NCAA tourney: Who's in, out, and still alive

[YCN]

I've put together a table listing each NCAA Division I team, and I've sorted the table by conference, and within each conference by current RPI ranking.

To the left of each team name there may be a letter, depending on that current team's status in the chase for NCAA tournament bids. I've identified 25 teams that I'm currently listing as locks to receive tournament invites, and so left of those team names you will find an "L". And other letters identify other current status conditions for all 332 teams.

These status letters are:

A - Automatic bid. Conference tourney winnners and Ivy League champion.
b - Bubble. These teams are those who may be invited.
L - Teams I've identified as sure to get bids.
x - Elimination from consideration for the NCAA tournament.

I haven't identified bubble teams yet, and no conference automatic bids have been determined to date. Otherwise, the locks and eliminated teams are shown.

I'd like to note that in the Ivy League, Brown, Dartmouth and Princeton all have two losses in conference play. Those teams play five more games, but none against each other, and they are favored to win all five games. If that happens, there will be a three-way playoff for the automatic Ivy bid.

And there aren't any independents that will be invited to the tournament this year, none are close to being under consideration.


The tables will follow this post, and I'm not sure how many posts I'll need due to the size of the tables. It could be two or three, but that's just a guess.

I'm using these abbreviations to designate conferences:Conference Abbreviations:

AEC America East Conference
A-10 Atlantic 10 Conference
ACC Atlantic Coast Conference
A-Sun Atlantic Sun Conference
Big 12 Big 12 Conference
Big East Big East Conference
Big Sky Big Sky Conference
Big South Big South Conference
Big Ten Big Ten Conference
Big West Big West Conference
CAA Colonial Athletic Association
C-USA Conference USA
Horizon Horizon League
Indep Independents
Ivy Ivy League
MAAC Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
MAC Mid-American Conference
MCC Mid-Continent Conference
MEAC Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
MVC Missouri Valley Conference
MWC Mountain West Conference
Northeast Northeast Conference
OVC Ohio Valley Conference
Pac-10 Pacific-10 Conference
Patriot Patriot League
SEC Southeastern Conference
Southern Southern Conference
Southland Southland Conference
SWAC Southwestern Athletic Conference
Sun Belt Sun Belt Conference
WCC West Coast Conference
WAC Western Athletic Conference

(Post corrected for erroneous Ivy League status information.)

[YCN]

Final through all pre-NCAA tournaments and playoffs. More locks may be identified, as well as some teams trimmed from the at-large pool, before Monday's selection show.


31 Automatic
23 Locks
246 Eliminated
32 Still Alive
10 Available Bids


--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
AEC A Hartford 25-3 27
Stony Brook 20-9 39
x Boston U 18-11 76
x Binghamton 17-12 111
x New Hampshire 15-13 156
x UMBC 15-13 174
x Vermont 9-18 199
x Maine 10-19 217
x Albany 7-21 289

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
ACC A North Carolina 29-1 1
L Duke 26-3 3
L Maryland 28-4 8
L North Carolina St 19-11 11
L Virginia Tech 20-9 16
L Florida St 19-9 31
Boston College 19-11 32
Miami-Florida 16-12 60
x Virginia 18-11 42
x Georgia Tech 14-15 88
x Wake Forest 12-16 114
x Clemson 8-21 189

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
A-Sun A Florida Atlantic 20-10 140
x Belmont 22-7 124
x East Tenn St 18-10 157
x Gardner-Webb 14-16 211
x Mercer 14-15 247
x North Florida 11-17 257
x Campbell 11-18 259
x Stetson 9-19 267
x Jacksonville 10-18 297
x Lipscomb 6-21 310
x Kennesaw St 4-22 324

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
A-10 A Temple 24-7 36
L George Washington 22-8 40
Xavier 20-8 49
Charlotte 20-8 61
Saint Joseph's 20-10 68
x Richmond 13-17 122
x Dayton 17-12 132
x Duquesne 13-17 164
x Massachusetts 11-17 179
x La Salle 11-17 208
x Rhode Island 8-20 214
x Fordham 10-18 233
x Saint Louis 7-20 278
x St. Bonaventure 9-18 285

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Big 12 A Oklahoma 29-4 6
L Baylor 24-6 10
L Texas A&M 23-8 28
Kansas St 19-10 52
Texas Tech 15-14 63
Missouri 21-9 65
x Texas 13-15 55
x Iowa State 17-12 73
x Nebraska 17-12 77
x Kansas 16-12 107
x Colorado 8-21 202
x Oklahoma St 5-22 225

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Big East A Connecticut 29-4 4
L Rutgers 25-4 9
L DePaul 25-6 13
L St. John's 21-7 38
Notre Dame 18-11 25
South Florida 18-11 43
Villanova 19-10 45
Louisville 19-9 51
Marquette 18-10 57
Pittsburgh 19-10 67
Cincinnati 17-11 72
x West Virginia 15-16 92
x Georgetown 10-17 175
x Syracuse 9-18 181
x Seton Hall 6-21 198
x Providence 8-19 228

