For this week's Top 10, we made a list (and checked it twice) of 10 wishes we have for the world of college basketball this holiday season. As always, we welcome your comments, and and we invite our readers to post their own lists.

For the holidays, we wish...

1. That Adam Morrison got rid of the pre-pubescent mustache.
2. That Dick Vitale would just marry J.J. Redick already.
3. That Stanford would beat a UC-somebody.
4. That Savannah State would give up on being a Division I team.
5. That Marcus Williams would give us back our laptop so we could finish this list.
(waiting)
(waiting)
(waiting)
(Thank you to the UConn campus police department. Back to the list.)
6. That LSU could graduate someone...anyone...ever.
7. That Conference USA would do something about its #19 RPI rating.
8. That Oklahoma would stop getting spanked by every decent team they play.
9. That Jared Dudley would stop whining about EVERY call.
10. That Bracketology 101 would stop worrying about defending the country and buying houses and post a freakin' bracket once in a while.

To all of our readers: Bracketology 101 wishes all of you a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy New Year. A new "Field of 65" will be posted shortly.

Chris and Craig

This week's Top 10 ranks the biggest and best conference games that will be played this season. With conference play set to begin in a few weeks, there are plenty of high-profile match-ups to look forward to. As always, we welcome your comments, and we invite our readers to post their own lists. Enjoy...

Top 10 Best Conference Match-ups
Match-ups were ranked on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale by the three voters. First place votes are in parentheses.

1. UConn-Villanova 30 (3) (Feb. 13 at Villanova, Feb. 26 at UConn)
2. Texas-Oklahoma 26 (Jan. 28 at Oklahoma, Mar. 5 at Texas)
3. Michigan State-Illinois 24 (Jan. 5 at Illinois, Mar. 4 at Michigan State)
4. Florida-Kentucky 18 (Feb. 4 at Florida, Mar. 5 at Kentucky)
5. UConn-Louisville 16 (Jan. 21 at Louisville, Mar. 4 at UConn)
6. Duke-North Carolina 12 (Feb. 7 at North Carolina, Mar. 4 at Duke)
7. Michigan State-Michigan 9 (Jan. 25 at Michigan, Feb. 18 at Michigan)
8. Duke-Boston College 9 (Feb. 1 at Boston College)
9. Washington-UCLA 6 (Jan. 14 at UCLA, Feb. 11 at Washington)
10. Villanova-Louisville 5 (Jan. 5 at Louisville, Jan. 30 at Villanova)

Also receiving votes: Memphis-Houston 5 (Mar. 4 at Memphis), Duke-Maryland 4 (Jan. 11 at Duke, Feb. 11 at Maryland), Northern Iowa-Missouri State 3 (Jan. 7 at Missouri State, Feb. 11 at Northern Iowa)

Sorry for the lack of posts this week and for being late on our schedule. Chris has been busy buying a house and I've been trying to learn how to fly the F-18. It has been a fairly uneventful week anyways with the light game schedule due to exams. There have been some interesting games this week though....

DePaul somehow beat Wake Forest in Winston-Salem and after a rocky start in which they lost to Bradley and Northern Illinois, they have reeled off wins against Creighton, UAB, Dayton and now Wake. Their tough out of conference schedule continues this weekend when they play at ODU.

Cincinnati destroyed an undefeated Ohio team and are now on a little roll after beating Vanderbilt over the weekend.

Minnesota continued its run by edging UAB and Princeton could only manage 21 points against Monmouth.

Interesting RPI notes.....
The MVC is the #4 ranked conference and the Colonial is ranked #7, while the PAC-10 is #9 and C-USA is way down at #19.

In this weekly feature, we rank the five teams, players, conferences, etc. that had the best week, as well as those that had a week they would like to forget.

Five Best Weeks
Adam Morrison
Banks are apparently open late Saturdays in Oregon. What a shot.

J.J. Redick
There have been a few 40-plus point performances in college basketball this year, but considering the competition and hype, no performance was as good as Redick's. By the way...who wins in a game of H-O-R-S-E? Redick or Morrison? Is there a way to arrange this?

Temple
The Owls won at Princeton and at home against Alabama to help pad their non-conference resume. With games against Duke, Villanova, and Maryland left on the schedule, Temple's RPI will have them in the conversation come Selection Sunday.

Notre Dame
The Irish bounced back from a loss at Michigan by winning a tough one at Alabama and then crushing Florida International With a cupcake-filled schedule coming up, ND will have a nice-looking record as they open conference play.

Ohio State
On Thursday night, Buckeye-bound Greg Oden put up 23 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks in a nationally televised high school game. On Saturday, his future teammates went on the road and won at St. Joseph's, earning them a spot in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll. Not a bad couple of days for The Ohio State University...and just wait 'til next year.

Five Worst Weeks
Kentucky
After finding out that they will be without Randolph Morris for the rest of the season, they went out and got pounded by an Indiana team that had just lost to Indiana State. It doesn't get any easier this week with Louisville coming in.

Alabama
First a desperate Notre Dame team comes to their home court and beats them, and then they lose over the weekend to Temple.

Boston College
This was supposed to be the week that BC was worthy of its top 10 ranking. Instead, they went out and lost Michigan State and to Maryland in their first ACC game.

Iowa
A real tough week to be a Hawkeye fan. Not only did they lose to Northern Iowa early in the week, they then went out and lost to Iowa State over the weekend. Granted, both games were on the road to teams that were in our pre-season bracket, but most though they should win at least one of these games.

Oklahoma State
I wonder how much the Cowboys ended up paying Northwestern State to come into Stillwater and beat them. Then they traveled up to Seattle to have their hearts ripped out by Adam Morrison.

Here's a quick recap of key scores from Friday night and Saturday afternoon...

Friday's Games
Iowa State 72, Iowa 60
The slumping Hawkeyes go oh-for-Iowa.

Saturday's Games
Duke 97, Texas 66
That should satisfy all the Duke doubters.

Kansas 69, California 56
The Jayhawks needed a good non-conference win, and they finally got one.

Ohio State 81, St. Joseph's 74
The unbeaten Buckeyes may be a win away from a spot in the Top 25.

Drexel 61, Old Dominion 42
Looks like the Colonial won't be a walk in the park for ODU.

Gonzaga 64, Oklahoma State 62
Anything J.J. can do, Adam can do better.

Indiana 79, Kentucky 53
A bad week for the Wildcats got even worse.

Temple 68, Alabama 58
The Owls play a brutal non-conference schedule. This one will look nice on their resume.

UCLA 67, Nevada 56
Duke-Texas wasn't the only ranked team vs. ranked team clunker on Saturday.

Ohio 71, Rhode Island 63
Are the Bobcats the team to beat in the MAC?

Buffalo 62, Rutgers 53
Or are the Bulls?

Michigan State 83, Wichita State 64
Seems like Maui was a positive for the Spartans after all.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee 58, Hawaii 52
These mid-major over mid-major wins are key come Selection Sunday.

Indiana State 57, Ball State 56
Can the MVC get three teams in the Dance again?

Cincinnati 92 Vanderbilt 83
Cinci gets huge road win over a previously undefeated Vanderbilt team.

Illinois 89 Oregon 59
Losing by 30 at home?! Not good for Oregon as they finish of 0-3 in there tough out of conference stretch. I thought Illinois was supposed to take a big step down from last year.

Maryland 73, Boston College 71
An awful night at the line (5-for-15) sent the Eagles to their second loss of the week.

This week's Top 10 ranks the best coaches in college basketball - some old, some new, some Hall of Famers, and some up-and-comers. As always, we welcome your comments, and we invite our readers to post their own lists. Enjoy...

Top 10 Coaches
Coaches were ranked on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale by the three voters. First place votes are in parentheses.

1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) 29 (2)
2. Jim Calhoun (UConn) 25
3. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) 23 (1)
4. Lute Olson (Arizona) 21
5. Bobby Knight (Texas Tech) 18
6. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 15
7. Rick Pitino (Louisville) 10
8. Roy Williams (North Carolina) 9
9. Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State) 5
10. Tubby Smith (Kentucky) 5

Also receiving votes: Gary Williams (Maryland) 4, John Chaney (Temple) 1

This new weekly feature on Bracketology 101 will recap the week that was in college basketball. We will rank the five teams, players, conferences, etc. that had the best week, as well as those that had a week they would like to forget.

