VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8], 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 02/15/03 10:47am
Author: TommyDore
Author Host/IP: 66.224.71.117
Subject: This week's look at the Big Dance

The Big Dance picture didn’t clear up much this week; if anything, it became more muddied. The slots per conference are pretty much solidified. Next Saturday’s Bracket Buster should finalize how many teams each league gets, pending conference tourney upset winners. The numbers add up to 62 to 73 teams, so at least 8 who think they deserve a bid will be crying on March 16, while 3 teams on the bubble will be visited by the fairy godmother.

Big West—1 bid: The conference champ will be the only rep here. 4 so-so teams are vying for the top seed: UC Santa Barbara 9-3/12-10, UC Irvine 8-4/14-7, Utah St. 8-4/17-6, and Pacific 6-5/11-9 are all easier first round fodder in the Dance.

SEC—6 bids: Kentucky 9-0/19-3 looks like a 1-seed. Florida 9-1/20-3 is no worse than a 2-seed. Tennessee 6-3/14-6 and Georgia 5-4/13-7 are close to getting an invite. In the West, Auburn 6-3/17-5 and Mississippi St. 5-4/15-5 look to be the two teams who will get to 9-7.



America East—1 bid: Boston U 9-2/14-8 leads Vermont 8-3/15-9. BU hosts the league tourney, while Vermont has never been to the NCAA’s.

ACC—5 or 6 bids: Wake Forest 7-2/17-3, Maryland 7-3/15-6, Duke 6-4/16-4, and North Carolina St. 6-4/13-7 are locks. Ga. Tech 5-5/12-9 and Virginia 5-5/14-8 need some help with the Yellow Jackets needing a little more than the Cavs. Skip Prosser should garner some national COY votes.

A-Sun—1 bid: Troy State 10-1/19-4 still continues to lead the pack over three others who can win the tourney—Belmont 9-3/14-10, Mercer 9-2/16-5, and Central Florida 9-3/17-8

A-10—3 bids: St. Joe’s 8-2/18-3, Dayton 9-1/17-4, and Xavier 8-1/17-4 seem to have the bids locked up. Three other teams who could make waves in the tourney are: Rhode Island 7-3/15-6, Richmond 6-4/12-9, and St. Bonaventure 5-4/11-11. However, Dayton hosts this tourney, so the big 3 should be safe.

Big East—4 to 6 bids: The Eastern Division has proven to be rather mediocre and could see only one team, and at most two, make it to the dance among Connecticut 6-3/15-5, Villanova 6-3/13-9, Boston College 5-5/12-9, and St. John’s 5-5/12-8. In the West, three teams are locks: Notre Dame 7-2/19-4, Pitt 7-2/17-3, and Syracuse 7-3/16-4. Seton Hall 5-4/11-9 is a dark horse in the tourney just across the tunnel at MSG.

Big Sky—1 bid: Weber State 9-0/19-5 has a 2 ½ game lead over E. Washington 7-3/15-9. The regular season champ hosts the tourney, so the Wildcats look safe. They could ruin someone’s dance in the first round.

Big South—1 bid: Give me Liberty 6-2/11-10 or give me Winthrop 7-3/15-9, Chas. Southern 6-3/12-10, or UNC-Asheville 6-3/11-12. Liberty hosts the tourney and has a good chance at one of the play-in bids.

Big 10—5 bids: Assuming Michigan’s appeal is upheld, it looks like Purdue 7-3/15-6, Wisconsin 7-3/17-5, and Illinois 6-3/16-4 are locks. Minnesota 6-4/14-7 may be the hottest team in the league today. Indiana 5-5/15-8 and Michigan St. 5-5/13-9 are on the bubble and only one should get in. Iowa has played itself into the NIT.

Big 12—5 or 6 bids: Kansas 8-1/18-5, Oklahoma St. 8-1/19-3, Oklahoma 7-2/15-4, and Texas 7-2/16-4 give this league 4 legit final four possibilities. Missouri 5-4/14-6 is barely treading above the water line but should eke out enough wins to get in. Colorado, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech are all 4-5 in the conference, and if one gets to 9-7, they’re in. Of the 3, only the Buffs have yet to lose a conference game at home.

Colonial—1 bid: This has been a fun race to monitor. 7 teams can claim a legitimate case for being the favorite at the tourney. UNC-Wilmington 9-3/15-6, Va. Commonwealth 9-4/14-7, Drexel 8-5/13-9, George Mason 8-5/13-9, Delaware 7-6/12-10, Old Dominion 7-6/10-11, and William & Mary 6-6/11-10 don’t have much separating them. VCU hosts the tourney, so the road to the dance goes through the Rams.

C-USA—4 bids: Louisville’s losing at St. Louis Wednesday night may have been the upset of the year. The Cards 8-1/18-2 are still safely looking at a number 1 seed. Marquette 9-1/18-3 should be no worse than a 3-seed. Cincinnati 6-3/14-6 has been a team with off the court news affecting them all season, but the Bearcats look safe. Memphis 6-3/15-5 is coming on strong and looks to be in. Louisville hosts the tourney and should win it.

