Editor's note: Teams preceded by their conference name are expected to win their league's automatic bid.

March 23/Storrs, Conn.
(1) Connecticut vs. (16) SOUTHLAND/Texas-San Antonio
(8) Auburn vs. (9) HORIZON/Wisconsin-Green Bay
March 22/Eugene, Ore.
(5) Utah vs. (12) MVC/Indiana St.
(4) Vanderbilt vs. (13) BIG SKY/Weber State
March 23/Ruston, La.
(3) WAC/Louisiana Tech vs. (14) BIG SOUTH/Liberty
(6) South Carolina vs. (11) SOUTHERN/Chattanooga
March 22/West Lafayette, Ind.
(7) Washington vs. (10) Charlotte
(2) Purdue vs. (15) AMERICA EAST/Maine

TEAM	THUMBS UP	THUMBS DOWN
1. Connecticut	24-0	Three of next four on road
2. Purdue	6-1 vs. RPI Top 25	Four road losses
3. Louisiana Tech	19 straight wins	No. 97 in SOS
4. Vanderbilt	No. 3 in strength of schedule	Seven losses
5. Utah	8-1 conference record	No. 64 in SOS
6. South Carolina	7-4 on road/neutral sites	3-6 vs. RPI Top 25
7. Washington	10-5 vs. RPI Top 100	No. 85 in SOS
8. Auburn	No. 31 RPI	1-6 vs. RPI Top-25
9. Wisconsin-Green Bay	9-1 in last 10 games	No. 148 in SOS
10. Charlotte	9-1 in last 10 games	No. 115 in SOS
11. Chattanooga	12-2 league record	Zero RPI Top-50 wins
12. Indiana State	7-3 in last 10	Four sub-100 RPI losses
Note: SOS refers to strength of schedule; CollegeRPI.com used as reference; teams expected to be invited solely by virtue of their conference's automatic bid are not included in this analysis.

Charlie Creme was a writer and editor at Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook for 11 years. Click here to send him a question about his bracket projections.