Bracketology: 3/15

Hours away from the Selection Show, we still have major questions about several conferences and teams. I'll predict the tournament field and results, give reasons why, and update it each week. Here are my calls as of this morning. Seeds are listed L-R. Left most seed is top team for that group. (Louisville will get #1 overall seed, Connecticut is top #2 seed...) Teams in italics have already earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments.


# 1 SEEDS: Louisville (Big East), Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Memphis (C-USA)
Skinny: When you win the best conference's regular season and tournament titles, its gotta be a lock for the #1 overall seed. Pitt losing to WVU isn't a big deal, same with UNC falling to FSU. Memphis only has three losses. That one fact gets them a top bid over UConn.

#2 SEEDS: Connecticut, Duke (ACC), Oklahoma, Michigan State
Skinny: Duke helped themselves with that 79-69 ACC Championship win over Florida State. The Dukies still don't have enough to make a claim for a #1, however. Michigan State lucks out with most of the teams below them losing as well. I called the OU loss, remember?

#3 SEEDS: Villanova, Kansas, Missouri (Big 12), Wake Forest
Skinny: Nothing changes other than Mizzou hopping two seeds with a solid Big 12 Championship run. I'm staying with Jay Wright's Villanova Wildcats to cut down the nets.

#4 SEEDS: LSU, Purdue (Big Ten), Syracuse, Florida State
Skinny: Syracuse's run was cute. I don't think they'll be tired, but I do think they'll be cold. The Orange are gonna take nearly a week off to relax, and the adrenaline will be gone by then. Expect Boehiem's Bums to collapse in March. Purdue and FSU find themselves #4 seeds with magical conference tourney runs.

#5 SEEDS: Gonzaga (WCC), Washington, Xavier, Clemson

#6 SEEDS: UCLA, West Virginia, Illinois, Marquette

#7 SEEDS: Arizona State, California, Tennessee, Ohio State

#8 SEEDS: Dayton, Butler, Texas, Utah (Mountain West)

#9 SEEDS: Southern California (Pac-10), Siena (MAAC), Utah State, Oklahoma State

#10 SEEDS: Mississippi State (SEC), Boston College, Texas A&M, Maryland

#11 SEEDS: Arizona, Creighton, Temple (A-10), Auburn

#12 SEEDS: Michigan, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Cleveland State (Horizon)

#13 SEEDS: Chattanooga (SoCon), VCU (CAA), Northern Iowa (MVC), Akron (MAC)

#14 SEEDS: Binghamton (America East), WKU (Sun Belt), American (Patriot), Portland St. (Big Sky)

#15 SEEDS: North Dakota St. (Summit), Robert Morris (Northeast), Morehead St. (OVC), Cornell (Ivy)

#16 SEEDS: Radford (Big South), Morgan State (MEAC), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), East Tennessee St. (A-Sun)

Play-In Game: Cal State-Northridge (Big West) vs. Alabama State (SWAC)

Last Six In: Virginia Tech, Penn State, Michigan, Auburn, Creighton, Arizona

Last Six Out: Minnesota, St. Mary's, San Diego State, UNLV, Wisconsin, Providence
Skinny: There's just no way that the Big Ten's bottom feeders will overtake teams like Auburn, Arizona, Va Tech, and Creighton. Joe Lunardi...are you high?!?! Wisconsin?!? Who in God's name have they beat?

NATIONAL CHAMPION PICK: Villanova Wildcats

Bracketology: 3/8

Less than a two weeks away from tournament time, we still have major questions about several conferences and teams. I'll predict the tournament field and results, give reasons why, and update it each week. Here are my calls as of 3/8. Seeds are listed L-R. Left most seed is top team for that group. (Pittsburgh will get #1 overall seed, Memphis is top #2 seed...) Teams in italics have already earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments.


# 1 SEEDS: Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Connecticut, Louisville
Skinny: Without question, Pitt is the top team in the tournament. The only way Pitt can lose the top ranking is if UConn wins the Big East Tournament, without Pitt winning one game. Yeah...that'll happen. I'm picking Louisville to win the Big East Tourney, so they'll overtake Memphis and struggling OU. #1 UNC holds strong with a 79-71 win over Duke today.

#2 SEEDS: Memphis, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Duke
Skinny: If Oklahoma keeps putting the game on Blake Griffin's shoulders, eventually someone will stop him, or concuss him (like Dexter Pittman). Duke is still a #2 despite losing in Chapel Hill. Michigan State stays with a 62-51 win over Purdue.