Five Best Weeks
Houston
Coming off a week in which they lost to VCU at home, the Cougars come from behind to win at LSU and then shock Arizona at home. Maybe someone will be able to compete with Memphis in C-USA afterall.

ACC
They won 6 out of 11 in the Big Ten-ACC challenge and they are on top in the first conference RPI poll to come out. They also have more ranked teams then any other conference.

Villanova
Picked up a big win against Oklahoma, which should answer the questions as to whether or not they would still be a top 5 team without Curtis Sumpter.

UNC
Played Illinois very tough on Tuesday and then won at Kentucky on Saturday. This team may be young but they definitely look like a tournament team so far. Roy William's stock continues to rise.

Washington
Were able to beat Gonzaga for the first time since 1997. They are the only undefeated team left in the Pac-10 and also the only one ranked in the top 15.

Five Worst Weeks
Stanford
This week was supposed to be a trip to the bakery for Stanford, but the cupcakes didn’t exactly cooperate. The Cardinal were blown out by Montana and lost to previously winless UC-Davis (remember, Stanford also lost its opener to UC-Irvine). All this from a team that was ranked in the top 10 in some pre-season polls.

Big 12
It wasn’t a very good couple days for the middle of the pack in the Big 12. Iowa State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Kansas State, and Missouri all lost, and Kansas gave up 35 points to Nick Fazekas in a loss to Nevada. That crashing sound you heard is the conference’s RPI.

MWC
So much for the conference’s pre-season favorites. UNLV has lost three in a row (including two this past week to Oklahoma State and Oregon State), Utah lost a heartbreaker to Rice, and San Diego State lost at San Diego. Colorado State (6-0) looks like the only MWC team worth talking about at this point.

Arizona
The first weekend in December has not been kind in recent years to the Wildcats. Losing early season games to UConn and Michigan State is acceptable, losing to Houston isn't.

Virginia Tech
Not a good 24 hours for Hokie football and basketball fans. But, hey, the men's and women's pole vault teams won the VMI Invitational. That should help ease the pain.

Here's what to expect from us in the coming weeks:

Monday
Best Week, Worst Week

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Games to Watch

Friday
Top Ten List

Saturday and Sunday
Weekend Recaps

Starting in mid-January we will release a bracket every Sunday night. Until then expect another bracket in the middle of December and another one in the beginning of January.

This week's Top 10 ranks some of the rarest players in the land - the best white guys in the country. All teams in all conferences were considered. As always, we welcome your comments, and we invite our readers to post their own list. Enjoy...

Top 10 White Guys
Players were ranked on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale by the three voters. First place votes are in parentheses.

1. Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) 30 (3)
2. J.J. Redick (Duke) 26
3. Paul Davis (Michigan State) 24
4. Nick Fazekas (Nevada) 20
5. Kevin Pittsnogle (WVU) 18
6. Chris Hernandez (Stanford) 10
7. James Augustine (Illinois) 10
8. Gerry McNamara (Syracuse) 7
9. Adam Huluska (Iowa) 6
10. Mike Gansey (WVU) 5

Also receiving votes: Josh McRoberts (Duke) 4, Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) 2, Steve Novak 2 (Marquette), Nate Funk (Creighton) 1

Here is Chris and Craig's latest field:

Last Four In
Hawaii, Akron, UAB, San Diego State

Last Four Out
Cincinnati, North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado State

Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), Big Ten (6), SEC (6), ACC (5), Big 12 (5), PAC-10 (5), C-USA (2), MVC (2), MWC (2), WAC (2), MAC (2), A-10 (2)

America East - Boston University

ACC - Duke, Boston College, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Maryland

Atlantic Sun - Gardner-Webb

A-10 - George Washington, Temple

Big East - UConn, Villanova, Louisville, Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgetown, Notre Dame

Big Sky - Montana

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State

Big 12 - Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas

Big West - CSU Fullerton

Colonial - Old Dominion

C-USA - Memphis, UAB

Horizon - Wisc.-Milwaukee

Ivy - Penn

Metro Atlantic - Iona

MAC - Ohio, Akron

MCC - Oral Roberts

MEAC - Hampton

MVC - Northern Iowa, Creighton

MWC - UNLV, San Diego State

Northeast - Fairleigh Dickinson

Ohio Valley - Murray State

PAC-10 - Arizona, UCLA, Washington, Stanford, Oregon

Patriot - Bucknell

SEC - Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Sam Houston State

SWAC - Alabama A&M

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky

WCC - Gonzaga

WAC - Nevada, Hawaii


The Seeds

The 1s
Duke, UConn, Texas, Oklahoma

The 2s
Villanova, Gonzaga, Louisville, Memphis

The 3s
Boston College, Florida, Michigan State, Illinois

The 4s
Iowa, Kentucky, Arizona, Maryland

The 5s
Alabama, Washington, UCLA, N.C. State

The 6s
Indiana, Nevada, Wake Forest, LSU

The 7s
GW, Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Stanford

The 8s
Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ohio State, Syracuse

The 9s
West Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma State, Oregon

The 10s
Texas Tech, Kansas, Georgetown, UNLV

The 11s
Bucknell, Notre Dame, Creighton, Temple

The 12s
Old Dominion, Hawaii, Akron, UAB

The 13s
San Diego State, Winthrop, Penn, Western Kentucky

The 14s
CSU-Fullerton, Iona, Wisc. Milwaukee, Oral Roberts

The 15s
Davidson, Boston University, Gardner-Webb, Murray State

The 16s
Montana, Sam Houston State, Hampton, Fairleigh Dickinson, Alabama A&M

The Bracket

This Week's Bracket

Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves.

Questions? Comments? E-mail Chris and Craig at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

This is the first in a new weekly series at Bracketology 101. Each Friday throughout the college basketball season, we will pick a topic and come up with a "Top 10" list that ranks the best players, teams, conferences, fans, home courts...and more. Point totals will be comprised of votes from Chris and Craig, as well as from the newest member to the Bracketology 101 family, Jason "Pecker" Polayes. Pecker is a college basketball fan and aspiring bracketologist, but he is best known for his role as manager of the Univeristy of Connecticut men's basketball team. To contact Pecker, or to ask him to clean up a puddle of sweat or to do your laundry, you can e-mail him at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com.

This week's Top 10 ranks the best mid-major teams in the country. All teams not in the "Big 6" conferences were considered. The list takes into account games already played this season, as well as where we think teams will be at the end of the year. As always, we welcome your comments, and we invite our readers to post their own list. Enjoy...

Top 10 Mid-Majors
Teams were ranked on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale by the three voters. First place votes are in parentheses.
1. Gonzaga 29 (2)
2. Memphis 28 (1)
3. Northern Iowa 18
4. Nevada 17
4(tie). Bucknell 17
4 (tie). George Washington 17
7. Ohio 16
8. Old Dominion 12
9. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 5
10. Creighton 2
10 (tie). UNLV 2
10 (tie). Winthrop 2
Also receiving consideration: CS-Fullerton, Denver, Murray State

Here are Chris and Craig's long-awaited first "Field of 65" for the 2005-2006 season:

Last Four In
Southern Illinois, Akron, UNLV, Temple

Last Four Out
Michigan, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt

Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), ACC (6), Big Ten (6), Big XII (5), SEC (5), PAC-10 (5), MVC (3), C-USA (2), A-10 (2), MAC (2), MWC (2).

