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SI
By Andy Glockner
A first look at the seeding for the potential NCAA tournament field yields a few interesting early clues:
1) There aren't very many deserving teams that get left out at this point, and there's lots of room for movement at the cut line.
2) There are five very legit candidates for the No. 1 seeds, not counting North Carolina. You could make a legit argument that Wake Forest, the lone unbeatenleft, should be a No. 2.
3) The SEC isn't very good right now, although it's hard to imagine the league getting only three bids after league playconcludes.
It's still very early, so some of the determinations below are even more subjective than usual and teams could move pretty rapidly either way in the nextcouple of weeks. The champions from one-bid conferences have their league name in parentheses. Here's the multi-bid conference bid breakdown:
Big East: 9
Big Ten: 7
Big 12: 7
ACC: 6
Pac-10: 5
SEC: 3
A-10: 2
MWC: 2
WCC: 2
No. 1 Seeds
Duke: 6-1 vs. RPI Top 50, best SOS and margin of victory combo of potential one-seeds.
Connecticut: Quietly lurking while still trying to figure out some roles in the rotation.
Wake Forest: Nation's only unbeaten proving road chops; schedule's been softer, but they look better than Pitt and Oklahoma.
Pittsburgh: Splitting hairs with "fifth one-seed" Oklahoma. Panthers have more balance.
No. 2 Seeds
Oklahoma: Definitely could/should be a one-seed. Emergence of secondary players has been big.
North Carolina: Who wants to be the one-seed in this region? Heels need a healthy Marcus Ginyard back and more fromTy Lawson.
Michigan State: Since Goran Suton's return, the Spartans have played very well. Clear class of the Big Ten.
Syracuse: Jonny Flynn's been huge. So has returns of Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf and development ofArinze Onuaku.
No. 3 Seeds
Xavier: Offense can be questionable, but overall quality of the Musketeers isn't. Runaway best team in A-10.
Clemson: Lost to Wake at home, but the ability to rally yet again shows character behind talent.
Louisville: Recovering more rapidly than oil prices after taking out No. 1 Pitt.
Georgetown: A good young team that has the chance to be very good by March. Already 3-2 vs. RPI Top 25.
No. 4 Seeds
Memphis (Conference USA): Not as good as last season, but still plenty good, especially in C-USA.
Butler (Horizon): Time for this program to get its proper due; doing this with a bundle of underclassmen getting big minutes.
Arizona State: Forget best team in the state; best team in the Pac-10? There's a strong argument right now.
UCLA: Bruins land here more on reputation than anything they have accomplished on the floor.
No. 5 Seeds
Marquette: Surprise unbeaten in the Big East; showed senior savvy rallying at Providence.
Cal: Can the Bears' incredible three-for-all last through the second half of the season?
Illinois: Good team that should be able to continue to grow as expectations aren't yet overwhelming.
Ohio State: Buckeyes bag quality bigs like no one else, and B.J. Mullens is starting to live up to billing.
No. 6 Seeds
Texas: Sum seems less than its parts sometimes without D.J. Augustin, but there's still a lot to like.
Florida State: 'Noles have quietly positioned themselves to be the No. 5 team in the ACC.
Gonzaga: Killer schedule taxed Zags for a bit, but still a very high upside club that deserves a bump.
Florida: The whole SEC elicits a big shoulder shrug, but the Gators appear to be the best of the bunch right now.
No. 7 Seeds
Tennessee: If the Vols land here, a two-seed won't be very happy at all. Bonus: They wouldn't play Gonzaga again until the Sweet 16.
Oklahoma State: Good numbers, no substance right now for the Pokes. Show us something.
Minnesota: Disappointing L at Northwestern drops the Gophers a couple slots. Three Top 25 Ws, though.
BYU: Still probably the MWC's best, despite rout at New Mexico. Another potential 2 vs. 7 upset pick … if they beat the 10 first.
No. 8 Seeds
Miami: No Top-50 wins yet. That needs to change to be much higher than this.
