Sunday, December 02, 2007

W-15 BP65

1. UCLA (PAC 10)
1. NORTH CAROLINA (ACC
1. KANSAS (BIG 12)
1. MEMPHIS (CONFERENCE USA)

2. GEORGETOWN (BIG EAST)
2. TENNESSEE (SEC)
2. INDIANA (BIG 10)
2. Duke

3. Texas
3. Michigan State
3. Marquette
3. Washington State

4. Ohio State
4. Texas A&M
4. Louisville
4. Arizona

5. GONZAGA (WCC)
5. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (MVC)
5. Pittsburgh
5. UConn

6. Wisconsin
6. USC
6. Kentucky
6. Washington

7. Oregon
7. Florida
7. Syracuse
7. BYU (MWC)

8. Clemson
8. Mississippi State
8. Alabama
8. Missouri

9. Kansas State
9. Illinois
9. BUTLER (HORIZON)
9. Vanderbilt

10. Villanova
10. GEORGE MASON (COLONIAL)
10. XAVIER (ATLANTIC 10)
10. North Carolina State

11. Creighton
11. Virginia
11. Arkansas
11. DAVIDSON (SOUTHERN)

12. NEW MEXICO STATE (WAC)
12. California
12. Oklahoma State
12. Stanford

13. Maryland
13. MIAMI (OH) (MAC)
13. VERMONT (AMERICA EAST)
13. WINTHROP (BIG SOUTH)

14. MONTANA (BIG SKY)
14. HOLY CROSS (PATRIOT)
14. AUSTIN PEAY (OVC)
14. WESTERN KENTUCKY (SUN BELT)

15. BELMONT (ATLANTIC SUN)
15. YALE (IVY)
15. MARIST (MAAC)
15. NORTH DAKOTA STATE (SUMMIT)

16. SAM HOUSTON STATE (SOUTHLAND)
16. MORGAN STATE (MEAC)
16. CAL STATE FULLERTON (BIG WEST)
16. ROBERT MORRIS (NORTHEAST)
16. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (SWAC)


Other teams considered, but that missed the cut:
Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (Fl), Virginia Tech, George Washington, Rhode Island, Depaul, Notre Dame, Providence, West Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, VCU, Houston, Northern Iowa, Wichita State, San Diego State, Auburn, Nevada, Utah State

Other teams that can believe they have a plausible shot at an at-large bid:
Wake Forest, Fordham, Massachusetts, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, St. John's, Penn State, Baylor, Iowa State, Drexel, Hofstra, Old Dominion, Alabama-Birmingham, Southern Miss, UTEP, Wright State, Akron, Bradley, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona State, Appalachian State, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, South Alabama, Saint Mary's, Fresno State, Hawaii

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you are from Wisc., but how could you have the Badgers ranked higher than Davidson? Both played Duke and both got the short end from the refs.

Jeff said...

Because the final seedings are not based on a single matchup. I'll talk more about this in my columns on basketballforum.com, but it's a huge mistake when people judge a team on one game.

Just because Team A beats Team B doesn't mean that Team A is better or should be ranked higher than Team B. Similarly, if Team A beats Team B by more than they beat Team C, that does not imply that Team B is better than Team C.

Wisconsin is in a BCS conference, which means that they can lose a bunch of games and still get a 6 or 7 seed. The only way Davidson gets a 5 or 6 seed is if they basically go undefeated the rest of the way. Assuming that they lose to UCLA, and even if they beat NC State, they still can probably only lose 1 game the rest of the way and get a 6 seed or better. I don't think that will happen, I think they will trip up and lose 3 or 4 games.

Right now, I think Wisconsin is the 4th best team in the Big 10. I don't think too many people will disagree with me there. And how low can the 4th best team in the Big Ten get seeded? 7th? 8th? Certainly no lower than 8th. And I think Wisconsin gets more like a 6 or 7 seed.


When you're in a big conference you have more margin for error, that's just how it is. I'm certainly not a Wisconsin homer, since if you followed this website last year I was at one point the only popular prediction website that still had Wisconsin as a #2 seed when they were ranked 1st in the entire country in the AP.

Anonymous said...

North Dakota State is ineligible.

Jeff said...

I thought this was the season that they finally completed their transition to DI basketball. Do you have a link confirming that they are still ineligible for the Tournament?

Jeff said...

Never mind, I found it in their media guide. They don't become a full member of DI until 2008-09. I'll make the fix next weekend. Too bad, because they're probably the best team in the Summit.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure they're better than IUPUI, but at the very least they should be the best team next year with everybody returning.