The Seeds

The 1s
Duke, Connecticut, Texas, Michigan State

The 2s
Oklahoma, Villanova, Arizona, Kentucky

The 3s
Stanford, Gonzaga, Louisville, Boston College

The 4s
Illinois, Wake Forest, Memphis, West Virginia

The 5s
Syracuse, UCLA, Alabama, Indiana

The 6s
Maryland, George Washington, Iowa, Kansas

The 7s
Northern Iowa, Florida, N.C. State, Nevada

The 8s
LSU, Washington, Texas Tech, Wisconsin

The 9s
Arkansas, Ohio, Georgetown, Iowa State

The 10s
Miami (Fla.), San Diego State, California, Creighton

The 11s
Old Dominion, Houston, Notre Dame, Ohio State

The 12s
Temple, Southern Illinois, UNLV, Akron

The 13s
Penn, Illinois-Chicago, Western Kentucky, Bucknell

The 14s
Winthrop, Boston University, Manhattan, Davidson

The 15s
Murray State, Oral Roberts, East Tennessee State, Cal-State Fullerton

The 16s
Alabama A&M, Hampton, Fairleigh Dickinson, Montana, Northwestern State

Questions? Comments? E-mail Chris and Craig at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

On Wednesday, Bracketology 101 will unveil its first "Field of 65" of the season. Now that the real games have started, and pre-season tournaments are underway, it's time to start thinking about who's in, who's out, and who's on the bubble (yes, the bubble exists even in late November).

A complete field, along with seeds, will be posted tomorrow.

Until then, enjoy the games.

Chris & Craig

After a long summer break, Bracketology 101 will soon make its return with a preview of the 2005-2006 college baseketball season.

Midnight Madness is only three weeks away, and in the weeks leading up to and following the official start of practices across the country, Chris and Craig will get you ready for the season with the following:

1. Our Pre-season "Field of 65"
2. Our Pre-season "Sweet 16" Teams"
3. In-depth previews of our projected 2006 Final Four teams: Duke, Connecticut, Villanova and Oklahoma.

Check back in the coming weeks for updates.

Thanks,

Chris and Craig
Bracketology 101

Bracketology 101's Chris and Craig will appear Tuesday night, April 5th, at 7:45 p.m. on SportsBloggersLive on AOL Radio. We will preview the 2006 - yeah, 2006 - Final Four along with the guys from SportsBloggersLive.

COME AND LISTEN!

SportsBloggersLive airs from 7-8 p.m. EST every Monday on AOL Radio.

In case you missed us on air - Bracketology 101's No. 1 seeds for 2006 are:

Connecticut
Duke
Villanova
Oklahoma

COMING SOON TO BRACKETOLOGY 101!

In the coming weeks we will review the early entrants in this year's NBA Draft. We'll break down who will land in the lottery, whose stock could rise, and who should have stayed in school.

Check back soon...

Whoda thunk that the Big Ten would have 3 teams left while the Big East and ACC would only have one?

Still trying to find where that travel was.

Looking more and more like an Illinois-UNC final is inevitable.

Hey, at least we were spared a Duke-UNC Final Four game. Could you imagine Billy Packer and Dickie V. in the days leading up to that one?

How can you not cheer for WVU?

No way J.J. Redick makes the shot Salim Stoudamire made.

Seriously...did you really think Washington would make it out of the Sweet Sixteen?

How about starting Sweet Sixteen games earlier so more basketball can be shown? There was little to no lag time between game starts which meant that the games that were on had about the same time remaining.

How does an Arizona, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan State Final Four sound? Gross.

Bracketology 101 made another radio appearance Monday night at 7:25 ET on SportsBloggerLive on AOL Radio. We broke down the first two rounds of the tournament and accurately predicted the Sweet 16 games in the Albuquerque and Austin regions.

COME AND LISTEN!

SportsBloggersLive airs from 7-8 p.m. EST every Monday on AOL Radio.

After a weak start to the tourney what a great Friday night finish.

Does anyone remember when Kansas was undefeated and ranked #1?

Why did I put Syracuse through until the Elite Eight in my bracket knowing that they had a difficult Vermont team to get by in the first round?

How does Syracuse get what had to be the last #4 seed after winning the Big East tourney, and then get stuck playing the top #13 seed in Vermont (who really deserved a #12 before ODU or Wisc. Mil.) in Worchester which is an hour from the Vermont state line? Seems like a pretty raw deal for Syracuse.

I guess we should shut up now about UAB.

Here are Craig and Chris' final tournament picks:

Craig's Final Four
Illinois, UConn, Wake Forest, Oklahoma
Final: Illinois 73, UConn 67

Chris' Final Four
Illinois, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Oklahoma
Final: North Carolina 77, Illinois 74

For our complete brackets and to see how you stack up against Chris and Craig, join the Bracketology 101 Tournament Challenge group on ESPN. The group name is "bracketologyblog" and the password is "blog." Group will stay open through Thursday night for entrants.

Craig and Chris

Bracketology 101 made its first radio appearance last night on SportsBloggersLive on AOL Radio.

Check out the site and the webcast:

The Full Show

Bracketology 101 breaks down the Syracuse Region at the 44:00 mark of the show.

SportsBloggersLive airs from 7-8 p.m. EST every Monday on AOL Radio.

The brackets have been released, and overall we must admit we are slightly disappointed with the results. We were wrong about Notre Dame and Buffalo, and our first two teams out - Northern Iowa and UAB - got the bids. We did get 57 out of 65 teams within one seed, and 37 seeds exactly right.

Since the selections are over, we would be remissed if we didn't recap what has been a tremendous first year for the Bracketology 101 web site. Not only did we get more hits and more e-mail than we ever would have imagined, we also get great response to our two Selection Sunday chats. Pre-Selection Sunday, we feel we were the most accurate bracketologists out there.

Why do we say this? Well...

1. At the start of Championship Week, we predicted conference tourney wins by Creighton, Utah State, New Mexico, and Xavier. No one else did, deciding instead to put nine million teams in from one major or mid-major conference. Three out of four in the end ain't bad.

2. We NEVER had Memphis in at all this season. Everyone else did at some point.

3. We jumped off the Miami-Ohio bandwagon a week before everyone else, and called the MAC a one-bid league (until today when we stuck with Buffalo). We also bailed on Wichita State after they started their late February skid, while other brackets kept them in for a lack of quality teams elsewhere.

4. We put Creighton in the bracket FOUR WEEKS AGO, when they were in fifth place in the conference and just barely heating up. No one else had them in until two weeks after that.

5. We didn't keep St. Joseph's in all season just because they were in first place in the A-10. We believed in GW and it paid off.

That's not to say we didn't have some slip-ups along the way, or put a team in and have to take them out for good the next week (ex. Boston U., Houston), or up a team's seed only to see them lose the next day, but that happens in the crazy world of college basketball. In the end, though, we kept our no-nonsense, go-with-your-gut attitude when it came to projecting the field. Instead of going back and forth, taking teams in and out of the bracket and making PC, whimpy picks, we went out on a limb at times and looked at the future and not just the present. That made the number of available spots more realistic, and gave fans a more accurate picture of where their teams stood. Bottom line: we tried to make ballsy picks that made sense. We analyzed teams differently, and in the end, more practically than the Joe Lunardis and Jerry Palms of the world. If you kept track, our picks were always a week ahead (sometimes more) for that reason.

To all the visitors of the site: Thanks for coming along for the ride with us this year. We're still relatively small, but we hope we're on the rise. The "big-time" bracketologists probably don't like us because we call them out on occasion, but who cares. Be sure to spread the word about us if you can and check back throughout the tournament and in the off-season for occasional news and updates. We will have our actual Tournament Challenge brackets posted later this week.

Enjoy the madness,

Chris and Craig

Here are Chris and Craig's long-awaited FINAL Field of 65:

Last Four In
NC State, St. Mary's, Notre Dame, Buffalo

Last Four Out
Northern Iowa, UAB, DePaul, Maryland

Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), Big XII (6), ACC (5), SEC (5), Big Ten (5), PAC-10 (4), C-USA (3), Big West (2), MAC (2), MVC (2), MWC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

The Seeds

The 1s
Illinois, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke

The 2s
Washington, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Louisville

The 3s
Kansas, Arizona, Gonzaga, Connecticut

The 4s
Oklahoma, Syracuse, Boston College, Florida

The 5s
Michigan State, Wisconsin, Alabama, Villanova

The 6s
Utah, Texas Tech, LSU, Pittsburgh

The 7s
Cincinnati, Pacific, Georgia Tech, West Virginia

The 8s
Southern Illinois, Minnesota, Charlotte, Nevada

The 9s
Mississippi State, New Mexico, Stanford, Iowa State

The 10s
Iowa, UCLA, Texas, George Washington

The 11s
NC State, UTEP, Creighton, St. Mary's

The 12s
Vermont, Ohio, Notre Dame, Buffalo

The 13s
Old Dominion, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Utah State, Pennsylvania

The 14s
Louisiana-Lafayette, Bucknell, Winthrop, Niagara

The 15s
Tennessee Chattanooga, Central Florida, Eastern Kentucky, SE Louisiana

The 16s
Montana, Delaware State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Alabama A&M (Play-In Game), Oakland (Play-In Game)

Questions? Comments? E-mail Chris and Craig at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

Here are Chris and Craig's Field of 65 for March 12. This will be our last update before Sunday afternoon's final bracket.