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Big Sky A Northern Arizona 21-10 102
x Montana 20-7 95
x Idaho St 15-12 173
x Weber St 15-15 183
x Eastern Washington 13-15 200
x Portland St 12-16 230
x Sacramento St 9-17 261
x Montana St 3-23 309

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Big South A Liberty 24-5 44
High Point 18-10 82
x Coastal Carolina 14-10 148
x UNC Asheville 13-13 162
x Radford 12-14 169
x Winthrop 13-15 206
x Birmingham Southern 11-16 251
x Charleston Southern 4-21 288

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Big Ten A Ohio State 28-2 7
L Michigan St 22-9 19
L Purdue 24-6 24
Minnesota 19-9 54
Iowa 17-11 56
Indiana 17-13 58
x Penn State 13-16 99
x Wisconsin 11-18 134
x Illinois 15-14 152
x Northwestern 6-22 219
x Michigan 6-23 221

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Big West A UC Riverside 16-14 170
x Long Beach 18-10 128
x UC Santa Barbara 16-13 150
x Cal Poly 12-14 254
x UC Irvine 9-19 273
x CS Fullerton 11-17 274
x CS Northridge 10-20 277
x Pacific 5-22 318

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Colonial A Old Dominion 22-8 12
James Madison 24-6 46
Delaware 22-7 64
x Hofstra 18-11 75
x William & Mary 15-13 116
x Drexel 15-14 119
x George Mason 12-17 133
x UNC Wilmington 15-13 135
x VCU 13-15 163
x Towson 9-19 227
x Northeastern 8-21 238
x Georgia St 9-20 242

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
C-USA A Tulsa 25-5 47
x Rice 17-13 84
x SMU 16-14 94
x East Carolina 17-12 143
x Tulane 15-12 149
x UAB 14-14 161
x Houston 12-17 171
x UTEP 13-15 184
x Southern Miss 14-15 185
x Marshall 15-14 187
x UCF 7-21 258
x Memphis 3-25 312

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Horizon A Wis-Milwaukee 21-8 78
x Wis-Green Bay 22-6 97
x Illinois-Chicago 16-14 190
x Butler 15-14 191
x Detroit 11-17 197
x Wright St 12-16 224
x Youngstown St 8-20 276
x Loyola (Chicago) 4-24 307
x Cleveland St 3-24 325

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Indep x South Dakota St 17-9 123
x TAMU-CC 14-12 160
x UC Davis 15-12 229
x Northern Colorado 10-15 245
x Longwood 7-19 262
x North Dakota St 6-16 287
x IPFW 5-21 299
x Utah Valley St 9-16 300
x TX-Pan American 4-21 322
x Savannah St 2-24 332

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Ivy A Dartmouth 22-6 86
x Princeton 21-6 103
x Brown 18-10 129
x Harvard 12-15 212
x Cornell 8-19 275
x Pennsylvania 5-22 305
x Columbia 6-21 317
x Yale 3-24 319

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
MAAC A Marist 23-6 71
x Loyola (Maryland) 20-10 113
x Iona 17-12 115
x Canisius 18-11 126
x St. Peter's 13-15 215
x Manhattan 11-18 223
x Fairfield 11-18 236
x Siena 11-17 239
x Rider 3-25 316
x Niagara 4-25 321

[YCN]

Final through all pre-NCAA tournaments and playoffs. More locks may be identified, as well as some teams trimmed from the at-large pool, before Monday's selection show.



--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
MAC A Bowling Green 28-2 35
Kent St 21-9 91
x Eastern Michigan 22-7 70
x Ball State 17-12 120
x Western Michigan 14-14 147
x Northern Illinois 12-17 165
x Central Michigan 15-12 188
x Toledo 11-18 204
x Buffalo 10-18 250
x Ohio 9-20 265
x Miami-Ohio 8-20 292
x Akron 5-23 301

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
MEAC A Coppin St 22-8 110
x Delaware St 21-9 125
x Howard 14-15 243
x MD-Eastern Shore 16-13 244
x South Carolina St 13-15 282
x Florida A&M 12-17 290
x Hampton 7-22 295
x North Carolina A&T 9-19 296
x Norfolk St 8-20 306
x Bethune-Cookman 6-23 326
x Morgan St 5-23 330

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
MCC A Oakland 15-15 137
x Western Illinois 21-6 87
x Oral Roberts 14-12 127
x IUPUI 17-11 146
x Valparaiso 16-13 158
x UMKC 9-18 234
x Southern Utah 9-17 255
x Chicago St 10-16 256
x Centenary 3-24 313

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
MVC A Missouri St 16-14 101
Indiana St 26-4 30
x Northern Iowa 19-10 98
x Evansville 15-13 96
x Drake 17-11 100
x Wichita St 15-13 180
x Illinois St 12-16 182
x Southern Illinois 10-18 194
x Bradley 9-19 226
x Creighton 8-21 235

