.

(4) 4 Big Ten Locks -- Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin, barring any major meltdowns, are mortal locks for the NCAA Tournament. The question for the Big Ten is, can they get a fifth bid? Illinois, Northwestern and the Gophers continue to teeter at or below the bubble, but I'm predicting the conference will get/assure an extra bid the unconventional way. ... someone outside the "lock 4" will win the Big Ten Tournament. My call is Michigan comes out of nowhere to earn the conference's automatic bid.

(5) Poor Wittle Woy Boy and His Tar Heels. ... Don't let their brand names fool you, North Carolina and UConn are in serious jeopardy of not making the NCAA Tournament. Aw Shucks Roy was letting the world know about his team's injuries last night during the Virginia-UNC telecast on Fox. Cry me a river Roy, how many McDonald's All-Americans do you have on your roster?

Week 13's Key Bubble Games
UConn at Louisville (Tonight)
Michigan at Northwestern (Tuesday)
George Washington at Charlotte (Wednesday)
Illinois at Iowa
Mississippi State at Vanderbilt
NC State at Virginia
Wichita State at Northern Iowa
William & Mary at Old Dominion
Arizona at Washington (Thursday)
Arizona State at Washington State
Maryland at Florida State
North Carolina at Virginia Tech
Arizona at Washington State (Saturday)
Arizona State at Washington
Clemson at Virginia Tech
Indiana State at Wichita State
Marquette at Providence
Michigan State at Illinois
Minnesota at Penn State
Mississippi State at Florida
Nevada at Utah State
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech
Old Dominion at VCU
San Diego State at New Mexico
South Carolina at Tennessee
Temple at Richmond
Tulsa at UTEP
Wake Forest at Virginia
Xavier at Dayton
Indiana at Northwestern (Sunday)
North Carolina at Maryland

MY FANTASTIC 5
1. Kansas (@ Colorado on Wednesday)
2. Syracuse (host Providence on Tuesday)
3. Villanova (host Seton Hall on Tuesday)
4. Michigan State (@ Wisconsin on Tuesday)
5. Kentucky (host Ole Miss on Tuesday)

MY BIG TEN POWER RATINGS
1. Michigan State (19-3, 9-0)
2. Ohio State (16-6, 6-3)
3. Purdue (18-3, 6-3)
4. Wisconsin (16-5, 6-3)
5. Illinois (14-8, 6-3)
6. Northwestern (14-7, 3-6)
7. Michigan (10-10, 4-5)
8. Minnesota (13-8, 4-5)
9. Indiana (9-11, 3-5)
10. Iowa (8-14, 2-7)
11. Penn State (8-13, 0-9)

BIG TEN IN THE RPI
9. Purdue
10. Michigan State
13. Wisconsin
33. Ohio State
57. Minnesota
63. Northwestern
80. Illinois
122. Michigan
184. Iowa
225. Indiana
227. Penn State

GOPHERS' NONCONFERENCE OPPONENTS
18. Butler (18-4, 11-0)
31. Texas A&M (14-6, 4-3)
86. Miami-Florida (15-5, 2-5)
91. Portland (13-7, 5-2)
134. Morgan State (15-7, 7-0)
159. Stephen F. Austin (12-5, 5-2)
172. Saint Joseph's (8-13, 2-5)
192. Tennessee Tech (10-10, 6-5)
208. South Dakota State (9-11, 7-4)
247. Northern Illinois (8-11, 4-3)
274. Brown (5-14, 1-3)
341. Utah Valley (5-12, 2-3)

BIG 6 HEAD TO HEAD
1. Big 12 (28-12, 70%)
2. ACC (24-21, 53.3%)
3. SEC (25-26, 49%)
4. Big 10 (19-20, 48.7%)
5. Big East (19-21, 47.5%)
6. Pac 10 (9-24, 27.3%)

"FIELD OF 65" PROJECTION
*Denotes conference leader in multiple-bid league.

America East (1): Stony Brook (156)

ACC (5): *Duke (5), Wake Forest (23), Georgia Tech (25), Florida State (30), Clemson (37)

Atlantic Sun (1): Jacksonville (130)

Atlantic 10 (5): Rhode Island (11), Temple (15), *Xavier (22), Richmond (39), Charlotte (42)

Big East (7): Syracuse (2), Georgetown (3), *Villanova (4), West Virginia (6), Pitt (20), Connecticut (44), Cincinnati (49)

Big Sky (1): Weber State (96)

Big South (1): Coastal Carolina (146)

Big 10 (5): Purdue (9), *Michigan State (10), Wisconsin (13), Ohio State (33), Illinois (80)

Big 12 (7): *Kansas (1), Kansas State (8), Texas (19), Baylor (26), Oklahoma State (28), Texas A&M (31), Missouri (32)

Big West (1): Pacific (95)

Colonial (2): Old Dominion (46), *George Mason (105)

Conference USA (1): UAB (27)

Horizon (1): Butler (18)

Ivy (1): Cornell (34)

Metro Atlantic (1): Siena (43)

MAC (1): Kent State (69)

MEAC (1): Morgan State (134)

Missouri Valley (2): *Northern Iowa (16), Wichita State (48)

Mountain West (3): New Mexico (12), *BYU (17), UNLV (41)

Northeast (1): Robert Morris (171)

Ohio Valley (1): Murray State (92)