West Virginia: Great computer numbers, so-so actual production, but injuries were a factor early.
Notre Dame: Compromise spot as profile stinks, but the team is pretty decent … at least on offense.
Baylor: If they're even decent defensively, they're very tough. Better scheduling job this year will pay off.
No. 9 Seeds
Davidson (Southern): Davidson-Baylor? Instant 7:30pm Thursday spot on CBS. Curry goes for 52, gets shot at a one in Round 2.
Kansas: Jayhawks have been hit or miss so far, but might be considerably better by March.
Wisconsin: Like the team just below them on this list, not as good as people though they would be.
Purdue: Either things will click soon and they'll make a run, or we'll wonder about last season's rise.
No. 10 Seeds
Washington: Rapidly entering "who knows?" seed territory. Huskies have rallied nicely from opening-night debacle against Portland.
Missouri: Wish the committee would take aesthetics into account for matchups. Tennessee-Mizzou anyone?
Villanova: Too much talent not to be playing better right now. The Coreys need to step up and deliver.
Utah: Based on performance this season, would be lower than this in the NAIA bracket.
No. 11 Seeds
Michigan: Coach Beilein's a year ahead of schedule if he gets the Wolverines into this season's dance.
St. Mary's: Feels low for a team with this much talent, but profile isn't there yet to go much higher.
Kentucky: Another team at this level that wouldn't be a gift for the higher seed in round one.
Texas A&M: Looked like an NCAA team at times against Oklahoma; need some better Ws to strengthen profile.
No. 12 Seeds
Utah State (WAC): The best team in the WAC could squeeze in as an at-large if needed.
Siena (MAAC): Saints will have to do it the hard way, and it could be against Niagara, Fairfield or Rider in the tourney.
Dayton: Will Flyers fans take an at-large here in exchange for dropping last season's protestations?
Stanford: Last at-large spot for the moment, although it's way too early to split hairs like that.
No. 13 Seeds
George Mason (CAA): Unbeaten in league play, with a better RPI than VCU.
Miami, Ohio (MAC): Good team, bad record, good RPI, in right side of the league. Or is that the wrong side?
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt): Buckling down in the Belt, with UALR, Middle Tennessee and others in pursuit.
Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley): Surprise leaders in the Valley have overcome last season's injury woes.
No. 14 Seeds
Stephen F. Austin (Southland): RPI in the 60s and a league-best record means it's Jacks up.
American (Patriot): Unbeaten in league with a sub-100 RPI for last season's Tennessee tormentors.
Cornell (Ivy): The league's new honorary "P" should make it two straight titles unless Harvard makes its own history.
Austin Peay (Ohio Valley): Hopefully, rest of OVC won't "rip the hearts out of the Governors, their fans, their broadcasters … andeverybody."
No. 15 Seeds
Long Beach State (Big West): Two-game lead in conference. Anyway we can get a Minnesota-LBSU Monson Bowl?
VMI (Big South): Won at Rupp. Won at Rupp. Won at Rupp. Much better RPI than co-leader Radford.
Albany (America East): Young Danes are best of two-loss teams behind 2-1 UNH; won at co-contender Vermont.
Weber State (Big Sky): Better RPI and won at co-leader Portland State.
No. 16 Seeds
North Dakota State (Summit): Mr. 60 Ben Woodside gets his shot at Goliath; NDSU's first D-I NCAA trip.
Robert Morris (Northeast): Despite graduation losses, still apparently the top dog in the NEC, for now.
Belmont (Atlantic Sun): Near-missathon in nonleague play condemns the Bears to a low seed.
Morgan State (MEAC): Second worst RPI, but not a bad team, as Maryland can attest to. NCAA would avoid MEAC-SWAC play-in, shafting Belmont.
Alabama State (SWAC): Mmm, Dayton.