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
MWC A Utah 24-6 18
L BYU 25-5 21
L TCU 18-11 28
L New Mexico 21-9 34
UNLV 18-11 53
Wyoming 19-8 59
x Air Force 11-15 131
x Colorado St 8-20 186
x San Diego St 3-24 270

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Northeast A Sacred Heart 26-4 93
x Quinnipiac 22-8 109
x Robert Morris 20-9 159
x Mt St. Mary's 12-16 209
x Long Island 14-15 220
x Monmouth 14-14 222
x Fairleigh Dickinson 9-18 263
x Central Connecticut 8-20 280
x St. Francis-PA 4-24 308
x St. Francis-NY 5-22 327
x Wagner 2-25 331

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
OVC A SE Missouri St 20-8 89
x Tennessee Tech 22-8 79
x Samford 21-8 106
x Austin Peay 15-13 172
x Morehead St 14-13 205
x Murray St 11-17 213
x Eastern Kentucky 7-20 249
x Eastern Illinois 10-19 260
x Jacksonville St 11-17 266
x Tennessee-Martin 7-19 298
x Tennessee St 0-27 329

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Pac-10 A UCLA 20-10 23
L Arizona St 24-6 15
L Stanford 23-7 20
Southern California 18-11 48
Washington 18-10 50
California 18-11 66
x Oregon St 15-14 108
x Oregon 14-15 141
x Arizona 8-22 167
x Washington St 8-20 192

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Patriot A Army 19-10 118
x Bucknell 18-11 130
x Holy Cross 16-14 154
x Navy 14-14 248
x Colgate 9-20 271
x Lehigh 10-18 279
x Lafayette 8-20 302
x American 7-21 304

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
SEC A Tennessee 28-4 2
L LSU 27-3 5
L Georgia 21-8 14
L Kentucky 21-8 22
L Florida 21-8 26
Vanderbilt 20-10 41
South Carolina 17-11 90
x Mississippi 16-13 80
x Auburn 14-15 83
x Arkansas 13-15 117
x Alabama 9-19 138
x Mississippi St 6-22 193

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Southern A Chattanooga 27-3 33
x UNC Greensboro 18-12 136
x Davidson 15-12 145
x Appalachian St 14-13 195
x Elon 10-16 231
x Western Carolina 9-20 240
x Georgia So 11-18 246
x Coll of Charleston 10-17 268
x Furman 9-20 281
x Wofford 5-21 314

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Southland A Stephen F. Austin 23-7 69
x TX-San Antonio 18-12 112
x TX-Arlington 20-9 121
x UL Monroe 18-11 139
x Texas St 14-11 210
x McNeese St 10-15 216
x Lamar 8-15 241
x Northwestern St 8-16 269
x SE Louisiana 8-16 291
x Sam Houston 6-18 293
x Nicholls St 4-23 294

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
SWAC A Southern U 20-10 168
x Jackson St 17-13 207
x Miss Valley St 15-11 237
x Alabama St 14-15 252
x Alcorn St 11-16 272
x Alabama A&M 12-16 283
x Grambling 10-15 286
x Ark-Pine Bluff 7-21 315
x Prairie View A&M 7-21 323
x Texas Southern 4-22 328

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Sun Belt A Middle Tenn St 20-10 62
L Western Kentucky 24-6 17
x Florida Intl 18-12 74
x Arkansas St 15-15 81
x North Texas 18-9 105
x Ark-Little Rock 13-15 144
x Denver 15-13 153
x South Alabama 15-14 155
x UL Lafayette 17-10 177
x Troy 9-18 218
x New Orleans 3-25 311

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
WCC A Pepperdine 14-16 178
x Loyola Marymount 17-12 142
x Santa Clara 19-11 151
x Gonzaga 16-14 166
x St. Mary's 12-16 253
x San Francisco 9-20 264
x San Diego 9-19 284
x Portland 4-24 320

--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
Conf S School W-L RPI
--------- - ------------------- ----- ---
WAC A Louisiana Tech 26-4 37
Fresno St 22-7 85
x Hawaii 18-10 104
x San Jose St 13-15 176
x Nevada 13-17 196
x New Mexico St 10-20 201
x Boise St 15-15 203
x Idaho 10-19 232
x Utah St 3-24 303

[YCN]

I'll update these tables every few hours, as the games get completed.

[YCN]

These are the games from Sunday 3/5/06

Today's tournament results. All games are final.