Changes From Last Bracket
In: Iowa, Bucknell
Out: Xavier, Holy Cross
Automatics: Bucknell

Breakdown

Two more teams eliminated themselves on Friday (Indiana and Virginia Tech), while Miami-Ohio seriously damaged their chances. Iowa has come out of no where to win 5 in a row and play themselves in. They have finally proved that they can win without Pierce and at the moment are looking fairly safe for a bid. Things should be very clear after Saturday's games play out.

Many teams have the opportunity to claim automatic bids and not have to worry about their at-large chances. Vermont has had a weak finish and a home loss to end the season would not look good for them so they need to beat Northeastern today. New Mexico does not want to rest their fate in the hands of the committee. Their only quality victory was against Utah and their out of conference schedule was disgusting. UTEP would be safe if they were playing Nevada today but a loss to Boise St. is a bad loss and they would be in trouble. George Washington has a weak RPI but some good wins out of conference (Michigan St. and Maryland). Their 5 A-10 losses does not look good for them though, especially considering how poorly the A-10 is rated. Buffalo is streaking at the right time and if they don't win today they are probably the only MAC team at this point who has a shot at a at-large bid, but without a big out of conference victory they don't want to leave their fate up to the committee.

UAB will now have be on pins and needles until Sunday evening after their loss to Louisville. DePaul and UAB will both be huge Lousiville fans today because a Memphis win means that one of them isn't going dancin'. Notre Dame will also be cheering hard for Louisville, Pacific, GW, Utah, UTEP, and Buffalo. A loss by any of these teams and their chances are likely killed. Our next update will come on Sunday afternoon.

Conference Breakdown
Big East (6), Big XII (6), ACC (5), C-USA (5), SEC (5), Big Ten (5), PAC-10 (4), Big West (2), MVC (2), MWC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
Iowa, New Mexico, UAB, DePaul

Last Four Out
Notre Dame, Maryland, Northern Iowa, Miami-Ohio

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State

Atlantic Sun
CENTRAL FLORIDA

Big 12
Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State

Big East
Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, West Virginia

Big Sky
MONTANA

Big South
WINTHROP

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa

Big West
Utah State, Pacific

Colonial
OLD DOMINION

C-USA
Louisville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, UAB, DePaul

Horizon
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE

Ivy
PENN

MAAC
NIAGARA

MCC
OAKLAND

MAC
Buffalo

MEAC
Delaware State

MVC
CREIGHTON, Southern Illinois

MWC
New Mexico, Utah

Northeast
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON

Ohio Valley
EASTERN KENTUCKY

PAC-10
Arizona, Washington, UCLA, Stanford

Patriot
BUCKNELL

SEC
Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State, Florida, LSU

Southern
TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Alabama A&M

Sun Belt
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE

WCC
GONZAGA, St. Mary's

WAC
Nevada, UTEP

The Seeds

The 1s
Illinois, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Kansas

The 2s
Duke, Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville

The 3s
Oklahoma, Washington, Oklahoma State, Connecticut

The 4s
Boston College, GONZAGA, Alabama, Syracuse

The 5s
Michigan State, Utah, Villanova, Wisconsin

The 6s
Florida, Pacific, LSU, Cincinnati

The 7s
Pittsburgh, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Southern Illinois

The 8s
West Virginia, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Charlotte

The 9s
Nevada, Iowa State, Texas, Stanford

The 10s
UCLA, NC State, St. Mary's, Iowa

The 11s
CREIGHTON, UTEP, George Washington, Vermont

The 12s
Buffalo, DePaul, UAB, New Mexico

The 13s
OLD DOMINION, WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE, Utah State, PENNSYLVANIA

The 14s
BUCKNELL, WINTHROP, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE, NIAGARA

The 15s
TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA, CENTRAL FLORIDA, EASTERN KENTUCKY, SE Louisiana

The 16s
MONTANA, Delaware State, FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON, Alabama A&M (Play-In Game), OAKLAND (Play-In Game)

Small conference CAPS denotes automatic bid earned.

Questions? Comments? E-mail Chris and Craig at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

The 16 biggest games on Thursday night's Championship Week schedule:

West Virginia vs. Boston College
West Virginia in with a win, BC still has a shot at the last No. 1 seed.

Clemson vs. Maryland
Many people think Maryland is still in regardless of the outcome. Bracketology 101 says those people are wrong.

Florida State vs. NC State
Wolfpack have to win two games to get in. With no Chris Paul, a quarterfinal win over Wake is possible.

LaSalle vs. Xavier
We are the only believers in Xavier. Let's hope they start strong.

Baylor vs. Iowa State
Cyclones just need to win this game to go dancing. Don't pull an ND.

Hawaii vs. UTEP
UTEP needs to get to the WAC final to feel relatively safe.

DePaul vs. UAB
Game of the day: UAB needs it more than DePaul, but they aren't in with a win.

Oregon State vs. UCLA
UCLA is probably safe either way. A win makes them a lock.

Fordham vs. George Washington
GW needs at least two wins to avoid the NIT.

Kansas State vs. Texas A&M
A&M needs this game and the next.

Georgetown vs. Connecticut
Georgetown could go from dead to in with a win here. Huskies playing for a No. 2 seed.

Virginia vs. Miami-Fla.
Miami is one of many ACC teams in need of two conference tourney wins to get in.

BYU vs. New Mexico
Lobos' resume is poor, but making the final may just be enough this year to get them a berth.

Auburn vs. Vanderbilt
Vandy is the last team on our bubble. They need at least two wins.

Washington State vs. Stanford
Even with Stanford's "safe" status, a third loss to Wazzou would raise eyebrows.

MAC Tournament: Buffalo vs. Toledo, Kent State vs. Ohio, Akron vs. Western Michigan, Miami-Ohio vs. Bowling Green
This whole damn conference is on the bubble. We still like Buffalo.

The six biggest games on the college basketball schedule for Sunday:

Vermont at Binghamton
Tough break for Vermont getting Binghamton on their home court for the semifinal match-up.

Illinois at Ohio St.
Can the Buckeyes with nothing to play for pull out the upset.

Duke at UNC
Does it get any bigger then this?

Creighton vs Wichita St.
Oh yea it does get bigger. The winner here looks like they might have a shot at an at-large regardless of the conference final outcome (so long as it's against SIU), especially Wichita.

Wake Forest at N.C. State
The Wolfpack can go from the middle of the bubble to nearly a lock with a win here.

St Mary's at Santa Clara
Tough semifinal matchup for St. Mary's who should be fine either way, but to be safe they need a win.

Thoughts as the weeekend progresses.......

WVU's loss at Seton Hall is very damaging for them, they now probably have to win their quarterfinal Big East game, which will most likely be against BC, along with their opening round game.

Depaul can now not afford a bad loss in the opening round of the C-USA tourney against a bottom feeder.

Georgia Tech is looking good now, Maryland is not. ACC tourney should be interesting.

ND now needs to win their opening round Big East tourney game to feel safe.

After Miami-Ohio and Akron's losses today its tough to imagine a scenario where two MAC teams make the tourney. We here at Bracketology101 were happy to see Buffalo save us some face this week.

We never believed in Northern Iowa and their season is over.

Stanford saved their season today.

Is anyone that isn't a #1 seed playing better ball then UConn right now?

Iowa St. took care of business this week. They look pretty safe again.

