Bracketology

Since we're down to the stretch run, Bracketology projections will be coming fast and furious instead of once a week. The big news is that South Florida enters the field for the first time. The Bulls beat Louisville and replace UCONN who lost to Providence earlier in the week.

 

Arizona (21-9, 12-5, #67 RPI)

Drexel (24-5, 16-2, #74 RPI)

Iona (24-6, 15-3, #40 RPI)

Oral Roberts (26-5, 17-1, #39 RPI)

Xavier (18-11, 9-6, #57 RPI)

Yes - Solid 35th in RPI, also top 40 in Sagarin & KenPom, beat ranked FSU & Notre Dame

No - 7-10 Big East record, 17-12 overall, only won 5 of last 15 games, no top 25 RPI wins

Instead of the Bubble shrinking over the last couple of weeks, it has actually grown. Former locks like West Virginia, UCONN, and Mississippi St have struggled, while hot teams like Drexel and VCU have joined the fray. Thus, despite being less than two weeks away from Selection Sunday, the NCAA Tournament Bubble is as uncertain as ever.

Iowa and TCU join the fray, while Wyoming gets edged out in the latest 2012 NIT field. The field below is not who I think deserves to be in, but simply a prediction of what the committee would do as things stand today.

In this week's Bracketology projection: Arizona replaces NC State as the last team in the field, Kansas takes a #1 seed, Southern Miss drops two slots, and St. Joseph's moves strongly into the picture.

 

Creighton - 25-5, 14-4 MVC - #23 RPI, #30 Sagarin

Murray St - 25-1, 15-1 OVC - #29 RPI, #43 Sagarin

Notre Dame - 20-9, 12-4 Big East - #42 RPI, #37 Sagarin

San Diego St - 20-6, 8-4 MWC - #28 RPI, #49 Sagarin

Virginia - 21-7, 8-6 ACC - #38 RPI, #22 Sagarin)

Despite falling to 10th in the AP poll, Ohio St remains strong in the Consensus Ranking (CR). The computers were nonplussed by the Buckeyes loss to Wisconsin. Similarly, Missouri only fell two spots despite a pair of losses. The biggest losers this week were actually La Salle, West Virginia, and Marshall.