Tournament Picks

Very soon, I will have my own college basketball blog, but until then I wanted to give my selections.


These are in no order until the late. With starting around number
60-66 those are in order of how I think they are in the tournament.

1. Vermont
2. C. Florida
3. G. Washington
4. Syracuse
5. Montana
6. Winthrop
7. Utah State
8. ODU
9. Louisville
10. UW-Milwaukee
11. PENN
12. Niagara
13. Ohio
14. New Mexico
15. Oakland
16. Delaware St.
17. Creighton
18. F. Dickinson
19. E. Kentucky
20. Washington
21. Bucknell
22. UL-Lafayette
23. Chattanooga
24. Gonzaga
25. UTEP
26. Kentucky
27. Illinois
28. Duke
29. Oklahoma St.
30. Northwestern St. (Southland)
31. Alabama A &M (SWAC)
Let me interrupt real fast. With number 30 and 31, they have yet to
play the conference final and they are both a one bid conference. So,
as I write this it could change depending on who wins those games. Now
back to the predictions.
32. Georgia Tech
33. North Carolina
34. Wake Forest
35. N.C. State
36. West Virgina
37. Villanova
38. UCONN
39. Pittsburgh
40. Boston College
41. Wisconsin
42. Michigan State
43. Minnesota
44. Texas Tech
45. Kansas
46. Charlotte
47. Cincinnati
48. Utah
49. Arizona
50. Stanford
51. UCLA
52. Florida
53. LSU
54. Alabama
55. Mississippi St.
56. Oklahoma
57. Nevada
58. Pacific
59. Saint Mary's
60. Southern Illinois
There is the easy part of the tournament. Now for the last five spots.
Some are tougher than others, but you never really know that the
selection committee is looking at. The first three I feel pretty good
about, but the last two were tough
61. Iowa State
62. Iowa
63. Texas
64. UAB
65. Buffalo

I really feel Iowa State did enough to guarantee a bid, but the first
round loss to Texas Tech will make them worry about tonight's show.
Iowa lost a heart breaker last night, but the two wins in the Big Ten
Tournament were enough to show they can win without their star player.
If there is one team I that made me think of taking them was Texas.
They played bad in the end of the year. They lost two players
throughout the season, but that win at Oklahoma State to end their
regular season was probably enough to get them in. Still, I would not
be shocked if they were left out. UAB was a hard choice. They were
10-6 in a good conference. They played Louisville to single digits
twice in the past three weeks on the road and now in the tournament.
Their second win over Depaul in two weeks is just enough to get them
over Depaul. The hardest choice is Buffalo. They MAC deserves two bids
and their profile is just a big better than Miami (Ohio). Buffalo lost
a close game overtime to Ohio in the MAC finals and their RPI is 27.

Left Out
1. Notre Dame
2. Maryland
3. Depaul
4. St. Josephs
5. Miami (Ohio)
6. Wichita State

I had Wichita State in the tournament a couple days ago, but as more
bubble teams played their way in, it was too hard to keep the Shockers
in the Dance. Notre Dame and Maryland have only to blame themselves.
They both laid eggs in their conference tournaments against Rutgers
and Clemson. If Depaul would have beaten UAB they would have been in,
but the head-to-head loss is too big to overlook. One team that may
sneak in is St. Joe's. They have been real hot since the start of the
New Year, but their profile is a little weak.
The problem with this year is so many teams just did not want to play
well to end the year. I could see some changes, but I feel good about
my bracket.

Leave some comments if you agree or disagree.