The Lockbox has been updated. Read on, as on selection day, the meaning of the color of the teams changes just a bit.
The Bubble by the Numbers
--31 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season. Black italics means a team is the projected auto-bid for that conference.
--37 At-Large Bids (AL). That is also a static number.
--Currently, 25 AL teams are listed in black (or are LOCKS). LOCKS cannot miss, even if they lost out. The black
teams are near locks. It is hard to imagine them missing unless the committee goes off the grid.
--I have seven other AL teams listed in blue, which means they could conceivable miss, but I'd be very surprised.
--That means 32 AL slots are taken, leaving the Bubble at 5
at the moment. Bubble-IN teams are in green, Bubble-OUT teams are in red.
And, those five teams that are truly Bubble to my eye are: LaSalle, Boise State, St. Mary's, Tennessee, and Middle Tennessee in that order. Any of those could miss in favor of Ole Miss, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, UMass, or even Southern Miss and I would not be stunned. That is what replicating this process gives you: an understanding that all of these teams at the bottom have deep flaws and their inclusion/exclusion can be justified.
If Ole Miss wins today, MTSU gets the axe. And, honestly, I may take Ole Miss as the very last team over MTSU even if they lose. I'll have to chew on this awhile longer and ponder final seeds a bit more. I'm set on the rest of my field.
Later today, I'll post the final SCKySSiP results and my final bracket.