#3 SEEDS: Villanova, Kansas, Wake Forest, Washington
Skinny: Not much movement in the #3 seeds, other than fading Clemson falling down to a #4 seed. 'Nova and the Kansas Jayhawks flip flop at the top of this group.

#4 SEEDS: LSU, Clemson, UCLA, Florida State
#5 SEEDS: Gonzaga, Missouri, Marquette, Xavier
#6 SEEDS: Purdue, Arizona State, Illinois, Syracuse
#7 SEEDS: California, Tennessee, Utah, Butler
#8 SEEDS: Dayton, West Virginia, Arizona
#9 SEEDS: Wisconsin, BYU, Utah State, Miami (FL)
#10 SEEDS: Boston College, Texas, South Carolina, Ohio State
#11 SEEDS: Providence, Florida, Penn State, Virginia Tech
#12 SEEDS: Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, VCU (CAA), Siena (MAAC),
#13 SEEDS: College of Charleston (SoCon), UNLV, Northern Iowa (MVC), Buffalo (MAC)
#14 SEEDS: Vermont (America East), WKU (Sun Belt), American (Patriot), Weber St. (Big Sky)#15 SEEDS: ND State (Summit), Robert Morris (Northeast), Morehead St. (OVC), Cornell (Ivy)
#16 SEEDS: Radford (Big South), Morgan State (MEAC), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), East Tennessee St. (A-Sun)

Play-In Game: Long Beach (Big West) vs. Alabama State (SWAC)


Last Six In: Florida, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, UNLV

Last Six Out: Michigan, Minnesota, Cincinnati, St. Mary's, Northwestern, Georgetown


NATIONAL CHAMPION PICK: Villanova Wildcats

Bracketology: 3/1

Less than a month away from tournament time, we still have major questions about several conferences and teams. I'll predict the tournament field and results, give reasons why, and update it each week. Here are my calls as of 2/29. Seeds are listed L-R. Left most seed is top team for that group. (Pitt will get #1 overall seed, UNC is top #2 seed...)


# 1 SEEDS: Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina, Memphis
Skinny: Although Pitt is still in a sort of funk, they did beat UConn, and you can't say any team is clearly better than them right now. With a solid win over Marquette, the Huskies are back in the #1 seed group. Saturday: UConn @ Pitt - it will determine the overall #1 seed in the tourney (unless they meet again in the Big East Tournament).

#2 SEEDS: Oklahoma, Louisville, Michigan State, Duke
Skinny: Due to their recent slide, OU has fallen to a #2 seed. But, with wins over Mizzou and OK State, the Sooners should overtake Memphis. Louisville is hot right now, but how long will they hold? Don't put any money on Michigan State this year...remember that 98-63 loss vs. UNC?

#3 SEEDS: Kansas, Villanova, Wake Forest, Clemson
Skinny: Kansas is for real. Yeah, maybe they're young and inexperienced, but they beat OU and mauled Mizzouri in a rematch Sunday, 90-65. 'Nova slipped up against Georgetown, barely escaped DePaul; but when that offense gets going, who's gonna stop it? Clemson and Marquette is a toss up for the last #3 seed.

#4 SEEDS: Marquette, Washington, Purdue, LSU
#5 SEEDS: UCLA, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Missouri
#6 SEEDS: Purdue, Florida State, Illinois, Xavier
#7 SEEDS: California, Tennessee, Utah, Butler
#8 SEEDS: Dayton, West Virginia, Syracuse, Arizona
#9 SEEDS: Wisconsin, BYU, Utah State, Miami (FL)
#10 SEEDS: Boston College, Kentucky, South Carolina, Ohio State
#11 SEEDS: Texas, Davidson (SoCon), Providence, Florida
#12 SEEDS: Virginia Tech, VCU (CAA), Siena (MAAC), Georgetown
#13 SEEDS: Oklahoma State, UNLV, Creighton (MVC), Buffalo (MAC)
#14 SEEDS: Vermont (America East), WKU (Sun Belt), American (Patriot), Weber St. (Big Sky)#15 SEEDS: ND State (Summit), Robert Morris (Northeast), UT-Martin (OVC), Cornell (Ivy)#16 SEEDS: Morgan State (MEAC), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Jacksonville (A-Sun)

Play-In Game: Long Beach (Big West) vs. South Dakota (Ind.)

Last Six In: Florida, Virginia Tech, Providence, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, UNLV

Last Six Out: Penn State, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Michigan, St. Mary's, Temple