"Letters! We get letters! We get lots and lots of letters! LETTERS!"
"8 teams from the ACC??? Has any conference ever had 2/3 of its members make the Big Dance?
While I love the ACC and live in ACC country, they are not even the top conference (PAC-10). Maryland is hardly a tournament team and BC just lost a major difference maker."
~Paymon
No, no conference has ever had 2/3 of it's members make the dance. The Big Ten sent 7/11 in 1994, though (61%). That said, the ACC is not likely to send eight. This will sort itself out in the coming weeks.
The ACC actually is #1 in the RPI. And, right now, I think Maryland is a tourney team, although their situation is tenuous. They could be one of the ACC teams that gets squeezed out as the season wears on.
"I think you have Marquette a little too low right now. They should be at least a 4 seed if not a 3. They have 3 top 25 rpi wins away from home (duke and texas tech on neutral floor and at pitt yesterday). They are 6-1 away from home. The only flaw on their resume is a loss to NDSU. When they lost to providence they did not have mcneal and matthews was not 100%."
YoungMUFan4
Marquette is looking more impressive all the time. And, if they win this weekend, they will likely move up again. But, that loss to NDSU was at home in Marquette's own tournament. They have to pay a little for that one.
"Hi there - I'm a frequent follower of your board during NCAA BB season. Why isn't New Mexico St. on the radar screen at all? Thanks."
Anonymous
While the win over Nevada was great and the Aggies have won 14 of 15, they have losses to 200+ teams Loyola Marymount and LA Tech. They also lost to #141 New Mexico. They possess only two top 100 RPI wins. Still, if they maintain this pace of winning (read: nearly ALL), then they will show up at some point. But, they will not be able to erase the fact that they have ZERO top 100 non-conference wins. And, currently, their RPI is only #81. The Aggies are a long shot at this point for At-Large. Beating Nevada again and sweeping USU would help a lot.
"What about Winthrop at High Point? Winthrop is 5-0 in conference, and High Point is 6-0. This is a huge game for the Big South."
Anonymous
Horrendous oversight on my part. I have included it in the GOI roundup below.
Last Night's GOI
--East Tenn St 80, at Belmont 70 (OT). Huge OT win for the Bucs who are now two games clear of the A-Sun field.
--UCLA 62, at Cal 46. Bears have their work cut out for them to make the Show.
--at Duke 68,Clemson 66. Duke gave this game away, then benefited from some extra time on the clock and tore out the Tigers' heart.
--Winthrop 64, at High Point 63. Road wins over your top conference contender go a long way.
--Butler 70, at Loyola (Chicago) 66. See Winthrop vs High Point above.
--at Oral Roberts 73, Oakland 63. ORU takes the outright MCC lead.
--at Stanford 65, Southern Cal 50. Cardinal solidify their position with this one.
--at Washington 89, Oregon 77. If the Huskies find their form, the Pac-10 is going to be wild.
Weekend Forecast
Saturday
--Arkansas at Alabama. Two clubs in severe need of a win.
--North Carolina at Arizona. Massive non-conference tilt.
--Florida at Auburn. Gators have been grinding on the road and Auburn is coming off a lambasting of Bama.
--Air Force at BYU. Tough road test for the Falcons.
--Southern Cal at California. Cal must win their home games to keep hope alive.
--Providence at UConn. Two fringe teams.
--Indiana State at Creighton. Withering Trees really need this one.
--VCU at Drexel. This is as big a conference game as any this weekend.
--Michigan at Indiana. Wolverines need to cash in a big win somewhere.
--East Tenn St at Lipscomb. The Bisons try to bring ETSU back to the field a bit.
--Syracuse at Louisville. Cards can get back into the convo with a win here.
--Ohio State at Michigan State. Teams only get so many chances to score home wins like this.
--Bradley at Missouri State. Loser will have a hard time finding it's way IN on Monday.
--Utah State at Nevada. Aggies have won 5 straight.
--Villanova at Notre Dame. Irish have been very tough at home.
--Illinois at Purdue. Illinois needs to consolidate it's home win over Indiana earlier this week.
--Oregon at Washington State. Important game for Pac-10 positioning.
Sunday
--Boston College at Duke. BC is in dire need of a signature win.
--Virginia at Clemson. Tigers must bounce back from heartbreaking Duke loss.
--LSU at Georgia. LSU is wilting as UGA is flowering.
--Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech. GT needs it more at this point.
--Tennessee at Kentucky. No Lofton will be hard to overcome in Lexington.
--UCLA at Stanford. Cardinal took out Oregon last night.
--DePaul at West Virginia. Both need to get hot immediately.
