Available At-Large Bids as of March 9th = 6

St. Mary's win over Gonzaga last night gobbles up an at-large bid, though St. Mary's was -- in my opinion -- likely to receive a NCAA bid anyways. Old Dominion keeps the available at-large count at 6 with its win over William & Mary. There are now 18 teams battling for those final 6 spots in the NCAA field.

Teams in bold have already earned automatic bids. RPI (courtesy of CollegeRPI.com) is listed in parentheses.

Automatics (31)
1. Kansas (1)
2. Duke (2)
3. Kentucky (3)
4. Syracuse (4)
5. New Mexico (7)
6. Temple (15)
7. Butler (17)
8. Northern Iowa (18)
9. Cal (20)
10. Ohio State (29)
11. Old Dominion (30)
12. Utah State (32)
13. Siena (34)
14. St. Mary's (38)
15. UTEP (42)
16. Kent State (43)
17. Cornell (48)
18. Oakland (57)
19. Murray State (60)
20. Wofford (70)
21. Weber State (77)
22. Sam Houston State (80)
23. UCSB (102)
24. Troy (103)
25. Morgan State (106)
26. East Tennessee State (121)
27. Vermont (128)
28. Quinnipiac (132)
29. Winthrop (158)
30. Lehigh (159)
31. Jackson State (189)

Locks (28)
1. West Virginia (5)
2. Kansas State (6)
3. Baylor (8)
4. Villanova (9)
5. Pitt (10)
6. Purdue (11)
7. Texas A&M (12)
8. Tennessee (13)
9. Georgetown (14)
10. Wisconsin (16)
11. Maryland (19)
12. Xavier (21)
13. Vanderbilt (22)
14. BYU (23)
15. Richmond (24)
16. Michigan State (25)
17. Texas (26)
18. Clemson (27)
19. Oklahoma State (28)
20. Louisville (31)
21. Wake Forest (33)
22. Florida State (35)
23. Gonzaga (37)
24. Missouri (39)
25. UNLV (47)
26. Virginia Tech (50)
27. Notre Dame (58)
28. Marquette (59)

On the Bubble (18 teams fighting for 6 available bids)
1. San Diego State (36)
2. UAB (40)
3. Rhode Island (41)
4. Georgia Tech (44)
5. Wichita State (45) -- season complete
6. Memphis (46)
7. Washington (49)
8. Dayton (51)
9. Florida (52)
10. Arizona State (53)
11. Seton Hall (54)
12. Ole Miss (56)
13. William & Mary (61) -- season complete
14. South Florida (64)
15. Mississippi State (69)
16. Illinois (75)
17. GOPHERS (78)
18. Saint Louis (83)

Maybe I am crazy...but I keep looking at the bubble and keep thinking we are not competing against 17 teams for 6 spots...we are competing against one team for one spot...Illinois and the 5th Big Ten Seed. I don't see the committee taking 6 from the big ten or not taking 5...so I see it coming down to us and the Illini for that last spot.

We need them to lose thier game and us to win two plus play third close and I think we get in and they stay home.

Reasons: Last 10 games record, quality wins, head to head all favor the Gophers...plus we have faced adversity this year with loss of two recruits and loss of starting point guard for big ten season...and I think that matters as well.....just my opinion.

Conferences don't get bids. Teams get bids. amiright SS?

Illini vs. Gophers

I certainly agree that Illinois losing to the Badgers and the Gophers winning 2 would be a nice development. I would move the Gophers ahead of Illinois in my pecking order if that were to happen. But not until then.

Respectfully, in my opinion head to head is the only thing that favors the Gophers. Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10, but I don't think that's all that relevant because the Selection Committee has deemphasized that as a criteria. Illinois has more quality (top 50) wins than the Gophers (4 to 3), and I think the overall quality of the Illini's 4 wins (including true road wins @ sure-fire NCAA qualifiers Clemson and Wisconsin) is greater than the Gophers' (neutral-siter over Butler + 2 home wins). Also of note, the Illini have 2 bad losses (opponents with RPI of 101+) compared with the Gophers' 5.

Conferences don't get bids. Teams get bids, am I right SS?
That is correct ChemE, in my opinion anyways. I believe that, even though a lot of folks don't buy it. After the automatic bids are doled out, every team becomes an independent.

If we fast forward to the scenario we are talking about (minny wins 2 in btt and Illinois loses 1). Gophers would then be 6-4 over the last ten with wins over wisky, Illinois an msu. Illinois would be 4-6 with wins over wisky and msu. However, our win over Illinois and the better finish would give us a chance where Illinois is toast.

Agree. Fast forward to that scenario and the outlook looks much brighter for the Gophers. I just hope we give ourselves a chance by not blowing it vs. Penn State.

ChemEGopher said:

Conferences don't get bids. Teams get bids. amiright SS?

Click to expand...

It's true and it isn't. They will always say that regardless. But if you believe that they were ever giving the Pac 10 one bid, you're fooling yourself. The AD's from the major conferences know how embarassing that would be, and would stretch logic pretty far not to humilate one of thier own in that way. Now as it turns out, they may 'legitimately' earn 2-3 anyway, but they were always getting that many, IMO. Likewise I think there is a point to be made with the Big 10. While they've certainly left major conferences with only 4 bids many times, to have 4 of the quality we have (all 4 likely 5 seeds or higher) and nothing else would be somewhat unheard of.

Kinda pointless guessing, time for gophs to just play some BB with a major purpose and mean it with a vengeance. Talent is there. Three wins in the BTT or, go see Broadway. Broadway is not so bad, NY has very good theater on Broadway, seriously. I've been.

I'm in the camp that the Gophers HAVE to win the BTT to get into the dance.

gopheralum2000 said:

I'm in the camp that the Gophers HAVE to win the BTT to get into the dance.

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Shocking.

May be right, except that the RPI wins created just getting to the championship game is big time, it should score.