--------- --- -------------------------------------
Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------
ACC CG North Carolina 91, Maryland 80
--------- --- -------------------------------------
A-10 SF George Washington 53, St. Joseph's 51
A-10 SF Temple 76, Duquesne 63
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big East QF West Virginia 55, St. John's 49
Big East QF Rutgers 60, Villanova 37
Big East QF Connecticut 71, Notre Dame 60
Big East QF DePaul 69, Pittsburgh 46
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big Ten SF Ohio State 68, Michigan St 64
Big Ten SF Purdue 67, Indiana 41
--------- --- -------------------------------------
C-USA CG Tulsa 55, Rice 52
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Horizon SF Wis.-Milwaukee 58, Butler 57
Horizon SF Ill.-Chicago 74, Wis.-Green Bay 62
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MAAC CG Marist 68, Loyola (Maryland) 57
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MCC QF Valparaiso 69, Mo.-Kansas City 48
MCC QF Oakland 50, Oral Roberts 37
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Pac-10 SF UCLA 69, Arizona St 59
Pac-10 SF Stanford 73, Southern Cal 44
--------- --- -------------------------------------
SEC CG Tennessee 63, LSU 62
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Southern CG Chattanooga 91, x-UNC Greensboro 79
--------- --- -------------------------------------
WCC CG Pepperdine 71, x-Santa Clara 67
--------- --- -------------------------------------
x- Eliminated

[BearLady]

Wow, YCN! This is fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing.

But I'd think you must have a gigantic headache by now. :eek:

[YCN]

Wow, YCN! This is fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing.

But I'd think you must have a gigantic headache by now. :eek:No, but I'm just about to get one.

Actually, it's not as difficult as it seems, but I hope that some people actually watch this thing as the potential NCAA teams dwindle down to a select few. This particular vetting process has fascinated me for years.

[labcoatguy]

This is great! Thanks YCN! This is why March is the best month of the year!

[Bball Girl]

BRAVO YCN - thank you kindly!

[YCN]

Sorry about the delay in updates, I had to take a snooze, and it got away from me a bit...

[BBallFanatic]

WOW!!! Thanks for all of the hard work.

[40ishHorn]

Dang, this is good stuff YCN.

Thanks! :)

[sybarite]

I'm glad you like to keep up with that much detail. I assume that you are a practicing auditor?

Do you also keep recruiting lists? I haven't seen anything other than Sibyl's.

[Wodehouse]

This is great! Thanks YCN! This is why March is the best month of the year!

Ah yes. And April is the cruellest month.

[YCN]

(Updated 12:20 am 3/7/05.)

Temple knocked of GW to win their 3rd straight title today, but you wonder about just how powerful that conference really is this year. They didn't look in the ballpark with the teams that played in the Pac-10 and Big Ten fnals tonight.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee earned their 3rd Horizon title today, and the absence of UW-Green Bay was palpable. They've dominated that conference for years.

If West Virginia wins one more game, they could reduce the available bids for bubble teams by one. That's not remotely a long shot anymore.

UCLA showed that they are a better team than projected by winning the Pac-10 title in OT today, although I think a lot of people knew that with their guards, they always had a chance to win. But the manner of their win might even push them up toward a 3 seed, although I think a 4 is likely.

Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------
A-10 CG A-Temple 59, George Washington 54
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big East SF West Virginia 56, Rutgers 40
Big East SF Connecticut 69, DePaul 57
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big Ten CG A-Ohio St 63, Purdue 60
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Horizon CG A-Wis.-Milwaukee 71, x-Ill.-Chicago 63
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MCC SF Western Illinois 57, x-Valparaiso 40
MCC SF Oakland 66, x-IUPUI 54
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Pac-10 CG A-UCLA 85, Stanford 76
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Southland QF La.-Monroe 72, Texas State 56
Southland QF UT-San Antonio 61, Southeastern La. 46
Southland QF UT-Arlington 71, McNeese State 43
Southland QF Stephen F. Austin 54, Lamar 53
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Sun Belt SF Middle Tennessee 90, Arkansas St 64
Sun Belt SF Western Kentucky 66, Florida Intl 58

[sybarite]

Since the nation's leading shot blocker is at IUPUI, I actually looked it up to see what it is. I thought it was an army code: like SYNCPAC

[BearLady]

I'm not sure this is the best place for posting these comments, but I couldn't find/decide upon a better one.

So if slightly wandering . . .

ESPN tonight and even yesterday seemed pretty vocal in their views that Tennessee was deserving of a #1 seed. Even in spite of their losses this year, but based on SOS. I had first heard Van Chancellor say that, but then again tonight Doris Burke echoed that sentiment.

No doubt that will be an interesting call by the Selection Committee.

And speaking of Van, how I enjoyed his color on the Ohio State/Purdue game. I would dearly love to see him bumped to the prime team, calling the Final Four games. Team him up with Beth Mowins or Pam Ward and we would have a super winning pbp team, far better than the old-but-tried-and-tested team of Mike Patrick and Ann Meyer.

[YCN]

I'm not sure this is the best place for posting these comments, but I couldn't find/decide upon a better one.

So if slightly wandering . . .

ESPN tonight and even yesterday seemed pretty vocal in their views that Tennessee was deserving of a #1 seed. Even in spite of their losses this year, but based on SOS. I had first heard Van Chancellor say that, but then again tonight Doris Burke echoed that sentiment.

No doubt that will be an interesting call by the Selection Committee.

And speaking of Van, how I enjoyed his color on the Ohio State/Purdue game. I would dearly love to see him bumped to the prime team, calling the Final Four games. Team him up with Beth Mowins or Pam Ward and we would have a super winning pbp team, far better than the old-but-tried-and-tested team of Mike Patrick and Ann Meyer.