Anyone notice Memphis has lost 4 in a row to finish the season? Bracketology101 is probably the only ones who never put them in our bracket.

If Indiana can get a win over Minnesota in their first game of the Big 10 tourney then they might end up as one of the last teams in, regardless of what they do in the semi's against Illinois.

Can it get any worse for Georgetown?

It's amazing how UAB went from completely out of the picture last week to looking pretty good now.

Texas is a lock now.

Does it get any bigger then Creighton vs. Wichita?

Too bad Ohio State is on probabtion - a good Big Ten tourney and they'd be dancin'.

How wide open was Matt Sylvester?

Illinois is still the top No. 1 seed - sorry Tar Heel fans.

Speaking of which, how can Carolina justify rushing on Duke? Higher rank, at home, favored, Duke didn't rush on them, you can't rush. Great comeback, but still. Relax.

Does anyone want the last 1 seed...anyone? Anyone?

Hey, Vermont, watch out for Northeastern.

SMS upsets Southern Illinois. Three for the MVC?

The 24 biggest "bubble" games on the College Basketball Schedule for Saturday:

Charleston Southern at Winthrop
Winthrop should win easily and be dancing again.

Dayton at Xavier
The conference tourney is at Xavier and if the Musketeers can heat up maybe they can defend their conference title.

West Virginia at Seton Hall
WVU's status has improved this week because they haven't played and been given the opportunity to screw up. But if they can win this game and one more against a bottom feeder at the BE tourney it just might be enough.

Louisville at DePaul
A chance for DePaul to lock down a bid.

Clemson at Georgia Tech
Must win for GT. At this point the Yellow Jackets just need to avoid a bad loss.

Akron at Buffalo
An elimination game. If Akron wins they really help their at-large chances. If Buffalo wins they have renewed hope for an at-large berth.

Texas A&M at Baylor
Aggies blew their opportunity against Ok. St. earlier in the week. Now they need this game and at least 2 in the conference tourney.

Miami-Ohio at Marshall
Winning out till the conference final probably gives Miami an at-large.

George Washington at Rhode Island
GW at-large chances may have already burst, but they still need to take care of a streaking URI to have some confidence going into a wide open A-10 conference tourney.

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame
Both teams are probably safe but the loser will have to take care of business in the first round of the Big East tourney.

UMBC vs Vermont
It's hard to imagine Vermont getting an at-large if they don't win the conference tourney. Especially considering that the championship game will be on their home court.

SMS vs Northern Iowa
NIU needs to take care of a tough SMS before they can look ahead to a semifinal match-up with SIU.

Washington at Stanford
Game got a whole lot bigger for Stanford after losing to Washington St. on Thursday night. A loss by Stanford puts them right in the middle of the bubble.

Iowa St. at Colorado
A 9-7 finish looks a lot better then 8-8 for ISU.

Maryland at Virginia Tech
Terps are basically a lock with a win here. They don't want to lose and end up 7-9 in conference though.

Vanderbilt at LSU
Vandy is the bubble team that probably has the most to gain on Saturday with a victory here.

Northwestern at Indiana
Hoosiers trying to stay in the conversation for a bid and 10 Big Ten wins keeps them there.

Ohio at Kent St.
Another MAC elimination game. Win for Ohio puts them right there with Akron, while Kent is trying to get back into the conversation.

Drake vs Wichita St.
Wichita can still get an at-large as long as they get to the conference final and lose there to SIU. Will likely have to go through Creighton in the semi's to get there though.

Providence at Georgetown
G'town has to take care of business here and then in their opening round game of the BE tourney.

UAB at Houston
Game got a lot more important after UAB beat Depaul and Houston got routed by Marquette. A win by UAB moves them to the front of the line as the fifth bid from C-USA. Houston barely holds that position now.

Colorado St. at New Mexico
If the Lobos can win out till the conference final and lose their to Utah it will be hard to deny them a bid with 24 wins.

Boise St at UTEP
With many bubble teams faltering UTEP is looking good and will get a bid without any bad losses.

Illinois St. vs. Creighton
Hoping Creighton makes us here at Bracketology101 look good.

Here are Chris and Craig's Field of 65 for Feb. 27:

The Breakdown
Every week it gets harder and harder to find 65 teams.

Big Conferences
The Big East has become a big mess. Four teams (ND, Pitt, G'town, and WVU) are on the bubble now. ND is in the best shape out of all of them. The only reason they are in this position is because of their loss at home against UCLA Sunday. They still have a good chance to get to 10-6 in conference with two home games remaining (Rutgers and Pitt) and should be fine. Pitt in next in line because of their 3 game losing streak. Their out of conference schedule was very weak which gives them a lousy RPI; it also doesn't help that they lost to WVU twice. But they have beaten Syracuse twice and won at UConn. They do have the toughest schedule remaining (@BC, @ND). They need to win one to get to 9-7 in conference and if they do it should be enough to get them in especially considering their strength of schedule in the Big East. G'town and WVU both sit in about the same boat. G'town has a 3 game losing streak and a lousy RPI because of some bad losses out of conference. What they have going for them is a 4-5 mark against the top 8 in the Big East. They should be able to get to 9-7 since they have a home game against Providence left. After that they'll need to win at least a game in the conference tourney and hope there aren't to many upsets elsewhere. WVU has been on a roll lately winning 7 of 9, they have a decent RPI, and have some good wins out of conference. Their problem is they have played an easy Big East schedule and have only one big win (Pitt). They finish up at Seton Hall, and if they win that and one game in the Big East tourney they basically sit in the same boat as G'town, except with a stronger finish.

The ACC cleared up a little bit this week. Georgia Tech's win against Miami was huge for them and devastating for Miami. Virginia Tech and N.C. State have the best chances of getting the sixth bid out of the league but both have some work to do. Maryland needs a win at Virginia Tech this week to finish .500 in conference and feel safe about their chances. The ACC tourney should be interesting because if VT, N.C. St., or Miami can manage to win 2 games then they will have a good shot at a bid.

Iowa St. really took a huge step backwards this week. They need to win their last two conference games and get to 9-7 in conference or all of their bad losses will come back to haunt them. Texas A&M gave itself a big boost by beating Iowa St. The problem is they need to win at Oklahoma St. to have a chance at 9 conference wins. Right now Iowa St. is has a better chance at a bid because of their big wins. Houston got the last at-large bid. They have won six of seven including wins over TCU and Memphis and if they can win out (@Marquette, UAB) and get to 11-5 in conference they should get in. Indiana needs one more big win, which it can get at Wisconsin this week or in the Big 10 tourney, to get in the tourney since right now their record is a ugly 14-11. Vanderbilt is still getting some consideration and with a 2 win week could see its name in the bracket next week.

Small Conferences
The MAC is another big mess. We still think Miami-Ohio and Buffalo are the two best teams in the conference, but the conferences chances for two bids are fading with everyone beating everyone else up so much. Buffalo and Miami-Ohio (despite a solid RPI) both need to win out probably until the conference finals to have a chance at an at-large. Bottom line: There is still a ton of basketball yet to be played in the MAC.

We still like Creighton to win the MVC conference tourney. They have beaten Wichita St. twice and will do so again in the conference semis. For the second straight week we will probably be the only people without Wichita St. in and we are fine with that.

UTEP played itself into the bracket this week by winning three games. They need to still win out till the conference tourney final and at least have a strong showing against Nevada to get a bid. We no longer think St. Joe's has what it takes to win the A-10 conference tourney (see their loss at Rhode Island). GW needs to win out until the tourney championship game to hold on to an at-large. New Mexico has helped its at-large chances this week with its win over Utah, and if they can win out till the conference title game they hold on to slim hopes for an at-large bid.

Conference Breakdown
Big East (8), Big XII (6), ACC (5), SEC (5), C-USA (5), Big Ten (4), PAC-10 (4), MAC (2), MVC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
UTEP, Buffalo, Iowa State, Houston

Last Four Out
Wichita State, Indiana, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech

Atlantic Sun
Central Florida

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State

Big East
Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, West Virginia

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Louisville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Houston

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
PENN

MAAC
Rider

MCC
Oral Roberts

MAC
Miami-Ohio, Buffalo

MEAC
Coppin St.

