***Official 2013 Bracketology Thread***

[cyclones500]

The bubble is so soft this year. Teams that need to win, lose. Teams that were dead a week ago, spring to life.

The "soft" bubble is common.

Some years are more chaotic than others and may involve more teams, but it's almost always that way.

[cyclones500]

10 as of Friday.

Anyways, it was a really good day for ISU tourney hopes.

Indiana St. lost to Bradley...
Virginia lost to UNC
Temple barely beat UMASS
Belmont lost it's chance at an at-large unless a lot of teams stumble
Baylor lost.

Guessing on Tuesday's update ISU will remain a 10.
Bracketology - NCAA College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN

ISU is also in 75 of 77 brackets. Still safely in though another bad loss (@ WVU) and it would get interesting.

Agree, looks like ISU remains in 10 range. I had it at 9 last week, it'd probably drop from that. 11 appears to be lower fringe.

[cyclones500]

10 as of Friday.

Anyways, it was a really good day for ISU tourney hopes.

Indiana St. lost to Bradley...
Virginia lost to UNC
Temple barely beat UMASS
Belmont lost it's chance at an at-large unless a lot of teams stumble
Baylor lost.

Guessing on Tuesday's update ISU will remain a 10.
Bracketology - NCAA College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN

ISU is also in 75 of 77 brackets. Still safely in though another bad loss (@ WVU) and it would get interesting.

Did my preliminary field for this week ... ISU still a solid candidate for a 10.

[Mumbai1986]

Gona start posting in this thread. It's much better than my crappy thread.

WAC - Louisiana Tech (1) - Starting to receive votes in the AP and Coaches poll. Keep winning and they might end up in the Top 25. Big games on Feb. 28 - Utah State, March 7 - New Mexico State, March 9 - Denver. All three are in the top 4 of the WAC

Sun Belt - Middle Tennessee (1) - Another team receiving votes in the polls. Just keep winning.

WCC - Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (2) - Saint Mary's has lost both matchups to Gonzaga. However, they have two HUGE games coming up, Feb. 21 - BYU, Feb. 23 - Creighton. Win these two, and the Gaels are in, but lose both, and the selection committee will be very wary of their profile.

Bubble - BYU - Three Big games in a row: Feb. 19 - Utah State, Feb. 21 - Saint Mary's, Feb. 28 - Gonzaga. Win all three, and they are in. Lose all three, becomes very dicey

SWAC - Southern University (1)

Summit - South Dakota State (1) - 3 teams fighting for the league title (NDSU, SDSU, and Western Illinois). This will be a fun conference tournament to watch.

Southern - Davidson (1)

Southland - Stephen F. Austin (1) - Another conference loss, and now they are tied with Northwestern State for the conference lead.

SEC - Missouri, Florida, Ole Miss (3)

Bubble - Alabama, Kentucky - Kentucky appears to be falling apart without Nerlens. This team has not top 50 wins due to Ole Miss falling out of the RPI top 50. Alabama has not defeated any major opponents. It just shows how weak the conference is.

Patriot - Bucknell (1)
No more Bubble room for the Patriot league. Lehigh losing to Colgate and Bucknell to Lafayette ened any At- Large consideration for this conference.

Pac-12 - Arizona, UCLA, Oregon (3)

Bubble: ASU, Colorado, California - Well, this is one crazy bubble in the Pac-12. Both ASU and Colorado have lost to Utah, ASU defeated Colorado after a two game losing streak, Colorado beats Arizona and Oregon (No Artis playing though) then loses to ASU, and Cal defeats UCLA, and Arizona. Need another week to sort this out.

Mountain West - New Mexico, UNLV, San Diego State, Colorado State, (4)

Bubble: Boise State - Just cannot seem to win the Big games. Still on the bubble due to their upcoming games (Air Force, Colorado State, SDSU, UNLV). Win those games, and you are in.

Northeast - Robert Morris (1)

OVC - Belmont (1) - Have now lost two conference games, and in the process, any chance for an At-Large bid. They get to play Ohio in Bracket Busters, but wont help them in the At-Large conversation.

MEAC - Norfolk State (1) - Unblemished conference record.

Missouri Valley - Creighton, Wichita State (2)

Bubble: Indiana State, Illinois State - The "other ISU" is a very confusing team. Beat Creighton and Wichita State, then lose to Missouri State and Bradley? They play Wichita State one more time, after that, no one of value. Need to win that game. I've added Illinois State due to their recent winning ways. They have won 7 out of their last 8 games, which included a win at Creighton. They will be very dangerous in the MVC Tourney.

MAAC - Niagara (1)

MAC - Akron (1) - Unblemished conference record. Have two important games in a row, North Dakota State and Ohio. Win both, and an At-Large conversation might become more reasonable.

Bubble: Ohio - Huge game, Feb.27 - Akron.

Horizon - Valparaiso (1) Lost to Detroit, which is its major competitor in the conference.

Ivy - Harvard (1) - Beat Princeton head to head, giving Harvard sole possession of the Ivy League.

CAA - Northeastern (1)

Conference USA - Memphis (1) - Looking like they would get an At-Large invite if they were to lose in the conference tournament.