I totally agree BearLady, Van is one of the very best calling the college game. I think he works for Westwood One when he's not doing women's games - or coaching them - and I think that W1 has the best talent in the entire broadcasting universe.

[Scamp]

In front of 4,073 spectators, UCLA knocked off Stanford, 85-76 in overtime, to win the PAC-10 women's tournament.

Coach Kathy Olivier wore the net around her neck. Nikki Blue grabbed the glass trophy and gave it a kiss. Noelle Quinn offered hugs to anyone who would accept.

Just down the road from Stanford's campus, another team celebrated a Pac-10 tournament title for a change.

Quinn scored the final seven points of regulation and four more in overtime, lifting UCLA to its first Pac-10 tournament title with a thrilling 85-76 comeback victory over the 11th-ranked Cardinal on Monday night.

"I've never won anything in my life," said a beaming Blue, the Bruins' senior point guard. "Just cutting down the net means the world to me. I've never cut down a net before. All season, people kept saying UCLA could be a good team, UCLA could be a great team. We've been climbing up the hill and we're on top right now."

http://uclabruins.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/030706aaa.html

[BearLady]

Glad to see UCLA get the conference tourney crown. They have been such a fun team to watch, especially their guards. Hearing some of the players talk about how much the championship means to them just makes it all the more special. :)

And now the question begs once again, is it deja vu for Stanford? How long will their run in the tourney last?

[YCN]

Yesterday's results:

Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big 12 PR Iowa State 72, x-Texas 68
Big 12 PR Texas Tech 61, x-Oklahoma State 42
Big 12 PR Kansas State 72, Kansas 52
Big 12 PR Nebraska 67, x-Colorado 59
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big East CG Connecticut 50, West Virginia 44
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big South QF Liberty 62, x-Charleston Southern 46
Big South QF Winthrop 55, x-Radford 44
Big South QF High Point 100, x-UNC Asheville 89
Big South QF Coastal Carolina 50, x-Birmingham-Southern 35
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MCC CG Oakland 65, Western Illinois 56
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MEAC PR Florida A&M 62, x-Morgan State 44
MEAC PR Hampton 65, x-Norfolk State 60
MEAC PR Bethune-Cookman 68, x-North Carolina A&T 48
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MWC PR Colorado St 69, x-San Diego St 58
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Northeast SF Sacred Heart 64, x-Long Island 50
Northeast SF Quinnipiac 58, x-Robert Morris 46
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Sun Belt CG Middle Tenn St 84, Western Kentucky 73
--------- --- -------------------------------------
WAC PR Idaho 70, x-Utah St 59
--------- --- -------------------------------------

[YCN]

Final results for Wednesday, 3/8/06

A few items to note about the results of yesterday's games.

Because Western Kentucky is a strong at-large candidate, it's likely that the upset win by Middle Tennessee State of WKU yesterday will shrink the available at-large bids by one. Teams fighting to stay alive in the fight to gain an NCAA berth never like to hear that news.

Since we now have 50 spots in the NCAA tournament open with not more than 149 teams still in the hunt, the chances for each team still alive in those conference tournaments is now better than one in three. Don't you feel much better now? I know I do! :)

In the Ivy League, the unprecendented occurred yesterday when both Princeton and Dartmouth won their final conference games of the season yesterday, and created the league's first three-way tie for the championship with Brown at 12-2. This means the Ivy's first two-game playoff ever. Princeton won the coin toss and gets a bye. They will meet the winner of Friday's Brown-Dartmouth game at Yale on Sunday, also played at Yale.

A piece of trivia: Princeton's Meagan Cowher, who scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half yesterday, is the daughter of Steeler coach Bill Cowher. Even if you think he's a dumb coach, you can't say he doesn't have a smart daughter. :)

Shockingly, the season of Texas has come to a sudden end, much earlier than anyone could have expected earlier this year. It's a shame that we couldn't have had a healthier team in Austin this year, it would have been a more interesting season if they had been. :(

Today's schedule is more extensive than maybe any other to date, with 31 games scheduled.


Today's conference tournament games:

Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big 12 QF Oklahoma 78, Iowa State 74
Big 12 QF Missouri 81, Texas Tech 75
Big 12 QF Baylor 79, Kansas State 74 OT
Big 12 QF Texas A&M 73, Nebraska 64
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Big West PR1 Cal Poly 94, x-Pacific 67
Big West PR1 Cal State Northridge 66, x-UC Irvine 64
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Colonial PR Drexel 61, x-Towson 46
Colonial PR Northeastern 63, x-UNC Wilmington 54
Colonial PR Georgia State 81, x-William & Mary 66
Colonial PR George Mason 74, x-Va Commonwealth 60
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MAC QF Eastern Michigan 76, x-Ohio 66
MAC QF Kent State 69, x-Ball State 52
MAC QF Bowling Green 73, x-Northern Illinois 61
MAC QF Toledo 64, x-Western Michigan 59
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MEAC QF Coppin State 70, x-Hampton 57
MEAC QF Delaware State 55, x-Florida A&M 44
--------- --- -------------------------------------
MWC QF Utah 67, x-Air Force 47
MWC QF 6 UNLV 57, New Mexico 45
MWC QF Brigham Young 65, 8 Colorado St 45
MWC QF TCU 63, Wyoming 55
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Patriot CG Army 69, Holy Cross 68
--------- --- -------------------------------------
Southland SF Stephen F. Austin 72, La.-Monroe 71
Southland SF UT-San Antonio 76, UT-Arlington 75 3 OT
--------- --- -------------------------------------
SWAC QF Alabama St 57, x-Alcorn St 45
SWAC QF Alabama A&M 64, x-Miss Valley St 56
SWAC QF Southern 84, x-Grambling St 76
SWAC QF Jackson St 56, x-Arkansas-Pine Bluff 55
--------- --- -------------------------------------
WAC QF Boise St 72, x-Hawaii 63
WAC QF New Mexico St 74, Fresno St 66
WAC QF Nevada 76, x-San Jose St 61
WAC QF Louisiana Tech 80, Idaho 57
--------- --- -------------------------------------

[ChipperF1]

GO HOLY CROSS, BEAT ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[labcoatguy]

Important bubble watch game today in the MWC: TCU vs Wyoming. The winner is on the inside track to a NCAA berth, while the loser might be on the outside looking in.

And speaking of bubble watch, that MU-TTU game should be a doozie.

[YCN]

Results are final.

Today's conference tournament schedule and results.

Today's tournament schedule is a bit less hectic than yesterday's, with only 19 games today. There are no finals today, so the Big 12 semis are easily the biggest games. The Atlantic Sun Conference and Colonial Athletic Association have their complete quarterfinals today, while the MEAC continues their stretched eliminations with two quarterfinals.

In yesterday's only championship game, the Army Black Knights defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders 69-68 (sorry Chipper!) on a game-winning free throw with 8.8 seconds remaining by Stefanie Stone. This is the first Patriot League championship for Army, and they will be making their debut in the NCAA Division I tournament this year.

Speaking of close games, how about UTSA defeating UT-Arlington 76-75 in triple overtime! This was a knockout game for both teams, with only the winner having a chance to get to the NCAA tourney, so there might have been a few people with seriously elevated pulses down the stretch.

And yesterday's quarterfinals in the Big 12 were a classic, with three of the games about as good as you could possibly hope for them to be, and the fourth decided by only nine points. I hope the NCAA committee was paying attention, because that was some seriously high-caliber hoops we saw.

In the four games the eight teams shot a combined 43.8%, and that was against some pretty serious defense. What an excellent day it was to get off work early and immerse in women's hoops!


Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-East PR Maine 73, Albany 56
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-Sun QF Belmont 63, x-Stetson 49
A-Sun QF Florida Atlantic 74, x-Jacksonville 61
A-Sun QF Mercer 59, East Tennessee State 56 OT
A-Sun QF Gardner-Webb 71, x-Campbell 65
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big 12 SF Oklahoma 75, Missouri 54
Big 12 SF Baylor 53, Texas A&M 52
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big Sky PR Northern Arizona 80, x-Portland State 68
Big Sky PR Weber State 74, x-Eastern Washington 69
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big West PR2 Cal State Northridge 74, x-Cal State Fullerton 70
Big West PR2 UC Riverside 73, x-Cal Poly 63
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Colonial QF James Madison 53, x-Drexel 51
Colonial QF Delaware 55, x-Northeastern 45
Colonial QF Hofstra 86, x-Georgia State 77
Colonial QF Old Dominion 66, x-George Mason 50
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MEAC QF Maryland-Eastern Shore 51, x-Bethune-Cookman 41
MEAC QF Howard 71, x-South Carolina St 69
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MVC PR Creighton 54, x-Southern Illinois 51
MVC PR Missouri State 69, x-Bradley 64
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------

[YCN]

Final results for Friday, 3/10/06.

Conference tournament schedule and results for Friday 3/10/06.


Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-East QF Stony Brook 59, x-Vermont 52
A-East QF Boston University 66, x-New Hampshire 60
A-East QF Hartford 58, x-Maine 35
A-East QF Binghamton 72, x-Md.-Baltimore County 66 OT
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-Sun SF Gardner-Webb 72, x-Belmont 60
A-Sun SF Florida Atlantic 70, x-Mercer 65
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big Sky SF Northern Arizona 73, x-Montana 66
Big Sky SF Weber St 71, x-Idaho St 70
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big South SF Liberty 53, x-Winthrop 45
Big South SF High Point 65, x-Coastal Carolina 61
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big West SF UC Santa Barbara 66, x- Cal State Northridge 51
Big West SF UC Riverside 57, x-Long Beach State 49
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Colonial SF James Madison 61, Delaware 59
Colonial SF Old Dominion 94, x-Hofstra 73
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MAC SF Kent St 70, Eastern Michigan 56
MAC SF Bowling Green 68, x-Toledo 46
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MEAC SF Coppin St 65, x-Howard 52
MEAC SF Delaware St 66, x-MD-Eastern Shore 53
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MVC QF Indiana St 73, x-Creighton 51
MVC QF Evansville 77, x-Wichita St 73
MVC QF Missouri St 78, x-Drake 62
MVC QF Northern Iowa 70, x-Illinois St 62
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MWC SF Utah 61, UNLV 45
MWC SF BYU 63, TCU 53
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
SWAC SF Southern 58, x-Alabama A&M 55
SWAC SF Alabama St 67, x-Jackson St 57
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
WAC SF New Mexico St 60, x-Boise St 59
WAC SF Louisiana Tech 69, x-Nevada 60
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------