MVC
Southern Illinois, Creighton

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Fairleigh Dickinson

Ohio Valley
Tennessee Tech

PAC-10
Arizona, Washington, Stanford, UCLA

Patriot
Holy Cross

SEC
Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State, LSU, Florida

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Alabama A&M

Sun Belt
Denver

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
Nevada, UTEP

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tiebreaker.

The Seeds

The 1s
Illinois, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Kansas

The 2s
Boston College, Duke, Kentucky, Washington

The 3s
Oklahoma State, Arizona, Gonzaga, Louisville

The 4s
Michigan State, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Syracuse

The 5s
Charlotte, Utah, Wisconsin, Alabama

The 6s
Cincinnati, Pacific, Villanova, Southern Illinois

The 7s
LSU, Nevada, Florida, Texas Tech

The 8s
Mississippi State, DePaul, UCLA, Texas

The 9s
Maryland, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh

The 10s
Holy Cross, Minnesota, St. Mary's, Stanford

The 11s
George Washington, Georgetown, West Virginia, Miami-Ohio

The 12s
UTEP, Buffalo, Vermont, Iowa State

The 13s
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Houston, Creighton, Old Dominion

The 14s
PENN, Davidson, Winthrop, Denver

The 15s
Oral Roberts, Rider, SE Louisiana, Central Florida

The 16s
Portland State, Tennessee Tech, Coppin St., Alabama A&M (Play-In Game), Fairleigh Dickinson (Play-In Game)

CAPS denotes automatic bid earned.

The Bracket

This Week's Bracket

Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves.

Questions? Comments? E-mail Chris and Craig at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

This is the latest edition of our popular weekly feature, where we call out our fellow bracketologists (including ourselves) and question why some teams are in, why some teams are out, and why some teams are seeded where they are seeded. It appears, just by looking at our rivals' predictions, that our questions and picks from last week have influenced their share of brackets.

This week's questions:

Joe Lunardi (ESPN)
Memphis wins two games and goes down a spot? Sounds like someone read last week's questions...
Should we really have to pay to read 90% of your site?
UAB last four out? West Virginia nowhere to be found?

Stewart Mandel (CNNSI)
What dorm did you live in at Marquette?
Miami over Virginia Tech? How is this possible?

Tony Mejia (CBS Sportsline)
How about a Monday update? Once?
Why so much faith in UTEP? Must be their recent hot streak.

Jerry Palm (CollegeRPI)
Are you and Lunardi waging some sort of Insider war?
Why do you rip Vanderbilt on the radio, and yet have them in this week's bracket?
ODU goes from a 6 to a 13? You're welcome for the advice.

David Mihm (Bracketography)
Where'd you get that Buffalo idea from?
I don't remember where I heard about Iowa State first...oh wait, yeah I do. Bracketology 101 - three days before you "broke the news."
Did you room with Mandel at Marquette?

Chris and Craig (Bracketology 101)
Which one of you went to Buffalo and which one of you went to Creighton?
How are those Oklahoma State and N.C. State picks working out for you?

Here are Chris and Craig's Field of 65 for Feb. 20:

The Breakdown
Big Conferences…The ACC has become a big mess. Georgia Tech saved itself winning at Florida State and should be able to get to 8-8 in conference so they hang on. Virginia Tech had a huge week and has the best chance of any of the ACC bubble teams to get to 9-7. Their RPI is still 100 but it will continue to improve. N.C. State also had a big week with its win over Maryland. Their two wins over Georgia Tech and Maryland is what lands them here this week. Their RPI is also poor but they have some good opportunities to get another big win and get to 8-8. Miami, who does have a decent RPI, will have a hard time getting in since they lost to Virginia Tech twice and with their schedule they probably won’t be able to get to 8-8 in conference. We still are not believers in Memphis. Their RPI should improve with the schedule they have upcoming but they will need to win 3 out of their remaining 4 (at Charlotte, Louisville, at Saint Louis, Cincinnati) to get a bid, which we don’t think is possible. If West Virginia can pull out a victory at Pitt that would put them in the bracket next week, especially considering their remaining games. South Carolina is back on the bubble but they will have trouble finishing any better then 8-8 in conference, which won’t be enough to get them in.

Small Conferences….People may be surprised to see Creighton in the bracket this week. They were given the automatic bid out of the MVC. Wichita State is no longer looking good for an at-large bid and their schedule does not get any easier, while Southern Illinois has got one almost locked up. History forced us to give the MVC two bids. In the past 6 years the regular season conference champion has lost in the conference tourney and still gotten an at-large bid. In the last 2 years, Southern Illinois has been that regular season conference champion. If Buffalo can finish up strong they have the best chance of being the #2 team out of the MAC. George Washington and St. Mary’s need to take care of business on the road this week if they want to see their names here next week. UTEP's loss at Pacific hurts; they have an easy schedule left but we think they won't get thru it unscathed. They have slim hopes for an at-large if they get through the rest of the season without losing until facing Nevada in the conference championship. If Nevada or Pacific falter in their conference tournaments then they will be stealing bids from the big conferences because they are near locks for at-large bids.

Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), ACC (7), Big XII (6), SEC (5), C-USA (4), Big Ten (4), PAC-10 (4), A-10 (2), MAC (2), MVC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
Minnesota, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Buffalo

Last Four Out
Miami-Fla., Memphis, West Virginia, South Carolina

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington, St. Joseph's

ACC
North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State

Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State

Big East
Boston College, Syracuse, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Louisville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Penn

MAAC
Niagara

MCC
Oral Roberts

MAC
Miami-Ohio, Buffalo

MEAC
Coppin St.

MVC
Southern Illinois, Creighton

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Fairleigh Dickinson

Ohio Valley
Tennessee Tech

PAC-10
Arizona, Washington, Stanford, UCLA

Patriot
Holy Cross

SEC
Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State, LSU, Florida

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Alabama A&M

Sun Belt
Denver

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
Nevada

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tiebreaker.

The Seeds

The 1s
Illinois, North Carolina, Boston College, Oklahoma State

The 2s
Wake Forest, Kansas, Duke, Arizona

The 3s
Kentucky, Washington, Gonzaga, Michigan State

The 4s
Alabama, Utah, Wisconsin, Connecticut

The 5s
Syracuse, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Charlotte

The 6s
Oklahoma, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Cincinnati

The 7s
Villanova, Nevada, Texas Tech, Notre Dame

The 8s
Florida, Maryland, LSU, Texas

The 9s
Mississippi State, DePaul, Iowa State, Miami-Ohio

The 10s
Georgia Tech, George Washington, Georgetown, Stanford

The 11s
St. Mary's, Vermont, UCLA, Minnesota

The 12s
North Carolina State, Buffalo, Virginia Tech, Holy Cross

The 13s
Old Dominion, St. Joseph's, Creighton, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The 14s
Niagara, Penn, Winthrop, Davidson

The 15s
Denver, Oral Roberts, SE Louisiana, Portland State

The 16s
Tennessee Tech, Coppin St., Gardner-Webb, Alabama A&M (Play-In Game), Fairleigh Dickinson (Play-In Game)

The Bracket

This Week's Bracket

Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves.

Questions? Comments? E-mail Chris and Craig at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

This is the first edition of a new weekly feature to Bracketology 101, where we call out our fellow bracketologists (including ourselves) and question why some teams are in, why some teams are out, and why some teams are seeded where they are seeded. The questions are based on original weekly picks, not on what has happened since picks were posted.

This week's questions:

Joe Lunardi (ESPN)
Can Indiana get a couple games above .500 before they reach "Last 4 Out" status?
Where's Iowa State and Arkansas? Behind Western Kentucky and UL-Lafayette?
How is Memphis a #9 seed?

Stewart Mandel (CNNSI)
What year did you graduate from Marquette?
UTEP and Nevada both a 12?

Tony Mejia (CBS Sportsline)
Did Memphis crack the RPI top 100 yet? (Nope - 109)
Iowa State - at large and bubble burst?
How about a Monday - and not a Wednesday - update?

Jerry Palm (CollegeRPI)
West Virginia "Last 4 Out"?
Would ODU ever get a #6 seed?

