Road to Selection Sunday: Despite Recent Struggles, Gophers Remain Firmly in Field

Road to Selection Sunday: Despite Recent Struggles, Gophers Remain Firmly in Field of 68 Projection
By SelectionSunday on Twitter @Fieldof68Freak

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/865321?referrer_id=

(HOOPS) WINTER IS COMING, MINN. -- We're now more than a month into the 2017-18 college basketball season, so it's time to update the Road to Selection Sunday NCAA Tournament "Field of 68" projection. This projection, unlike those coming in January, February, and beyond, pays some (but not a lot of) attention to current Ken Pomeroy (KenPom) and RPI rankings. That will not be the case in February and March, when these numbers will more reflect teams' relative strength.

The automatic qualifier from each conference are teams with the best KenPom ranking or, in the case of the ACC (Boston College) and Big Ten (Michigan State), the ones with the best conference record through games played Dec. 9. The at-large selections don't necessarily follow that same pattern. A gaudy KenPom ranking (see #13 Cincinnati) or an unbeaten record (see #66 Mississippi State) doesn't mean a team will be one of the 36 at-larges, nor does a ranking in triple digits (see #114 Western Kentucky) exclude a team from being an at-large. For the most part, at such an early juncture of the season, what RTSS looks for are teams who've already logged top-75 type "quality" wins. Ten or 11 games into the season, you need to have at least one top-75 win to even be considered (i.e. sorry #29 USC).

We'll also take a snapshot look at the 36 at-large selections, the snapshot being a list of their best win(s) to date. When projecting the field, I've always been a big believer in "quality wins" trumping "bad losses". (that's why I would've selected Ohio State over Alabama for the final spot in the CFP, but that's another story & another sport)

Despite their recent rough stretch, the Minnesota Gophers (#35 KenPom) -- losers of 3 of their last 4 contests -- remain solidly in the Field of 68 projection. The Gophers' final four non-conference games (Drake, Oral Roberts, FAU, Harvard) followed by their first two conference games after the New Year (Illinois, Indiana) offer an opportunity to steady the ship, with all six of those games in the friendly confines of Williams Arena. Lose any of those six? Then RTSS thinks there's cause for legitimate concern.

The current KenPom rank of each team is noted in parentheses. An * denotes the conference leader/best KenPom rank from a multiple-bid conference. Here we go. ...

FIELD OF 68 (through Dec. 9)
America East (1): Vermont (72)

American (5): *Wichita State (6), SMU (23), Houston (44), Temple (47), UCF (74)

ACC (8): Virginia (3), Duke (6), North Carolina (9), Miami (15), Notre Dame (17), Florida State (27), Clemson (34), *Boston College (84)

Atlantic Sun (1): Florida Gulf Coast (113)

Atlantic 10 (1): Rhode Island (48)

Big East (5): *Villanova (1), Xavier (10), Seton Hall (16), Creighton (33), Butler (49)

Big Sky (1): Idaho (147)

Big South (1): NC-Asheville (129)

B1G (4): *Michigan State (2), Purdue (8), Minnesota (25), Ohio State (52)

Big XII (7): *Kansas (4), West Virginia (11), Texas Tech (18), TCU (20), Baylor (24), Texas (25), Oklahoma (26)

Big West (1): UCSB (144)

Colonial (1): College of Charleston (105)

Conference USA (2): *Middle Tennessee (67), Western Kentucky (114)

Horizon (1): Northern Kentucky (99)

Ivy (1): Yale (122)

MAAC (1): Iona (149)

MAC (1): Ball State (117)

MEAC (1): Morgan State (282)

Missouri Valley (2): *Loyola-Chicago (73), Northern Iowa (82)

Mountain West (2): *Nevada (36), Boise State (61)

Northeast (1): Saint Francis-Pa (200)

Ohio Valley (1): Jacksonville State (98)

Pac 12 (3): *Arizona (19), Arizona State (43), Utah (60)

Patriot (1): Bucknell (96)

SEC (8): *Texas A&M (7), Kentucky (14), Florida (21), Tennessee (22), Arkansas (30), Alabama (38), Missouri (51), Georgia (70)

Southern (1): Mercer (91)

Southland (1): Stephen F. Austin (140)

SWAC (1): Texas Southern (228)

Summit (1): South Dakota (94)

Sun Belt (1): Texas-Arlington (86)

WCC (1): Gonzaga (12)