OTHERS IN CONSIDERATION
Arkansas, Illinois State, Temple, UNLV, USC, Virginia Tech, UAB
By Andy Glockner
A first look at the seeding for the potential NCAA tournament field yields a few interesting early clues:
1) There aren't very many deserving teams that get left out at this point, and there's lots of room for movement at the cut line.
2) There are five very legit candidates for the No. 1 seeds, not counting North Carolina. You could make a legit argument that Wake Forest, the lone unbeatenleft, should be a No. 2.
3) The SEC isn't very good right now, although it's hard to imagine the league getting only three bids after league playconcludes.
It's still very early, so some of the determinations below are even more subjective than usual and teams could move pretty rapidly either way in the nextcouple of weeks. The champions from one-bid conferences have their league name in parentheses. Here's the multi-bid conference bid breakdown:
Big East: 9
Big Ten: 7
Big 12: 7
ACC: 6
Pac-10: 5
SEC: 3
A-10: 2
MWC: 2
WCC: 2
No. 1 Seeds
Duke: 6-1 vs. RPI Top 50, best SOS and margin of victory combo of potential one-seeds.
Connecticut: Quietly lurking while still trying to figure out some roles in the rotation.
Wake Forest: Nation's only unbeaten proving road chops; schedule's been softer, but they look better than Pitt and Oklahoma.
Pittsburgh: Splitting hairs with "fifth one-seed" Oklahoma. Panthers have more balance.
No. 2 Seeds
Oklahoma: Definitely could/should be a one-seed. Emergence of secondary players has been big.
North Carolina: Who wants to be the one-seed in this region? Heels need a healthy Marcus Ginyard back and more fromTy Lawson.
Michigan State: Since Goran Suton's return, the Spartans have played very well. Clear class of the Big Ten.
Syracuse: Jonny Flynn's been huge. So has returns of Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf and development ofArinze Onuaku.
No. 3 Seeds
Xavier: Offense can be questionable, but overall quality of the Musketeers isn't. Runaway best team in A-10.
Clemson: Lost to Wake at home, but the ability to rally yet again shows character behind talent.
Louisville: Recovering more rapidly than oil prices after taking out No. 1 Pitt.
Georgetown: A good young team that has the chance to be very good by March. Already 3-2 vs. RPI Top 25.
No. 4 Seeds
Memphis (Conference USA): Not as good as last season, but still plenty good, especially in C-USA.
Butler (Horizon): Time for this program to get its proper due; doing this with a bundle of underclassmen getting big minutes.
Arizona State: Forget best team in the state; best team in the Pac-10? There's a strong argument right now.
UCLA: Bruins land here more on reputation than anything they have accomplished on the floor.
No. 5 Seeds
Marquette: Surprise unbeaten in the Big East; showed senior savvy rallying at Providence.
Cal: Can the Bears' incredible three-for-all last through the second half of the season?
Illinois: Good team that should be able to continue to grow as expectations aren't yet overwhelming.
Ohio State: Buckeyes bag quality bigs like no one else, and B.J. Mullens is starting to live up to billing.
No. 6 Seeds
Texas: Sum seems less than its parts sometimes without D.J. Augustin, but there's still a lot to like.
Florida State: 'Noles have quietly positioned themselves to be the No. 5 team in the ACC.
Gonzaga: Killer schedule taxed Zags for a bit, but still a very high upside club that deserves a bump.
Florida: The whole SEC elicits a big shoulder shrug, but the Gators appear to be the best of the bunch right now.
No. 7 Seeds
Tennessee: If the Vols land here, a two-seed won't be very happy at all. Bonus: They wouldn't play Gonzaga again until the Sweet 16.
Oklahoma State: Good numbers, no substance right now for the Pokes. Show us something.
Minnesota: Disappointing L at Northwestern drops the Gophers a couple slots. Three Top 25 Ws, though.
BYU: Still probably the MWC's best, despite rout at New Mexico. Another potential 2 vs. 7 upset pick … if they beat the 10 first.
No. 8 Seeds
Miami: No Top-50 wins yet. That needs to change to be much higher than this.