David Mihm (Bracketography)
If the season "ended today," how would TCU, Boston University, and Kent State be in?
Wichita State a 6 seed?
How does Iowa go from out to in? A "gutsy" loss and a win at home over a .500 team? Really, that gets them in?

Chris and Craig (Bracketology 101)
Why do you still have faith in UAB? Is it all those wins over Top 50 RPI teams?
Why did the first believers in LSU jump ship so quickly?

Here are Chris and Craig's Field of 65 for Feb. 14:

The Breakdown
Quite a few changes from last week's picks. With less then 3 weeks left until conference tourney time we really looked ahead at the remaining schedules for each bubble team. However the seeding is always done based upon what each teams has done so far. Bracket Buster Saturday will be huge.

Big Conferences....Iowa St. has come out of no where to win 5 straight including games over Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. With their remaining schedule they should finish at least 9-7 in conference if not 10-6. Their RPI is still weak but that should continue to improve with each win. Stanford really benefited from ASU's collapse this week and even though they lost their leading scorer they should be able to get to 10-8 in conference which would give them a bid. Minnesota nearly played themselves out of the tourney this week losing two winnable games but they hung on because of their medicore remaining schedule. LSU and Arkansas both need to get some more marquee wins and are hurt by the weakness of the SEC this year. It will be tough for Arkansas to get over .500 in conference and the way LSU is playing right now doesn't bode well given their remaining schedule. With Iowa already being 4-6 in conference it is going to be very tough for them to finish any better then 7-9 in conference with what they have left.

Small Conferences....UTEP is barely hanging on but their remaining conference games are all winnable and they have a chance to prove themselves worthy at Pacific on Saturday. Seeing St. Joe's and BU in the bracket this week might be surprising to many of you. But we are standing by our words from last week when we said more small conference teams will be given bids to make the bracket more realistic, so both teams are in as automatic bids this week. BU proved they can beat Vermont this week and even if they don't beat them in the conference championship if things break their way they have a legitimate shot at an at-large bid as long as they win out. St. Joes has no chance at an at-large bid but with GW looking more like an at-large lock its more likely to see another team come out of the A-10. St. Joes is looking like the team that has the best shot to knock GW off in the conference tourney. If Xavier gets hot watch for them since they A-10 conference tourney is in Cinci. In the coming weeks the MAC may be able to secure another spot in our bracket. We expect another team from the MAC East to step up in the remaining weeks to join Miami-Ohio as a second bid out of a relatively strong conference.

Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), ACC (6), Big XII (6), C-USA (5), Big Ten (4), SEC (4), PAC-10 (4), A-10 (2), America East (2), MVC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
UTEP, Minnesota, Iowa State, Stanford

Last Four Out
LSU, Arkansas, Iowa, TCU

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont, Boston University

A-10
George Washington, St. Joseph's

ACC
North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Miami-Fla.

Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State

Big East
Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Villanova, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, Charlotte, UAB

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Penn

MAAC
Niagara

MCC
Oral Roberts

MAC
Miami-Ohio

MEAC
Coppin St.

MVC
Southern Illinois, Wichita State

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Monmouth

Ohio Valley
Samford

PAC-10
Arizona, Washington, UCLA, Stanford

Patriot
Holy Cross

SEC
Kentucky, Alabama, Miss. St., Florida

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Alabama A&M

Sun Belt
Western Kentucky

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
Nevada, UTEP

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tiebreaker.

The Seeds

The 1s
Illinois, Kansas, Wake Forest, North Carolina

The 2s
Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Duke, Boston College

The 3s
Syracuse, Arizona, Washington, Gonzaga

The 4s
Michigan State, Alabama, Utah, Wisconsin

The 5s
Connecticut, Louisville, Maryland, Pittsburgh

The 6s
Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, DePaul

The 7s
Florida, Pacific, Charlotte, Georgetown

The 8s
Texas Tech, Southern Illinois, Villanova, Nevada

The 9s
Texas, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Wichita State

The 10s
George Washington, Vermont, UCLA, St. Mary's

The 11s
Miami-Fla, UAB, Minnesota, Stanford

The 12s
Miami-Ohio, Old Dominion, UTEP, Iowa State

The 13s
St. Joseph's, Boston University, Holy Cross, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The 14s
Niagara, Penn, Western Kentucky, Davidson

The 15s
Winthrop, Portland State, SE Louisiana, Oral Roberts

The 16s
Gardner-Webb, Samford, Coppin St., Alabama A&M (Play-In Game), Monmouth (Play-In Game)

The Bracket

This Week's Bracket

Bracket graphic courtesy Matt Reeves.

Here are Chris and Craig's Bracketology 101 selections for Feb. 7:

The Breakdown
Not too many changes from last week. The reason that Marquette gets a bid this week is because they have 2 winnable road games this week and a favorable schedule after that (since they have only one more road game left). Stanford who we have left out has a similar situation with only 2 road games left and could very well finish up 6-1 in Pac-10 play, but Marquette gets the nod over them because of their better out of conference play and overall record. LSU hangs on for another week because they have 2 winnable conference games this week. Texas A&M continues to be plagued by their low RPI. Notre Dame really could have used that win at Syracuse on Saturday. Things don't get any easier for them with BC coming in and playing at Pitt this week. We think ND can pull off an upset in one of these games but if they can't, then don't expect to see them here next week. Having the toughest Big East schedule in the league will help there RPI and make up for a weak out of conference showing but if that leads to a .500 or worse conference record they will be left out of the dance.

Mid-Major/Small Conference ramblings....There are a number of teams coming from one bid conferences right now that have a good chance of getting an at large bid if they did not win their conference tourneys. Utah and Pacific (unless they get screwed like Utah St. did last year) should both receive at-large berths, while Vermont and GW also have resumes that would land them on the bubble. Every year upsets happen in conference tourney's which end up costing the big conferences at-large berths and we don't expect this year to be any different. Starting next week we will try to predict some of the potential upsets by looking at past conference tourney history and by looking at the venues where conference tourney's are being held this year. This will give a more realistic bracket in terms of the number of at-large berths that the big conferences will be fighting for.

Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), ACC (6), C-USA (6), Big XII (5), Big Ten (5), SEC (5), PAC-10 (4), MVC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
UTEP, Miami-Fla., LSU, Marquette

Last Four Out
Texas A&M, South Carolina, Stanford, Boston University

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami-Fla.

Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech

Big East
Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Villanova, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Cincinnati, Louisville, Charlotte, DePaul, UAB, Marquette

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Penn

MAAC
Rider

MCC
UMKC

MAC
Miami-Ohio

MEAC
Coppin St.

MVC
Southern Ill., Wichita State

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Monmouth

Ohio Valley
Samford

PAC-10
Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State

Patriot
Holy Cross

SEC
Kentucky, Miss. St., Alabama, Florida, LSU

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Alabama A&M

Sun Belt
Denver

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
UTEP, Nevada

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tiebreaker.

The Seeds

The 1s
Illinois, Boston College, North Carolina, Kansas

The 2s
Wake Forest, Duke, Kentucky, Oklahoma State

The 3s
Syracuse, Washington, Louisville, Arizona

The 4s
Oklahoma, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Wisconsin

The 5s
Cincinnati, Alabama, Utah, Pittsburgh

The 6s
Connecticut, Texas Tech, Texas, Mississippi State

The 7s
Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Pacific, Florida

The 8s
Villanova, Wichita State, Maryland, Georgetown

The 9s
Southern Illinois, St. Mary's, Charlotte, Depaul

The 10s
Vermont, Nevada, UAB, Iowa

The 11s
George Washington, Notre Dame, UCLA, Arizona State

The 12s
Miami-Ohio, LSU, UTEP, Miami-Fla.

The 13s
Marquette, Holy Cross, Old Dominion, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The 14s
Rider, Penn, Denver, Davidson

The 15s
Winthrop, Portland State, SE Louisiana, Gardner-Webb

The 16s
UMKC, Samford, Coppin St., Alabama A&M (Play-In Game), Monmouth (Play-In Game)

Here are Chris and Craig's Bracketology 101 selections for Jan. 31:

The Breakdown
LSU gets in this week because they are 4-2 in the SEC and they have two winnable road games this week. UAB gets the nod over Marquette because they are two games better then them in conference and we predict that UAB will win at Marquette on Wednesday night. Texas A & M gets the axe because of there upcoming tough schedule which we predict they will not fair well with.

