Projecting March Madness, Part 5

UNC and Roy Williams needs to watch UConn and Jim Calhoun for the rest of the season. That's because UConn hasn't given up on the season and are refusing to go down without a fight. In two weeks UConn has beaten Villanova and West Virginia to solidify their conference record and most likely send them to the NCAA tournament.

Now that UConn has had this resurgence, the Big East has the possibility of of sending eight teams to the NCAA tournament. That would be the most teams ever sent to the tournament by the Big East, even more than last year when everyone said the Big East was the best conference ever.

Now the Big East may be deeper than other conferences, that does not necessarily mean it's the best conference. That distinction goes to the Big XII which is the better conference this year. The Big East is just deeper and will most likely only have one team in the Final Four this year. Now on to my projections.

RPI taken from here.

Number 1 Seeds
Midwest- Purdue
West- Kansas
East- Kentucky
South- Syracuse

ACC (7): Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia Tech

Breakdown: Despite a weak non-conference schedule Virginia Tech will be in the tournament. Virginia Tech is currently third in the conference has has recently beaten Clemson and Wake Forest. As long as Virginia Tech doesn't lost three out of their next four games against Boston College, Maryland, N.C. State, and Georgia Tech, then Virginia Tech should be dancing in March this year.



Atlantic-10 (5): Xavier, Temple, Dayton, Rhode Island, Richmond

Breakdown: Oh Charlotte. I thought for sure you would make the Atlantic-10 a six team tournament league. Charlotte has lost three straight games including an ugly home loss to Duquesne. If Charlotte wins three out of their next four games, then the Atlantic-10 should be a six bid tournament league.

Big East (8): Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, UConn

Breakdown: UConn is now in the tournament with wins over Villanova and West Virginia. Because of these wins and the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation, UConn is now in the tournament despite their bi-polar play. Despite wins over Maryland and Vanderbilt, Cincinnati is on the outside looking in at the tournament. Cincinnati has lost four out of their last five games in conference.



Big Ten (5): Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Illinois

Breakdown: Illinois must win win three out of their next four games to make the tournament. And two of those games are against Ohio State and Wisconsin. While Michigan State was expected to contend for a number 1 seed in the tournament, it's actually Purdue that will most likely ear a number 1 seed. The Boilermakers have only lost three games this season and haven't lost a game since the beginning of January. If Purdue wins their conference tournament, then they will most likely earn a number 1 seed.

Big 12 (7): Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Missouri

Breakdown: With Texas Tech losing five out of their last seven teams, the Big XII will most likely only have seven teams in the tournament. Kansas will most likely be the number 1 overall team in the tournament. Kansas State also has the potential to land a number 2 seed in the tournament, while Missouri and Oklahoma State should be ranked no lower than 12th in the tournament.



Conference USA (2): UTEP, UAB

Breakdown: UTEP should make the tournament based on their RPI, so they don't necessarily need the automatic berth. UAB on the other hand, will have to win the rest of their games to make the field. They make it into the field as of right now, but they will have a lot of work to do.

Mountain West (4): BYU, New Mexico, UNLV, San Diego State

Breakdown: San Diego State makes the tournament as of right now since Ole Miss and Charlotte dropped out with recent losses. SD State though will have a lot of work in front of them to make the tournament. If San Diego State can beat BYU tonight, then that should be enough to make the tournament.

SEC (4): Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida

Breakdown: And you thought the Pac-10 was having a down year? Okay maybe the SEC isn't as bad as the Pac-10 but very close. Every SEC team that should make the tournament this year will come from the SEC East. The SEC West is just flat pathetic. Arkansas and Mississippi State are tied in the SEC West, but if neither team wins the conference tournament they shouldn't make the NCAA tournament.



One Bid Leagues

America East: Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun: Jacksonville
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: UC Santa Barbara
Colonial: Old Dominion
Horizon: Butler
Ivy: Cornell
Metro Atlantic: Siena
Mid-American: Kent State
Mid-Eastern: Morgan State
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Pac-10: California
Patriot: Lehigh
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Sam Houston State
Summit: Oakland
Sun Belt: North Texas
SWAC: Jackson State
Western Athletic: Utah State
West Coast: Gonzaga