Pac 10 (1): Cal (24)

Patriot (1): Lehigh (176)

SEC (6): *Kentucky (7), Vanderbilt (14), Tennessee (21), Ole Miss (45), Florida (52), Mississippi State (65)

Southern (1): Charleston (94)

Southland (1): Sam Houston State (77)

SWAC (1): Jackson State (251)

Summit (1): Oakland (68)

Sun Belt (1): Arkansas State (150)

West Coast (2): *Gonzaga (29), St. Mary's (35)

WAC (1): Utah State (55)


Non-BCS At-Larges (9): Rhode Island (11), New Mexico (12), Temple (15), St. Mary's (35), Richmond (39), UNLV (41), Charlotte (42), Old Dominion (46), Wichita State (48)

Last 4 In: Connecticut (44), Wichita State (48), Mississippi State (65), Illinois (80)

First 4 Out: Dayton (40), Maryland (50), VCU (60), North Carolina (76)

In the Mix (15): San Diego State (36), Texas Tech (38), Louisville (47), William & Mary (51), Arizona (53), Northeastern (56), Minnesota (57), Marquette (58), South Carolina (61), Tulsa (62), Northwestern (63), Virginia Tech (70), UTEP (75), Arizona State (87), Virginia (90)

Next Field of 65 Projection: Monday, February 8

To answer your question, Carolina has 7 McDonald's all americans. Would be great to see them all in the NIT.

I think it is very difficult to separate 2-4 in the Big Ten, but I would not rank the Badgers 4th. Then again, I may be a homer. They were a buzzer beater on the road at Purdue from being alone in second. I would have them second. The good news is, they have a chance to prove it tomorrow night.

I don't like Michigan at all. After Harris and Sims, that team is seriously devoid of talent. Even with them, they are not very good. If they win the Big Ten tournament, that will be a heck of a call.

Penn State is no gimme, even at 0-9.

Good stuff as usual, should be a crazy month.

GVBadger said:

To answer your question, Carolina has 7 McDonald's all americans. Would be great to see them all in the NIT.

I think it is very difficult to separate 2-4 in the Big Ten, but I would not rank the Badgers 4th. Then again, I may be a homer. They were a buzzer beater on the road at Purdue from being alone in second. I would have them second. The good news is, they have a chance to prove it tomorrow night.

I don't like Michigan at all. After Harris and Sims, that team is seriously devoid of talent. Even with them, they are not very good. If they win the Big Ten tournament, that will be a heck of a call.

Penn State is no gimme, even at 0-9.

Good stuff as usual, should be a crazy month.

Click to expand...

Weren't they also a Taylor Battle buzzer beater away from losing at home to Penn State just a week ago too? Almost every team can play that game with both wins or loses, so no reason to really play it either way, and especially no reason to cherry pick the examples.

Go Gophers!!

GV, I say this with no ill will, but you are most definitely a homer.

Suffice it to say, if the Badgers beat MSU tomorrow night (and I won't be surprised at all if they do), the Badgers will move up next week. But until then, I can't put a Badger team (without Leuer) ahead of Michigan State, Purdue or Ohio State teams that are getting healthier by the minute. I also seem to recall the Badgers scraping by both Michigan and Penn State at home after looking mostly unimpressive for much of the game. To their credit, they won both games, but not exactly inspiring performances.

I agree with you 100% that I'm slightly off my rocker for picking Michigan to win the BTT. I just get the feeling Beilein is going to keep that team together and be a tough out in Indy. Wish I could say the same about the Gophers.

SelectionSunday said:

GV, I say this with no ill will, but you are most definitely a homer.

Suffice it to say, if the Badgers beat MSU tomorrow night (and I won't be surprised at all if they do), the Badgers will move up next week. But until then, I can't put a Badger team (without Leuer) ahead of Michigan State, Purdue or Ohio State teams that are getting healthier by the minute. I also seem to recall the Badgers scraping by both Michigan and Penn State at home after looking mostly unimpressive for much of the game. To their credit, they won both games, but not exactly inspiring performances.

Click to expand...

I totally understand that. They are a different team without Leuer. However, that team went on the road and was a buzzer beater from beating Purdue. That was a significant step, evebn though it was a loss.

Bleed, it is an appropriate example because of who it was against and where it was played. Also because of who was out. The name of the game is winning and the Badgers did not win, but it was still an important game for them to show they could compete on the road without arguably their best player. They played poorly and managed to beat Michigan and PSU at home, but they did win.

Yes, I am a homer. Guilty as charged. But I also try and give as realistic assessment of the team as I can. Tomorrow is a big game. If they can knock of MSU and I fully expect them to do it, they are still in a postion to make a run at the title. 2-4 is splitting hairs right now, so I can see why you rank them 4, I just would put them higher.

The Badgers are where they belong.

Please beat MSU, though.

Looks like the Badgers are moving up. They are putting together a serious tournament resume. 6-3 against Pomeroy top 30 teams. Very good RPI.

How they have played with Leuer out of the lineup is amazing. If they get Leuer back and he has enough time to get into a flow before the tournament, this team will be a serious threat to make a run to Indy.

The conference race is wide open and the Badgers are done with the MSU, Purdue and OSU.

MSU had a tough schedule as does Purdue. Should be a great finish. OSU may be the favorite at this point, even if Lucas comes back healthy. MSU has a brutal strech coming up.