Seeding of teams will start next week.

Conference Breakdown: Big East (7), ACC (6), PAC-10 (5), Big XII (5), Big Ten (5), C-USA (5), SEC (5), MVC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
LSU, UAB, Minnesota, Miami-Fla.

Last Four Out
Marquette, Western Michigan, Texas A&M, Oregon

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami-Fla.

Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb

Big 12
Kansas, Oklahoma St., Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech

Big East
Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Villanova, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Cincinnati, Louisville, Charlotte, DePaul, UAB

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Princeton

MAAC
Rider

MCC
UMKC

MAC
Miami-Ohio

MEAC
Coppin St.

MVC
Southern Ill., Wichita State

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Monmouth

Ohio Valley
Tennessee Tech

PAC-10
Washington, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State

Patriot
Bucknell

SEC
Kentucky, Miss. St., Alabama, Florida, LSU

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Miss. Valley St.

Sun Belt
UL-Lafayette

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
UTEP, Nevada

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tie-breaker.

Here are Chris and Craig's Bracketology selections for Jan. 24:

Week In Review
The PAC-10 was tough this week. Stanford has been on a roll, while Oregon, UCLA, and ASU have all been stumbling. ASU gets in ahead of the other 3 because of their wins over Vandy, Temple, and Santa Clara out of conference and they have won at both Oregon and Stanford in conference. Oregon has the strongest RPI and no bad losses and although Stanford had some bad out of conference losses early in the season they have won four in a row including a win against Arizona and at UCLA. UCLA has the worst RPI out of the 4 and has lost its last 3 games which overshadows their previous wins over Oregon, Washington, and ASU.

Some may still think that UCLA deserves a bid over GW or Temple. Temple gets the automatic bid out of the A-10 since they will probably only lose 2 or 3 games in conference since they have already won at Xavier and UMass and have an easy schedule from here on out. GW still deserves an at-large bid because of their out of conference wins against Michigan State and Maryland. Minnesota and UAB have yet to beat anyone so they don't deserve a bid and Indiana still has some work to do to make up for their poor start.

We welcome your comments and questions.

Conference Breakdown: Big East (7), ACC (6), Big XII (6), PAC-10 (5), C-USA (5), Big Ten (4), SEC (4), A-10 (2), MVC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2).

Last Four In
George Washington, Oregon, Texas A&M, Stanford

Last Four Out
UCLA, Minnesota, UAB, Indiana

The Field Of 65

America East
Vermont

A-10
Temple, George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Miami, Maryland

Atlantic Sun
Mercer

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Big East
Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, UConn, Notre Dame, Villanova, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Cincinnati, Marquette, Louisville, Charlotte, DePaul

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Princeton

MAAC
Fairfield

MCC
UMKC

MAC
Western Michigan

MEAC
Norfolk State

MVC
Southern Ill., Wichita State

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Monmouth

Ohio Valley
Samford

PAC-10
Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Arizona State, Stanford

Patriot
Bucknell

SEC
Kentucky, Miss. St., Alabama, Florida

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Southern

Sun Belt
Ark.-Little Rock

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
UTEP, Nevada

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tie-breaker.

Here are Chris and Craig's Bracketology selections for the week of Jan. 17:

A reminder...we make more of a prediction then projection with this picks. You may be asking what is the difference. The other bracketologists out there make projections and tell you who they think would make the tournament if they picked the field today. We do a little bit of that in our picks but we also try to look ahead to March and predict what will happen. That is why we don't have 7 teams in from any major conferences and why we have given many small conferences two spots. That is how things will shake out come conference tourney time when there are upsets in conference tourney's and small conference powers who should be getting the automatic bids start stealing at-large spots. So its not realistic to give 7 conferences all 34 of the at-large bids because it simply will not happen. This is typically what many other bracketologists do and is a major reason why this site was started. Our picks are more realistic and give you better insight into what your team needs to do to make the tourney.

We welcome your comments and responses to our picks and we stand behind them (except for the small conferences-- we put little to no thought into the MEAC's and SWAC's of the college basketball world, but we will once their conference schedule progresses). Keep in mind that these picks were posted Jan. 17 and this week's will surely change them.

Conference Breakdown: ACC (6), Big East (6), Big XII (6), Big Ten (6), SEC (5), PAC-10 (5), C-USA (5), WAC (2), WCC (2)

Last Four In
Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Minnesota, UTEP

Last Four Out
NC State, West Virginia, UAB, Wichita St.

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tie-breaker.

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Miami, Maryland

Atlantic Sun
Mercer

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Big East
Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, UConn, Notre Dame, Georgetown

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Cincinnati, Marquette, Louisville, Charlotte, DePaul

Horizon
Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy
Princeton

MAAC
Fairfield

MCC
UMKC

MAC
Western Michigan

MEAC
Norfolk State

MVC
Southern Ill.

MWC
Utah

Northeast
Monmouth

Ohio Valley
Samford

PAC-10
Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State

Patriot
Bucknell

SEC
Kentucky, Miss. St., Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt

Southern
Davidson

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Southern

Sun Belt
Ark.-Little Rock

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
UTEP, Nevada

Here are Chris and Craig's long-awaited first Bracketology selections of the season...

Now, some of you fellow bracketlogist wannabe's may think some of our picks are absurd but first listen to our theory. We are not like all of the other so-called bracketologists (i.e. Joe Lunardi) making our picks. That is because we make more of a prediction then projection. You may be asking what is the difference. The other bracketologists out there make projections and tell you who they think would make the tournament if they picked the field today. We do a little bit of that in our picks but we also try to look ahead to March and predict what will happen. That is why we don't have 7 teams in from any major conferences and why we have given many small conferences two spots. That is how things will shake out come conference tourney time when there are upsets in conference tourney's and small conference powers who should be getting the automatic bids start stealing at-large spots. So its not realistic to give 7 conferences all 34 of the at-large bids because it simply will not happen. This is typically what many other bracketologists do and is a major reason why this site was started. Our picks are more realistic and give you better insight into what your team needs to do to make the tourney.

We welcome your comments and responses to our picks and we stand behind them (except for the small conferences-- we put little to no thought into the MEAC's and SWAC's of the college basketball world, but we will once their conference schedule progresses). Keep in mind that these picks were posted Jan. 14 and weekend games will surely change them.

Conference Breakdown: ACC (6), SEC (6), Big XII (5), Big East (5), Big Ten (5), PAC-10 (5), C-USA (4), MAC (2), MVC (2), MWC (2), WAC (2), WCC (2)

Last Four In
Nevada, Utah, Charlotte, Kent. St.

Last Four Out
Depaul, WVU, Villanova, Virginia

*Note - In the conferences where mulitple bids were given the first place team was given the automatic bid. In the case of a tie, overall record was the tie-breaker.

America East
Vermont

A-10
George Washington

ACC
North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Miami, Maryland

Atlantic Sun
Gardner Webb

Big 12
Oklahoma St., Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

Big East
Syracuse, Pitt, UConn, Boston College, Notre Dame

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
Winthrop

Big Ten
Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota

Big West
Pacific

Colonial
Old Dominion

C-USA
Cincinnati, Marquette, Louisville, Charlotte

Horizon
Wisconsin-Green Bay

Ivy
Princeton

MAAC
Niagara

MCC
Oral Roberts

MAC
Western Michigan, Kent St.

MEAC
Norfolk State

MVC
Wichita State, Southern Ill.

MWC
New Mexico, Utah

Northeast
St. Francis (PA)

Ohio Valley
Murray State

PAC-10
Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon

Patriot
Bucknell

SEC
Kentucky, Miss. St., Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Vanderbilt

Southern
UT-Chattanooga

Southland
SE Louisiana

SWAC
Southern

Sun Belt
Middle Tenn St.

WCC
Gonzaga, St. Mary's

WAC
UTEP, Nevada