Bracketology Week 18 (Mar. 10)

     Five days.  That’s it.  In just five days the selection committee will make the final call on which schools make March Madness.  That means for the teams on the bubble, there’s only a couple games left to make an impression.  At this stage, wins are huge, and losses are killer.  Bubble teams simply can not afford to go down in the opening round of their conference tournament, because if they do, they’ll earn a one-way ticket to the NIT, the national invitational tournament, or as I like to call it, the Not In Tournament.

     Teams bolded and underlined in the bracket represent teams who have already punched their automatic bid into the field.  If a #1 seed in a conference tournament has already lost, the bold team for that conference will be the highest remaining seed in the tournament.

1s: Kentucky, Duke, Virginia, Villanova

2s: Arizona, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Maryland

3s: Kansas, Notre Dame, Northern Iowa, Louisville

4s: Oklahoma, Baylor, Wichita St, Iowa St

5s: Utah, West Virginia, SMU, Butler

6s: North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgetown, Providence

7s: Iowa, Ohio St, Michigan St, VCU
8s: St. John’s, San Diego St, Dayton, Georgia
9s: Xavier, NC State, Oregon, Cincinnati
10s: Davidson, Colorado St, Oklahoma St, Ole Miss
11s: LSU, Temple, Boise St, Texas, Texas A&M
12s: Purdue, BYU, Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, Wofford
13s: Valparaiso, Harvard, Central Michigan, Georgia St
14s: UC Davis, Northeastern, South Dakota St, NC Central
15s: Belmont, New Mexico St, Albany, Coastal Carolina
16s: North Florida, Lafayette, Montana, Manhattan, St. Francis BRK, Texas Southern

On the Outside Looking In:
First Four Out: UCLA, Miami (Fl), Indiana, Old Dominion
Next Four Out: Tulsa, Murray St, Illinois, Rhode Island
Need a Miracle: Richmond, Green Bay, Buffalo, Vanderbilt

Bids by Conference:
Big 12: 7
ACC: 6
Big East: 6
Big Ten: 6
SEC: 6
American: 3
Atlantic 10: 3
Mountain West: 3
Pac 12: 3
Missouri Valley: 2
WCC: 2
21 Conferences: 1