12/18 Field of 68 Projection

RPI noted in parentheses. Teams with an * denotes conference leader or, in the event of a tie, the team with the best RPI.

FIELD OF 68 (through games played. Dec. 17)
America East (1): Vermont (71)

American (4): *Temple (11), Wichita State (22), Cincinnati (42), UCF (47)

ACC (8): Duke (1), North Carolina (2), Syracuse (13), Virginia (15), Clemson (33), Miami (36), Florida State (39), *Boston College (74)

Atlantic Sun (1): Lipscomb (30)

Atlantic 10 (1): Rhode Island (21)

Big East (6): *Villanova (5), Xavier (12), Saint John's (20), Seton Hall (24), Butler (41), Creighton (52)

Big Sky (1): Southern Utah (58)

Big South (1): Radford (127)

B1G (5): *Michigan State (3), Purdue (17), Michigan (28), Minnesota (43), Ohio State (46)

Big XII (7): *TCU (6), West Virginia (10), Oklahoma (14), Kansas (18), Iowa State (23), Texas Tech (45), Texas (65)

Big West (1): UCSB (44)

Colonial (1): Towson (34)

Conference USA (2): *Middle Tennessee (27), Western Kentucky (72)

Horizon (1): Milwaukee (77)

Ivy (1): Penn (101)

MAAC (1): Iona (118)

MAC (1): Buffalo (63)

MEAC (1): North Carolina A&T (158)

Missouri Valley (1): Northern Iowa (25)

Mountain West (2): *Nevada (19), Boise State (31)

Northeast (1): Wagner (60)

Ohio Valley (1): Belmont (96)

Pac 12 (3): *Arizona State (4), Arizona (32), Washington (61)

Patriot (1): Navy (143)

SEC (8): *Missouri (7), Arkansas (8), Texas A&M (9), Tennessee (16), Alabama (26), Kentucky (29), Auburn (35), Florida (57)

Southern (1): NC-Greensboro (83)

Southland (1): Stephen F. Austin (69)

SWAC (1): Prairie View A&M (126)

Summit (1): South Dakota State (94)

Sun Belt (1): Georgia Southern (56)

WCC (1): Gonzaga (37)

WAC (1): Bakersfield (76)
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Non-Power 6 At-Larges (5): Wichita State (22), Boise State (31), Cincinnati (42), UCF (47), Western Kentucky (72)

Last 4 In: Auburn (35), UCF (47), Washington (61), Western Kentucky (72)

First 4 Out: Utah (48), USC (50), UT-Arlington (59), Louisville (66)

Others Considered (8): BYU (49), Providence (51), Old Dominion (53), Saint Bonaventure (55), Maryland (78), UNLV (87), Virginia Tech (92), Notre Dame (97)

Gophers NCAA Tournament Projected Matchup (based solely on RPI): #6 Wichita State vs. #11 Gophers

Interesting to see no Louisville or Notre Dame in there. Padgett is essentially coaching for his job this season. If he can't get them in, it will be hard to justify keeping him, and that will be a huge job opening.

El Amin Fan said:

Interesting to see no Louisville or Notre Dame in there. Padgett is essentially coaching for his job this season. If he can't get them in, it will be hard to justify keeping him, and that will be a huge job opening.

Click to expand...

Both Louisville and Notre Dame are likely much better than their current RPIs indicate, but I think their RPIs accurately reflect their results/schedules so far. Louisville's best win is Indiana (in Louisville), and Notre Dame other than the Wichita State and LSU (?) wins in Maui hasn't really beaten anyone and has played 5 awful opponents.

KenPom/KPI/RPI: Consensus NCAA Tournament Trekkers

KenPom/KPI/RPI Consensus (through Dec. 17)
1 Alabama
2 Arizona
3 Arizona State
4 Arkansas
5 Auburn
6 Cincinnati
7 Clemson
8 Duke
9 Florida State
10 Gonzaga
11 Kansas
12 Kentucky
13 Lipscomb
14 Miami-Florida
15 Michigan
16 Michigan State
17 Middle Tennessee
18 Minnesota
19 Missouri
20 Nevada
21 North Carolina
22 NC-Greensboro
23 Oklahoma
24 Penn
25 Purdue
26 Rhode Island
27 Seton Hall
28 Stephen F. Austin
29 Tennessee
30 Texas A&M
31 TCU
32 Texas Tech
33 Towson
34 UCSB
35 Vermont
36 Villanova
37 Virginia
38 West Virginia
39 Wichita State
40 Xavier

New This Week: Auburn, Cincinnati, Lipscomb, Missouri, NC-Greensboro, Stephen F. Austin

Movin' On Out: Creighton, Georgia Southern, Iona, Northern Kentucky, South Dakota

My top 4 by Region:

East Regional|Boston, MA:(venue)

1. Villanova - PPG Paints Arena(Pittsburgh, PA)
2. Kentucky - Bridgestone Arena(Nashville, TN)
3. TCU - American Airlines Arena(Dallas, TX)
4. Wichita State - Taco Bell Arena(Boise, ID)

West Regional|Los Angeles, CA:(venue)

1. Arizona State - Viejas Arena(San Diego, CA)
2. Miami - Bridgestone Arena(Nashville, TN)
3. West Virginia - PPG Paints Arena(Pittsburgh, PA)
4. Gonzaga - Taco Bell Arena(Boise, ID)

South Regional|Atlanta, GA:(venue)

1. Duke - Spectrum Center(Charlotte, NC)
2. Texas A&M - American Airlines Arena(Dallas, TX)
3. Xavier - Little Caesars Arena(Detroit, MI)
4. Kansas - Viejas Center(San Diego, CA)

Midwest Regional|Omaha, NE:(venue)

1. Michigan State - Little Caesars Arena(Detroit, MI)
2. North Carolina - Spectrum Center(Charlotte, NC)
3. Oklahoma - Intrust Bank Arena(Wichita, KS)
4. Virginia - Intrust Bank Arena(Wichita, KS)