Jabe's NCAA Field of 65 - March 12, 2010

Wow - what a Thursday!! I hope the committee did not have seeds set in stone yet. I will take the update in segments today.

The Bubble Watch Segment

The "Bubble" actually seems to be getting clearer, unless we run out of teams. UAB, Memphis, and Arizona State played their way off the Bubble and into the NIT yesterday. San Diego State just barely stayed alive, but may now be on lock status, unless the Bubble shrinks, which I will talk about in a moment. Washington moved within one win of lock status, if not there already. The two spots still currently up for grabs are the ones labeled "Mississippi" and "Rhode Island" on my bracket. Both of those teams will be in action today trying to grab those spots. Also still alive are Illinois, Dayton, St. Louis, and Seton Hall.

There is one big development that might take one spot away from those teams. Conference USA is currently a one bid league. UTEP must win the C-USA tourney for it to stay this way. And what does UTEP have today - a game against the host team - Tulsa.

The other tourney that bears watching is the WAC, where Utah State would make a pretty good case for at-large status. This tournament is in Reno where Nevada lurks as a potential opponent in the finals. Nevada lost only one home game - to Utah State. And first Utah State would have to beat a Lousiana Tech team that beat them by 22 earlier this year.

The Seeding Segment

If anything got jumbled yesterday, it was the seeding. The committee is supposed to consider the entire body of work. In that case, Syracuse is still a #1 seed. Now, if Duke wins the ACC tourney, Syracuse might move out West and Duke to the South. Villanova's loss appears to move them to a #3. I struggled with Pitt, who lost to the hottest thing going yesterday. For now, I am giving Temple the final #3 seed, but they need to win the A-10 tourney to keep it. Georgetown earned a #4 yesterday and it will be tough to move them, although Vandy or Tennessee could change that with an SEC championship. Notre Dame and Marquette are moving their way up the board, while Clemson and Wake Forest are on the way down. And then there is Texas. I think they have to be a 7 now.

Hopefully Friday throws more clarity into things....