[YCN]

We are in the midst of crunch time for all the contenders for NCAA bids, as 20 of 28 games being played today (Friday 3/10) are tournament semifinals, while the America East and Missouri Valley conferences complete their quarterfinal games today. Those two conferences, along with the Northeast Conference, are the only ones who have their championship games scheduled for Sunday.

Saturday, another 12 conference tournament champions will be crowned.

Also I should note that out of the Ivy League, two of the tri-champions - Dartmouth and Brown, play today, with the winner again playing at Yale against Princeton for the NCAA berth on Sunday.

Right now my tables indicate that there are 100 teams still alive, with the number of conference tournament champions holding steady at 15. I have 21 teams that are not tourney champs listed as locks, so that leaves 79 teams fighting for the remaining 28 bids. I'll try to hone that down considerably later today and tomorrow, because some of the teams that are currently listed as "still alive" are really not viable candidates for at-large berths.

Only three days to selection day now!

[YCN]

Final results of conference tournament games for Saturday, 3/11/06.



Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-East SF Boston U 76, Stony Brook 74
A-East SF Hartford 57, x-Binghamton 46
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-Sun CG Florida Atlantic 74, x-Gardner-Webb 63
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big 12 CG Oklahoma, 72 Baylor 61
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big Sky CG Northern Arizona 74, x-Weber St 59
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big South CG Liberty 53, High Point 50
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Big West CG UC Riverside 59, x-UCSB 58
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Colonial CG Old Dominion 58, James Madison 54
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MAC CG Bowling Green 64, x-Kent State 39
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MEAC CG Coppin St 46, x-Delaware St 36
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MVC SF Indiana St 81, x-Evansville 65
MVC SF Missouri St 62, x-Northern Iowa 59
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MWC CG Utah 84, BYU 60
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
NEC CG Sacred Heart 69, x-Quinnipiac 65
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Southland CG Stephen F. Austin 56, x-UTSA 48
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
SWAC CG Southern 61, x-Alabama St 58
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
WAC CG Louisiana Tech 63, x-New Mexico St 39
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------

[dem]

YCN, how would you assess Indiana State's chances for an at-large bid if they lose in the tournament final?

[carolann]

"I've never won anything in my life," said a beaming Blue, the Bruins' senior point guard. "Just cutting down the net means the world to me. I've never cut down a net before. All season, people kept saying UCLA could be a good team, UCLA could be a great team. We've been climbing up the hill and we're on top right now."

That makes me glad - someone who is genuinely thrilled to win the conference tournament. UCLA wasn't "saving themselves" for the REAL tournament and whatever happens in the NCAA tourny, these UCLA seniors have won a championship trophy.

Sadly, I confess that with Texas so completely and thouroughly out, my interest in predicting who outside the Big 12 will make the tournament and who will be seeded where is diminished though I'll certainly be watching the selection show and watching all that I can of the tournament.

[YCN]

YCN, how would you assess Indiana State's chances for an at-large bid if they lose in the tournament final?I would say that their chances could be in trouble. They have a superior winning percentage, and they are 7-1 against the second 50 teams, but they are 1-3 against the top 50 with no top 25 wins, and with no one other than the Sycamores currently ranked higher than 90 in the RPI, the Missouri Valley definitely looks like a one-bid conference.

A loss would lower their RPI, moving them down from 30th in the rankings, and just like Gonzaga last year, they could be looking at a snub.

However, Indiana State's strength of schedule is considerably better than Gonzaga's last year, so my personal belief is that the selection committee would award them for their fine season and give them one of the last at-large bids.

[YCN]

Final conference tournament results from Sunday, 3/12/2006.

We've reached the end of the automatic bid determination process, and today may mark the one and only at-large bid stolen away by a mid-major conference tournament upset.

After trailing 37-45 with a little over 6 minutes remaining, 7-seed Missouri State roared back at the end to run away at the end stealing the automatic bid from heavily-favored top seed Indiana State, 64-55. They outscored Indiana State 27-10 in the last six-plus minutes of the game.

That may be the only result that takes a bid away from the at-large pool, but I'm not entirely convinced. Missouri State entered today at 101 in the RPI and defeated 30 Indiana State. That's going to hurt their chances, possibly kill them. They'll slide an unknown number of spots in the RPI, and with only one top 50 win on the season way back on 11/11, and with two losses in their last 10 against Missouri State, the selection committee could decide to punish them, especially considering they held a strong lead and folded late against MS.

