| | Here at Blue Ribbon headquarters, we were up half the night Sunday attempting
to answer the above question. More to the point, with previously unbeaten
Syracuse suffering a pair of losses last week, would another team assume the
final No. 1 seed position in this week's projected NCAA brackets.
Tennessee is a candidate, especially with the likely No. 1 seed vacancy
occurring in the South -- any team leading the nation's top-ranked conference
deserves careful consideration. Arizona is another candidate, despite four
losses, as it has a terrific overall tournament profile (including a victory
at co-Pac 10 leader Stanford).
Syracuse also remained a candidate to retain its position. Ultimately,
though, the Orangemen's schedule strength and past week's performance could
not be ignored. So the Orange are shipped West this week; Arizona and Tennessee are
bracketed 1-2 in the South.
West Region
March 16, 2000/Tucson, Ariz.
(1) Stanford vs. (16) MID-CONTINENT/Southern Utah
(8) Kansas vs. (9) Pepperdine
(5) Purdue vs. (12) BIG WEST/Utah State
(4) Kentucky vs. (13) MAAC/Siena
March 16, 2000/Salt Lake City, Utah
(3) Tulsa vs. (14) SOUTHERN/Appalachian State
(6) Illinois vs. (11) UNC Charlotte
(7) Vanderbilt vs. (10) UNLV
(2) Syracuse vs. (15) BIG SKY/Eastern Washington
Midwest Region
March 16, 2000/Cleveland
(1) Cincinnati vs. (16) SWAC/Southern
(8) North Carolina vs. (9) Kent
(5) Connecticut vs. (12) UCLA
(4) Auburn vs. (13) A-EAST/Hofstra
March 16, 2000/Minneapolis
(3) Oklahoma State vs. (14) MCC/Butler
(6) LSU vs. (11) Indiana State
(7) Oregon vs. (10) Miami
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) SLC/Sam Houston State
East Region
March 17, 2000/Winston-Salem, N.C.
(1) Duke vs. (16) MEAC/Norfolk State
(8) Utah vs. (9) Gonzaga
(5) Temple vs. (12) Notre Dame
(4) Texas vs. (13) IVY/Pennsylvania
March 17, 2000/Buffalo, N.Y.
(3) Florida vs. (14) NEC/Central Connecticut State
(6) Seton Hall vs. (11) Fresno State
(7) Missouri vs. (10) Louisville
(2) Indiana vs. (15) PATRIOT/Navy
South Region
March 17, 2000/Birmingham, Ala.
(1) Arizona vs. (16) TAAC/Troy State
(8) Dayton vs. (9) DePaul
(5) Maryland vs. (12) SUN BELT/Louisiana-Lafayette
(4) Oklahoma vs. (13) OVC/Murray State
March 17, 2000/Nashville, Tenn.
(3) Ohio State vs. (14) CAA/James Madison
(6) Iowa State vs. (11) Virginia
(7) St. John's vs. (10) Saint Louis
(2) Tennessee vs. (15) BIG SOUTH/Radford
Blue Ribbon bits
Teams preceded by their conference name in ALL CAPS are the current league
(or RPI) leaders. Teams from multiple-bid conferences, or who would earn an
at-large bid regardless of their league position, are listed without such a
prefix.
The Mountain West and WAC are without automatic bids this season. Thus,
there are only 29 conferences (instead of the maximum 30) which will place an
automatic qualifier into the NCAA field this year.
Please note that Syracuse (East) and Texas (South) cannot be placed in
their respective regions, as each host a regional final this year.
Who's really hot? The following projected tourney teams are 10-0 in their
last 10 games: Cincinnati, Utah State.
Looking for impressive wins? The best records vs. RPI Top 25 competition
include: Cincinnati (3-0), Indiana (3-0), Stanford (4-1), Oklahoma State
(3-1), Purdue (3-1), Arizona (4-2), Tennessee (4-2), Michigan State (5-3).
The only teams remaining perfect in road games (non-neutral included) are
Cincinnati (8-0) and Stanford (7-0). And the following poor road records may
surprise you: UAB (1-7), Louisville (1-6), North Carolina State (1-6), Auburn
(1-4), Wisconsin (2-8), Marquette (2-7), Penn State (2-7), Notre Dame (2-6),
Maryland (2-5), Michigan (2-5), Saint Louis (2-5), Southwest Missouri State
(3-6), Villanova (3-6), Xavier (3-6), DePaul (3-5), New Mexico State (4-6),
Virginia (4-6), LSU (2-3), UCLA (3-4), Texas (4-5), St. Bonaventure (4-5).
Among the so-called "mid-major" conferences, the following leagues project to
earn an at-large bid regardless of their conference tournament outcome:
MAC (Kent), WCC (Pepperdine or Gonzaga), MVC (Indiana State).
There is much conversation each week on the order of, "This or that team
should be seeded higher than so-and-so." We suspect much of that conversation
this week will focus on projected No. 6 seed Iowa State, which is tied atop
the Big 12 with Oklahoma State (a projected No. 3 seed). What will not be
lost on the Selection Committee, though, is that the Cyclones have played
three Non-Division I opponents.
Who needs Tobacco Road? Three teams in the state of Oklahoma (Oklahoma, Oklahoma
State and Tulsa) are a combined 60-8 in Division I games.
Did you notice? Current Northeast Conference leader Central Connecticut
State has not played a single team ranked above 150 on the RPI.
Moving up (alphabetical order): Appalachian State, Butler, DePaul, Indiana State,
LSU, Louisville, Murray State, Navy, Norfolk State, Oklahoma State, Sam
Houston State, Seton Hall, Southern Utah, Southwest Missouri State, UNLV,
Utah State.
Notre Dame is listed one slot lower than its true seed this week in order
to comply with all bracketing criteria (the Selection Committee allows teams
to be moved in such instances no more than one line from their true seed).
The beneficiary is Fresno State, which moved up one seed.
Going down (alphabetical order): Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina
State, Ohio University, St. Bonaventure, Southern California, UAB, Vanderbilt.
Multiple-conference breakdown: Big East (6), Big 12 (6), SEC (6), Big Ten
(5), C-USA (5), ACC (4), Pac-10 (4), Atlantic 10 (2), MWC (2), WAC (2), WCC
(2).
Last four in: Virginia, Notre Dame, Fresno State, UCLA.
Last four out: Marquette, Southern California, SMU, California.
Joe Lunardi can be contacted at "jlunardi@sju.edu". He will also appear Monday nights (10:20 p.m. ET) and Saturday afternoons (2:20 p.m. ET) on ESPN Radio and chat every Friday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.com.
To order the adidas Blue Ribbon Tournament Preview, call 1-800-828-HOOP
(4667). This 80-page volume is prepared on Selection Sunday and rushed to
you in time for first-round games. BLUE RIBBON postseason reports -- including new online editions -- are also available at www.collegebaskets.com.
| |
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