WAC (1): New Mexico State (100)
_____________________________
THE 36 AT-LARGES (Top 75 Wins)
1 Virginia (3): vs. #48 Rhode Island, #59 Wisconsin)
2 Duke (6): vs. #2 Michigan State, vs. #21 Florida, vs. #25 Texas
3 Purdue (8): vs. #19 Arizona, #28 Louisville, @ #37 Maryland, @ #53 Marquette, #58 Northwestern
4 North Carolina (9): vs. #30 Arkansas, #40 Michigan
5 Xavier (10): #13 Cincinnati, #24 Baylor, @ #59 Wisconsin
6 West Virginia (11): #3 Virginia, vs. #51 Missouri, vs. #74 UCF
7 Kentucky (14): #72 Vermont
8 Miami (15): @ #35 Minnesota
9 Seton Hall (16): vs. #18 Texas Tech, @ #28 Louisville
10 Notre Dame (17): vs. #5 Wichita State
11 Texas Tech (18): #36 Nevada, vs. #58 Northwestern
12 TCU (20): #23 SMU, vs. #36 Nevada, vs. #68 Saint Bonaventure
13 Florida (21): vs. #12 Gonzaga, vs. #13 Cincinnati
14 Tennessee (22): vs. #8 Purdue
15 SMU (23): vs. #19 Arizona, #29 USC
16 Baylor (24): vs. #33 Creighton, vs. #59 Wisconsin
17 Texas (25): vs. #49 Butler
18 Oklahoma (26): vs. #29 USC, vs. #45 Oregon
19 Florida State (27): @ #21 Florida
20 Arkansas (30): vs. #26 Oklahoma, #35 Minnesota, #65 Fresno State
21 Creighton (33): vs. #46 UCLA, @ #58 Northwestern
22 Clemson (34): @ #52 Ohio State
23 Minnesota (35): vs. #38 Alabama, @ #54 Providence
24 Alabama (38): #48 Rhode Island, vs. #71 BYU
25 Arizona State (43): vs. #10 Xavier, vs. #42 Kansas State, vs. #50 Saint John's, , #63 San Diego State
26 Houston (44): #30 Arkansas, vs. #64 Wake Forest
27 Temple (47): vs. #34 Clemson, vs. #41 Auburn, vs. #57 South Carolina, #59 Wisconsin, vs. #69 Old Dominion
28 Butler (49): vs. #52 Ohio State, #60 Utah
29 Missouri (51): vs. #50 Saint John's, #62 Iowa State, @ #74 UCF
30 Ohio State (52): #40 Michigan, @ #59 Wisconsin
31 Utah (60): #51 Missouri
32 Boise State (61): @ #45 Oregon, #73 Loyola-Chicago
33 Georgia (70): vs. #32 Saint Mary's, @ #53 Marquette
34 UCF (74): @ #38 Alabama
35 Northern Iowa (81): vs. #23 SMU
36 Western Kentucky (114): vs. #8 Purdue, vs. #23 SMU

Last 4 In: Utah (60), Boise State (61), Georgia (70), UCF (74)

First 4 Out:
Louisville (28): #82 Indiana
Maryland (37): #49 Butler
Michigan (40): #46 UCLA
Syracuse (56): #37 Maryland

Non-Power 6 At-Larges (7): SMU (23), Houston (44), Temple (47), Boise State (61), UCF (74), Northern Iowa (81), Western Kentucky (114)

Others Considered (11)
USC (29): @ #76 Vanderbilt
Virginia Tech (31): @ #78 Ole Miss
Saint Mary's (32): #100 New Mexico State
Kansas State (42): @ #76 Vanderbilt
UCLA (46): vs. #59 Wisconsin
Saint John's (50): vs. #74 UCF
Marquette (53): @ #59 Wisconsin, #72 Vermont
Iowa State (62): #61 Boise State
Mississippi State (66): #97 Jacksonville State
Saint Bonaventure (68): vs. #37 Maryland
UNLV (77): vs. #60 Utah, vs. #100 Illinois

Gophers vs Kansas and Arizona vs Duke in the two play in games?

Is Louisville ineligible? I assume not since you have them on first 4 out.

howeda7 said:

Is Louisville ineligible? I assume not since you have them on first 4 out.

Click to expand...

Louisville is eligible. As is Cincinnati.

Neither of them has beaten anybody yet. If they're as good as advertised that'll change soon enough.