West Virginia: Great computer numbers, so-so actual production, but injuries were a factor early.
Notre Dame: Compromise spot as profile stinks, but the team is pretty decent … at least on offense.
Baylor: If they're even decent defensively, they're very tough. Better scheduling job this year will pay off.
No. 9 Seeds
Davidson (Southern): Davidson-Baylor? Instant 7:30pm Thursday spot on CBS. Curry goes for 52, gets shot at a one in Round 2.
Kansas: Jayhawks have been hit or miss so far, but might be considerably better by March.
Wisconsin: Like the team just below them on this list, not as good as people though they would be.
Purdue: Either things will click soon and they'll make a run, or we'll wonder about last season's rise.
No. 10 Seeds
Washington: Rapidly entering "who knows?" seed territory. Huskies have rallied nicely from opening-night debacle against Portland.
Missouri: Wish the committee would take aesthetics into account for matchups. Tennessee-Mizzou anyone?
Villanova: Too much talent not to be playing better right now. The Coreys need to step up and deliver.
Utah: Based on performance this season, would be lower than this in the NAIA bracket.
No. 11 Seeds
Michigan: Coach Beilein's a year ahead of schedule if he gets the Wolverines into this season's dance.
St. Mary's: Feels low for a team with this much talent, but profile isn't there yet to go much higher.
Kentucky: Another team at this level that wouldn't be a gift for the higher seed in round one.
Texas A&M: Looked like an NCAA team at times against Oklahoma; need some better Ws to strengthen profile.
No. 12 Seeds
Utah State (WAC): The best team in the WAC could squeeze in as an at-large if needed.
Siena (MAAC): Saints will have to do it the hard way, and it could be against Niagara, Fairfield or Rider in the tourney.
Dayton: Will Flyers fans take an at-large here in exchange for dropping last season's protestations?
Stanford: Last at-large spot for the moment, although it's way too early to split hairs like that.
No. 13 Seeds
George Mason (CAA): Unbeaten in league play, with a better RPI than VCU.
Miami, Ohio (MAC): Good team, bad record, good RPI, in right side of the league. Or is that the wrong side?
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt): Buckling down in the Belt, with UALR, Middle Tennessee and others in pursuit.
Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley): Surprise leaders in the Valley have overcome last season's injury woes.
No. 14 Seeds
Stephen F. Austin (Southland): RPI in the 60s and a league-best record means it's Jacks up.
American (Patriot): Unbeaten in league with a sub-100 RPI for last season's Tennessee tormentors.
Cornell (Ivy): The league's new honorary "P" should make it two straight titles unless Harvard makes its own history.
Austin Peay (Ohio Valley): Hopefully, rest of OVC won't "rip the hearts out of the Governors, their fans, their broadcasters … andeverybody."
No. 15 Seeds
Long Beach State (Big West): Two-game lead in conference. Anyway we can get a Minnesota-LBSU Monson Bowl?
VMI (Big South): Won at Rupp. Won at Rupp. Won at Rupp. Much better RPI than co-leader Radford.
Albany (America East): Young Danes are best of two-loss teams behind 2-1 UNH; won at co-contender Vermont.
Weber State (Big Sky): Better RPI and won at co-leader Portland State.
No. 16 Seeds
North Dakota State (Summit): Mr. 60 Ben Woodside gets his shot at Goliath; NDSU's first D-I NCAA trip.
Robert Morris (Northeast): Despite graduation losses, still apparently the top dog in the NEC, for now.
Belmont (Atlantic Sun): Near-missathon in nonleague play condemns the Bears to a low seed.
Morgan State (MEAC): Second worst RPI, but not a bad team, as Maryland can attest to. NCAA would avoid MEAC-SWAC play-in, shafting Belmont.
Alabama State (SWAC): Mmm, Dayton.
OTHERS IN CONSIDERATION
Arkansas, Illinois State, Temple, UNLV, USC, Virginia Tech, UAB
