| 2010 NCAA Tournament Projection |
Selection Sunday is not until March 14, but it's never too early to see what the 2010 NCAA Tournament field looks
like as of right now. Note: The top-four
seeds in each region, starting with the No. 1 seeds, receive geographic preference when possible. An imbalance in
high seeds between regions (e.g. if more
than two top-four seeds are closest to the same subregional location) may force a protected seed into a secondary
location. Thus, in the coming weeks, shifts
in seeding will alter which subregions fall into which regions.
In this bracket, the Midwest matches
up with the South, the East with the West in the national semifinals.
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| MIDWEST - Saint Louis |
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| 1 |
Kansas |
| 16 |
Arkansas State (Sun Belt) |
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| 8 |
Clemson |
| 9 |
Cal (Pac-10) |
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| 5 |
Tennessee |
| 12 |
Old Dominion |
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| 4 |
Wisconsin |
| 13 |
Weber State (Big Sky) |
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| 6 |
Missouri |
| 11 |
Saint Mary's |
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| 3 |
West Virginia |
| 14 |
Sam Houston State (Southland) |
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| 7 |
UNLV |
| 10 |
Richmond |
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| 2 |
Michigan State |
| 15 |
Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun) |
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| EAST - Syracuse |
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| 1 |
Villanova |
| 16 |
Maine (America East) |
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| 8 |
Florida State |
| 9 |
Cornell |
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| 5 |
Temple (Atlantic 10) |
| 12 |
UTEP |
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| 4 |
Vanderbilt |
| 13 |
George Mason (CAA) |
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| 6 |
Baylor |
| 11 |
Siena (MAAC) |
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| 3 |
Duke |
| 14 |
Oakland (Summit) |
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| 7 |
Northern Iowa (MVC) |
| 10 |
Rhode Island |
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| 2 |
Purdue |
| 15 |
Morgan State (MEAC) |
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| SOUTH - Houston |
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| 1 |
Kentucky |
| 16 |
Robert Morris (Northeast) |
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| 8 |
UAB (Conference USA) |
| 9 |
Oklahoma State |
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| 5 |
Pittsburgh |
| 12 |
Illinois |
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| 4 |
New Mexico |
| 13 |
Utah State (WAC) |
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| 6 |
Wake Forest |
| 11 |
Wichita State |
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| 3 |
Texas |
| 14 |
College of Charleston (SoCon) |
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|
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| 7 |
Butler (Horizon) |
| 10 |
Charlotte |
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| 2 |
Georgetown |
| 15 |
Coastal Carolina (Big South) |
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| WEST - Salt Lake City |
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| 1 |
Syracuse |
| 16 |
Jackson State (SWAC)/Lehigh (Patriot) |
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| 8 |
Texas A&M |
| 9 |
Florida |
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| 5 |
Georgia Tech |
| 12 |
William & Mary |
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| 4 |
BYU |
| 13 |
Kent State (MAC) |
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| 6 |
Gonzaga (WCC) |
| 11 |
Cincinnati |
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| 3 |
Ohio State |
| 14 |
Murray State (Ohio Valley) |
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| 7 |
Xavier |
| 10 |
Mississippi |
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| 2 |
Kansas State |
| 15 |
Pacific (Big West) |
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New multi-bid conference teams in: George Mason (CAA auto bid), UTEP, Charlotte, Rhode Island, Wichita State, Illinois.
Multi-bid conference teams out: Maryland (ACC auto bid), Connecticut, North Carolina, Northwestern, Texas Tech, Mississippi State.
Also considered: Mississippi State, North Carolina, Maryland, Connecticut, Dayton.
Bids by conference: Big 12 (7); Big East (6); ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Atlantic 10 (5); Mountain West and Colonial (3); West Coast, Conference USA and
Missouri Valley (2).
Auto bids in smaller conferences were determined by best RPI among all first-place (e.g. fewest losses) teams in the league. One-bid league winners and
select other auto-bid teams are listed with their conference for clarity. Teams can be moved a seed line up or down to conform to bracketing rules.
BRIEF THOUGHTS
Why they made it:
-- UTEP: Four top-100 wins are all on the road, no uncompetitive losses, Conference RPI stronger than competitors for the spot, road wins at two of the other
top three in C-USA.
-- Wichita State: Would have been in last week had it not lost to Drake, took care of business this week, clear second-place team in a top-10 conference.
-- William & Mary: 3-2 RPI top 50 (including road wins at Maryland and Wake) enough to overcome two really bad league losses and current fourth place
standing in CAA.
Why they didn't make it:
-- Mississippi State: Very empty profile, has played five of six SEC games against three of the league's four bad teams, lost three straight on the road to
inferior opponents, only 3-2 vs. RPI Top 100.
-- North Carolina: 2-6 vs. RPI top 50 mark, three home ACC losses, five Ls overall in last seven games, 2-4 ACC record.
-- Maryland: Nothing substantive enough in profile despite 4-2 ACC mark. Lost at home to W&M, which was last team in.
-- Connecticut: 1-5 vs. RPI top 50, 0-4 on the road.
In direct contrast to last week's Bracket
Watch, there are 11 at-large teams from outside the BCS conferences, mostly because of really disastrous weeks from major-conference teams near the
bracket's bottom. I highly doubt that will last, and the CAA almost surely won't end up with three bids. For this week, though, that seemed fair.
Got a bone to pick with the Bracket Watch? Send feedback to bubblewatch@gmail.com.
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