Horizon—2 or 3 bids: This is a league that will be helped by the Bracket Buster. Butler 8-2/11-4 is in. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 11-2/20-5 is probably in as well and is guaranteed to host the tourney title game if they’re in it. Illinois-Chicago 9-4/15-7 hosts a Bracket Buster game against Bowling Green. If UIC wins impressively and gets to the finals of the league tourney, they could be in as well. Detroit 7-5/13-9 will not gain from their Bracket Buster game; the Titans must win the league tourney.

Ivy—1 bid: Brown stands 6-0 in league play this afternoon, but in 48 hours, they will be 6-2 after losing at Penn and Princeton. Penn 5-0/13-5 beat Princeton in Philly earlier in the week and should be 13-0 in the league by the time they travel an hour east for the rematch. I don’t think Princeton will be 12-1 on that date, so the Quakers will do the dancing this year and could step on another team’s feet in the first round.

MAAC—1 or 2 bids: Manhattan 12-2/19-4 is in. Fairfield 10-3/14-8 is the one team capable of knocking them off in the tourney.

MAC—1 or 2 bids: This conference lucked into having 4 Bracket Buster reps. Kent State 10-3/17-4 is almost a lock and hosts Hawaii in a Bracket Buster (should be a big win for the Flashes), Northern Illinois 9-3/13-9 and Central Michigan 8-3/15-5 are the top challengers, but neither are in the Bracket Buster. Ball St., Bowling Green, and Marshall are in the Bracket Buster and a win could give them momentum for a run in the MAC tourney.

Mid-continent—1 bid: It still looks like the Valparaiso 8-1/14-8 Invitational, but don’t count out Oral Roberts 7-3/16-7.

MEAC—1 bid: It looks like a two-team race between S.C. St. 11-1/13-8 and Hampton 8-3/12-8. The tourney is in Richmond, so give Hampton a tiny bit of HCA.

Missouri Valley—2 bids: Creighton 12-1/22-2 and Southern Illinois 12-1/17-4 both appear to be in and both host Bracket Buster games. An interesting note: SIU’s faculty may vote to strike, forcing the cancellation of classes. The Saluki players will have all day to concentrate on basketball.

Mountain West—2 bids: BYU 6-1/17-5 and Utah 6-1/18-4 have separated from the pack by both winning at Colorado St. and Wyoming this past week. UNLV hosts the tourney and never count out a Charlie Spoonhour team at home.

Northeast—1 bid: Wagner 10-2/14-8, Central Connecticut 10-2/13-9, and Monmouth 9-3/11-10 are in a three-way dogfight. If Jim Calhoun’s cancer forces him into retirement, CCSU’s coach Howie Dickenman will become the leading candidate at UConn.

Ohio Valley—1 bid: Morehead State 10-2/16-7 or Austin Peay 9-2/16-6 should win this one. If Tubby leaves for the NBA, look for Kyle Macy to be in the hunt at UK. Also, Dan Issel and Pat Riley could get in the mix.

Pac-10—4 or 5 bids: Arizona 11-1/19-2 looks to have a great chance at playing the play-in sucker, er winner. Cal 10-2/17-4 and Stanford 9-3/18-6 are in. Arizona St. 8-4/16-7 is close to a berth, but Oregon 6-5/16-6 is fading. The Ducks better get their bills in gear before they get as flustered as the AFLAC quack.

Patriot—1 bid: Holy Cross 8-1/18-4 will probably host Lehigh 7-2/15-7 for the title game. Ralph Willard has served his exile and is ready to return to the big time.

Southern—1 or 2 bids. This will be a great conference tourney, more than worth the price of the ticket. Appalachian St. 9-2/16-6 and Charleston 9-2/19-5 (hosts the tourney) are two teams that can get to the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, neither are in the Bracket Buster and that will probably be a death blow for the second invitation. Davidson 8-3/14-7, ETSU 7-4/13-9, and Chattanooga 8-4/16-7 are capable of pulling off the upset, but the top two look to be headed for a big showdown game on March 8. Appy St. coach Houston Fancher will be asked to interview for other jobs at the end of this year; the Mountaineers were a consensus last place pick in the North Division, but Fancher’s run and gun style has put them on top of the division and nationally in scoring offense..

Southland—1 bid: It will come down to a gunfight between two tough hombres. Sam Houston 12-2/16-5 and Stephen F. Austin 11-2/15-5 will step off 10 paces on March 14.

SWAC—1 bid: Texas Southern 9-1/13-6 has the upper edge on Prairie View 8-2/10-9 and Alabama St. 8-3/11-10.

Sunbelt—1 bid: Western Kentucky 8-2/16-8 hosts the tourney and has the big edge. Louisiana Lafayette 6-1/17-6, New Mexico St (ole Lou Henson) 6-4/16-6, and MSTU 8-3/13-11 are the top challengers.

West Coast—1 or 2 bids: Gonzaga 9-1/18-6 is the class of the league and hosts Tulsa in the marquee Bracket Buster game. San Diego 6-3/12-10 hosts the tourney and poses a threat to the Zags. San Francisco 6-3/11-11 is a dark horse.

WAC—1 or 2 bids: Fresno State10-3/17-5 has a chance to wrap of a bid if they can upset Creighton in Omaha on Bracket Buster Day. Nevada 9-3/14-8 and Louisiana Tech 8-5/11-9 have risen to 2nd and 3rd in the league. Tulsa is mired in the middle of the pack, and their Bracket Buster game at Gonzaga looks dangerous at best. The only chance for TU is to win the tourney, which they happen to host.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.