Big Ten - Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota (6)

Bubble: Illinois - Starting to hit their threes again. Big wins against Indiana, and Minnesota makes Illinois a lot safer in terms of selection. Just don't have a let down again.

Big West: Long Beach State (1)

Big Sky - Montana (1) - Lost the second head to head to Weber State.

Big South - Charleston Southern (1)

Big East - Syracuse, Marquette, Louisville, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Georgetown (7)

Bubble: St. Johns, Villanova - Big win against UCONN by Villanova. St. John's struck out for a big time against Syracuse and Louisville

Big 12 - Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State (3)

Bubble: Oklahoma, ISU, Baylor - All three stay on the bubble. That is all.

Atlantic Sun - Mercer (1)

ACC - Duke, North Carolina State, Miami (3)

Bubble: North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland - Virginia's bad losses are SO BAD that they have to stay on the bubble. Losing to Delaware and Old DOminion are horrid. Two huge games on Feb. 19 - Miami and Feb. 28- Duke. North Carolina seems to have righted the ship. Good win against Virginia. Have a very easy schedule until they meet Duke in their last game. Maryland makes no sense. Lose to FSU and Virginia, then beat Duke. They have a very easy schedule, and could go on a 7 game win streak. Though, I doubt this will happen.

Atlantic 10 - Butler, VCU, Saint Louis (3) -

Bubble: La Salle, Temple, Massachusets, Charlotte- La Salle is the most safe. Gigantic bubble game against Temple. Temple has big games against La Salle, Charlotte, and VCU. They have to win all three to be in. UMASS has a big game against Butler on March 7th. Really cannot lose another game. Charlotte has a big bubble game against Temple. They also cannot lose another game. Hopefully by the end of next week, this will sort itself out.

America East - Stony Brook (1)

57 Locks. 23 Bubble teams for 11 spots.

[Gunnerclone]

Palm has us completely out. Shocker.

NCAA College Basketball Tournament Bracket Predictions - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and RPI Rankings

[cyclones500]

Palm has us completely out. Shocker.

NCAA College Basketball Tournament Bracket Predictions - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and RPI Rankings

I don't get this obsession with Gonzaga as a 1 seed — over Duke? And Michigan?

[CarlHungus]

I don't get this obsession with Gonzaga as a 1 seed — over Duke? And Michigan?

Have you seen Michigan lately? Not deserving of a 1 seed as of now

[cyclones500]

Have you seen Michigan lately? Not deserving of a 1 seed as of now

It isn't a "lately" matter, it's full season. But if we do go that route, recent results actually favor U-M.

The numbers are close enough an argument could be made for Gonzaga over Michigan, but 2 of Michigan's last 3 losses to were to top-25 rpi. Gonzaga has two top-50 wins since December, both over St. Mary's, which is teetering on the bubble. All Michigan's wins (and losses, for that matter) are against tournament locks.

U-M may not be a 1 seed, but then GU isn't, either.

[CarlHungus]

It isn't a "lately" matter, it's full season. But if we do go that route, recent results actually favor U-M.

The numbers are close enough an argument could be made for Gonzaga over Michigan, but 2 of Michigan's last 3 losses to were to top-25 rpi. Gonzaga has two top-50 wins since December, both over St. Mary's, which is teetering on the bubble. All Michigan's wins (and losses, for that matter) are against tournament locks.

U-M may not be a 1 seed, but then GU isn't, either.

That's fair. I guess I wouldn't have a problem if Gonzaga got a 1 seed over Duke and Michigan at this point in the year. None of them have really separated themselves from each other

[cyclones500]

That's fair. I guess I wouldn't have a problem if Gonzaga got a 1 seed over Duke and Michigan at this point in the year. None of them have really separated themselves from each other

Yeah, seems like nobody wants to be on the top of the heap this season. Teams keep playing their way out of a 1 seed.

Michigan did itself no favors in recent weeks. A win in any of those recent road losses would've kept them up there.

[mjhavlo76]

Screw Jerry Palm. He is a joke anyways. Joe Lunardi is pretty accurate with seeding for the big dance. So obviously would put more weight with his projections.
Got to be honest. If i am a lower seed I would love to be paired with Creighton in the first round. They are fading fast!! Wouldn't surprise me if they ended up an 8-9 seed when it is all said and done.
Love the ISU vs. N.C. State matchup against Bobby Lutz!

[Wesley]

Palm has us completely out. Shocker.

NCAA College Basketball Tournament Bracket Predictions - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and RPI Rankings

He expects Baylor to beat us Wednesday.

[Wesley]

That's fair. I guess I wouldn't have a problem if Gonzaga got a 1 seed over Duke and Michigan at this point in the year. None of them have really separated themselves from each other

You can thank the B12 if Zags get a one seed. They beat half the league.

[ajk4st8]

Our margin for error has gone. This game against Baylor is a must

[IAStubborn]

Our margin for error has gone. This game against Baylor is a must

we fell out of the top 50 RPI.. we need to beat wvu and tech then 2/4 against baylor, OU,KU,osu... and our rpi should be firmly back in top 50 and we should be fine. We go 11-7 in conference we should be good... winning wednesday will take a lot of pressure off