We'll see. They have a slightly better scenario than Gonzaga last year, so they may yet be in, but they are very definitely now a bubble team.

I've also updated the list of automatic bids and the at-large pool of teams I consider to still be alive for the remaining 10 seats at the Dance, however marginal those chances may be.


Tourney Rnd Game
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
A-East CG 1 Hartford 75, x-Boston U 56
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
Ivy PO Dartmouth 63, x-Princeton 48
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
MVC CG Missouri St 64, Indiana St 55
--------- --- -------------------------------------------------
If Hartford loses to Boston, they will be a very strong candidate for at at-large bid, and will likely receive one. That would shrink the pool for at-large bids by one.

It's very doubtful that Dartmouth would get much more than a cursory look before being rejected for a bid, should they lose this final play-off game against Princeton. If Princeton loses, they won't even get a look.

Another potential upset in the Missouri Valley final could make Indiana State another heavy title favorite that steals an at-large.

Thus far, there's been very little shrinkage to the pool of at-large bids by upsets in the tournaments. In fact, the only upset of significance in this respect was in the Sun Belt, where heavy favorite Western Kentucky was upset by bubble team Middle Tennessee State. MTSU was a fringe bubble team that probably would not have gotten a bid with a loss, but now they are in, and I can't see any chance that WKU won't get a bid. They are only 9-5 against the top 100 in the RPI, with no top 25 wins and only 1 top 50 win, but it's very hard to ignore 24 wins and an RPI of 17. I'd be shocked if they didn't make the field at somewhere around a 9-10 seed.

With only those three games left, I have identified 23 locks (at least) along with those 28 conference tourney champions, which account for 51 of the 64 NCAA spots. And I currently have 38 teams alive for the remaining 13 spots, which will likely shrink to 35-36 competing for 10.

Here's list of the teams that are aleady in:

FINAL


AEC Hartford
ACC North Carolina
A-Sun Florida Atlantic
A-10 Temple
Big 12 Oklahoma
Big East Connecticut
Big Sky Northern Arizona
Big South Liberty
Big Ten Ohio State
Big West UC Riverside
Colonial Old Dominion
C-USA Tulsa
Horizon Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ivy Dartmouth
MAAC Marist
MAC Bowling Green
MEAC Coppin State
MCC Oakland
MVC Missouri State
MWC Utah
Northeast Sacred Heart
OVC Southeast Missouri State
Pac-10 UCLA
Patriot Army
SEC Tennessee
Southern Chattanooga
Southland Stephen F. Austin
SWAC Southern
Sun Belt Middle Tennessee State
WCC Pepperdine
WAC Louisiana Tech



Here are the teams I currently identify as locks, listed by conference:

Current through 5:30 pm 3/12/2006. (post-tournament)

ACC - Duke, Maryland, NC State, Virginia Tech, Florida State
Atlantic 10 - George Washington
Big 12 - Baylor, Texas A&M
Big East - Rutgers, DePaul, St. John's
Big 10 - Michigan State, Purdue
Mountain West - BYU, TCU, New Mexico
Pac-10 - Arizona State, Stanford
SEC - LSU, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida
Sun Belt - Western Kentucky


And here are the teams that I have as alive for a bid as of today, listed by conference:

America East - Stony Brook
ACC - Boston College, Miami (FL)
Atlantic 10 - Xavier, Charlotte, Saint Joseph's
Big 12 - Kansas State, Texas Tech, Missouri
Big East - Notre Dame, South Florida, Villanova, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
Big South - High Point
Big Ten - Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana
Colonial - James Madison, Delaware
Mid-American - Kent State
Missouri Valley - Indiana State
Mountain West - UNLV, Wyoming
Pac-10 - Southern Cal, Washington, California
SEC - Vanderbilt, South Carolina
WAC - Fresno State


And that's all for now. :)

[YCN]

I've updated my tables with the final results today, and so now all the automatic bids have been determined.

I've also updated my list of automatic teams and the list of at-large teams that have any chance of getting a bid, no matter how small that chance might be. I don't think anybody not already in or listed among the locks and at-large candidates has any chance to reach the tournament.

Here's the current tallies:

31 automatic bids
23 locks for bids
32 at-large pool
10 available bids not taken by autos and locks

Stay tuned, and check out the post just above this one and the ones at the top of the topic for the latest breakdown.

[dem]

We'll see. They have a slightly better scenario than Gonzaga last year, so they may yet be in, but they are very definitely now a bubble team.

Gonzaga had an RPI of 48, ISU should be around 35. ISU has more wins against top-100 teams than did Gonzaga, including one against #33 Chattanooga. The MVC is a bit stronger than the WCC. It's certainly no lock, but whereas last year I thought Gonzaga should not get in, this year I think ISU should, and probably will.

[walkaway]

Well, for what it's worth, four men's teams from the conference made the dance:
:ut:
:tamu:
:ou:
:ku: