Syracuse, Arizona, Cincinnati, and Maryland all continue to toil on the Bubble. Syracuse's road win at St. John's helped a bit and Maryland's win over fellow ACC Bubbler Virginia won me over for this week. Zona won their home games against the Oregon squads. Cincy was routed by Pitt yesterday which makes them 3-7 in their last ten. That's just not good enough. Have a look at the new bracket.
1. UNC-Wilmington makes their first appearance based on some strong recent play. The Seahawks, current CAA leader George Mason, and Hofstra are very much alive for at-large bids.
2. Stanford remains on the outskirts of Bubbleland. I just cannot see them getting in without posting some big wins down the stretch, and they came up short twice this week.
4. It's Ohio State's turn at a 2-seed from the Big Ten. Their predecessors have not handled it too well (Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa). Iowa is still very much alive, though.
5. I can't believe that a team like Colorado is hanging in there. I simply could not pick anyone else over them no matter how hard I tried. Actually, I can believe it, because this happens every year.
6. Do you want to be my bracket Valentine? Check the "Yes," "No," or "Maybe" box. NOTE: Iowa State checked all three. South Carolina wrote in "Florida" and check the Florida box. Vandy did same with a "Kentucky" box. Kentucky checked "Maybe" six times.
Multi-bid Conference Breakdown
Big East (8): UConn, Villanova, Pitt, West Virginia, Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall, Syracuse
Big Ten (7): Ohio State,Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan
SEC (6): Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas
ACC (5): Duke, NC State, Boston College, North Carolina, Maryland
MVC (5): Northern Iowa, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Missouri State
Big 12 (4): Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado,
Pac-10 (4): UCLA, Arizona, Washington, California
CUSA (2): Memphis, UAB
Colonial (2): George Mason, UNC-Wilmington
Last Four Teams In: Arkansas, Maryland, Colorado, UNC-Wilmington
We are less than four weeks away from SelSun. Next bracket comes on Friday.
II. Tonight's GOI
--LA Tech at Nevada. Two of the WAC's best.
--Kansas at Oklahoma State. Most years, this is a top-15 match up. This year, it's to see if the Cowboys can slow down the rampaging Jayhawks.
--UConn at Villanova. No commentary needed for this one, but I'll try: Big East regular season title, BE tourney seeding, and NCAA 1-seed implications. WOW.
