Saturday, March 15, 2008

D-1 BP65

Remember, the next (and last) BP65 for this season will be out on Selection Sunday. I expect to have it up right around 5pm eastern time, or about a full hour before the Selection Show.

As for this edition, I spent awhile going through all of the teams again, one-by-one. I crunched a lot of numbers and moved a bunch of teams around. So, there is a lot of movement from the last bracket, but most of it is due to a re-callibration, rather than any movement due to performances. A couple things I realized: Ohio State is in a lot more trouble than I previously thought. When you compare their performances against the RPI Top 50 or Top 75, they just aren't even close to the three Pac-10 bubble teams, or many of the other bubble teams. Also, I think VCU is still stuck on the outside. The fact that their resume looks so much like the '06 Utah State team perhaps says that this year's bubble is actually unseasonably strong, which goes against the conventional wisdom of college basketball analysts. Finally, both UMass and Illinois State are in much more precarious states than I previously thought. Both of those teams are really going to have to sweat out the final two days of games.

Anyway, without further ado:

1. NORTH CAROLINA (ACC)
1. MEMPHIS (C-USA)
1. UCLA (PAC 10)
1. TENNESSEE (SEC)

2. Duke
2. GEORGETOWN (BIG EAST)
2. KANSAS (BIG 12)
2. Texas

3. WISCONSIN (BIG 10)
3. Louisville
3. Stanford
3. DRAKE (MVC)

4. Xavier
4. UConn
4. Notre Dame
4. BUTLER (HORIZON)

5. Indiana
5. Marquette
5. Washington State
5. Vanderbilt

6. Michigan State
6. BYU (MWC)
6. Clemson
6. Gonzaga

7. Pittsburgh
7. West Virginia
7. Purdue
7. USC

8. Mississippi State
8. Oklahoma
8. Kansas State
8. KENT STATE (MAC)

9. UNLV
9. SAINT JOSEPH'S (ATLANTIC 10)
9. Kentucky
9. Baylor

10. DAVIDSON (SOUTHERN)
10. Miami (Fl)
10. Texas A&M
10. Saint Mary's

11. Arizona State
11. South Alabama
11. Arizona
11. Arkansas

12. Oregon
12. Illinois State
12. UMass
12. WESTERN KENTUCKY (SUN BELT)

13. SAN DIEGO (WCC)
13. GEORGE MASON (COLONIAL)
13. ORAL ROBERTS (SUMMIT)
13. NEW MEXICO STATE (WAC)

14. SIENA (MAAC)
14. CORNELL (IVY)
14. WINTHROP (BIG SOUTH)
14. AUSTIN PEAY (OVC)

15. CAL STATE FULLERTON (BIG WEST)
15. BELMONT (ATLANTIC SUN)
15. PORTLAND STATE (BIG SKY)
15. MARYLAND BC (AMERICA EAST)

16. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (PATRIOT)
16. MORGAN STATE (MEAC)
16. NORTHWESTERN STATE (SOUTHLAND)
16. MOUNT SAINT MARY'S (NORTHEAST)
16. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (SWAC)


Other teams considered, but that just missed the cut:
Virginia Tech, Temple, Ohio State, VCU

Good resumes, but need a little bit more:
Florida State, Dayton, Villanova, New Mexico, Florida

Other teams with a decent shot, but that really need to improve their resume:
Maryland, Mississippi

Still alive, but pretty much need a miracle:
Wake Forest, Charlotte, Syracuse, UAB, Houston, Creighton, Southern Illinois

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nicely done. I do not know about UMASS and Illinois State, but I am with you completely on your top 45 teams... if anyone up through Oregon who gets left out, they have a very legit beef. I concur 100% that those are truly the top 45 teams and I really hope that the committee is able to look past RPI as you do and take Arizona State... they deserve to make it.

Anonymous said...

New Mexico State out of the WAC won't get a 13 seed. They have a RPI of 117. If they beat Boise with a RPI like that they are more like a 15 seed