| | The only thing better than a great ending to the Super Bowl is the end of
football season itself (just kidding, Mr. Tagliabue). What it really means
is that college basketball takes center stage and that the heart of
conference play is upon us.
Most conferences are at or near the halfway point of their respective
seasons. As such, our NCAA Tournament projections become considerably more
focused. The number of so-called "bubble" schools also increases, as teams
in traditional multi-bid conferences are so tightly bunched.
We'll sort it out each week in this same space. This Monday, the big
winners are the ACC, Conference USA and SEC; losing at-large bids from last
week are the MAC, Mountain West and WAC.
West Region
March 16, 2000/Salt Lake City, Utah
(1) Stanford vs. (16) TAAC/Troy State
(8) Maryland vs. (9) Pepperdine
(5) Temple vs. (12) Michigan
(4) Kansas vs. (13) MCC/Cleveland State
March 16, 2000/Tucson, Ariz.
(3) Connecticut vs. (14) MAAC/Siena
(6) Utah vs. (11) UNC Charlotte
(7) Purdue vs. (10) Missouri
(2) Tennessee vs. (15) BIG SKY/Eastern Washington
Midwest Region
March 16, 2000/Cleveland
(1) Cincinnati vs. (16) SWAC/Southern
(8) LSU vs. (9) St. Bonaventure
(5) Tulsa vs. (12) BIG WEST/Long Beach State
(4) Texas vs. (13) OVC/Southeast Missouri State
March 16, 2000/Minneapolis
(3) Auburn vs. (14) SOUTHERN/Appalachian State
(6) St. John's vs. (11) Indiana State
(7) UCLA vs. (10) Virginia
(2) Indiana vs. (15) SLC/Sam Houston State
East Region
March 17, 2000/Winston-Salem, N.C.
(1) Duke vs. (16) MID-CONT/Youngstown State
(8) Kent vs. (9) Southern California
(5) Oklahoma vs. (12) Illinois
(4) Florida vs. (13) A-EAST/Hofstra
March 17, 2000/Buffalo, N.Y.
(3) Ohio State vs. (14) NEC/Central Connecticut State
(6) Dayton vs. (11) Tulane
(7) Vanderbilt vs. (10) Seton Hall
(2) Arizona vs. (15) PATRIOT/Lafayette
South Region
March 17, 2000/Nashville, Tenn.
(1) Syracuse vs. (16) MEAC/South Carolina State
(8) North Carolina State vs. (9) Gonzaga
(5) Oregon vs. (12) Saint Louis
(4) Oklahoma State vs. (13) SUN BELT/Louisiana-Lafayette
March 17, 2000/Birmingham, Ala.
(3) Kentucky vs. (14) CAA/George Mason
(6) Iowa State vs. (11) IVY/Princeton
(7) North Carolina vs. (10) DePaul
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) BIG SOUTH/Radford
Blue Ribbon bits
Teams preceded by their conference name in all caps are the current
league (or RPI) leaders. Teams from multiple-bid conferences, or who would
earn an at-large bid regardless of their league position, are listed
without such a prefix.
prefix.
The Mountain West and WAC are without automatic bids this season.
Thus, there are only 29 conferences (instead of the maximum 30) which will
place an automatic qualifier into the NCAA field this year.
Please note that Syracuse (East) and Texas (South) cannot be placed in
their respective regions, as each host a regional final this year. Another
bracketing note: Cleveland State, the current leader of the Midwestern
Collegiate Conference, may not play in Cleveland as a host school in the
Midwest Region.
Who's hot? The following projected tourney teams are 10-0 in their last
10 games: Cincinnati, Duke, Syracuse, Long Beach State and Central
Connecticut State. Bet you didn't know that both Duke and Central
Connecticut share the same nickname (Blue Devils).
Conference USA is up to five bids this week (from three), but its final
three entries -- Tulane, UNC Charlotte and Saint Louis -- were among the last
four teams making this field. The league is so tightly bunched that
Marquette and Louisville dropped out of the NCAA projections for now. One wonders if Cincinnati's dominance may ultimately hurt C-USA in its pursuit of additional at-large positions.
Moving up (alphabetical order): Bowling Green, Central Connecticut State,
Cleveland State, Dayton, DePaul, Indiana State, Fresno State, LSU,
Louisiana-Lafayette (formerly Southwestern Louisiana), Miami, North
Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Pepperdine,
Radford, Saint Louis, Sam Houston State, Southeast Missouri State,
Southwest Missouri State, Troy State, UNLV, Virginia, Wisconsin, Youngstown
State.
Going down (alphabetical order): BYU, Colorado, Hofstra, Louisville, Marquette,
Michigan, North Carolina State, Purdue, St. Bonaventure, SMU, Vanderbilt.
Multiple-conference breakdown: Big Ten (6), Big 12 (6), SEC (6), ACC (5),
Conference USA (5), Pac-10 (5), Big East (4), Atlantic 10 (3), WCC (2)
Last four in: Tulane, UNC Charlotte, Michigan, Saint Louis.
Last four out: Notre Dame, Fresno State, SMU, Wake Forest.
Joe Lunardi can be contacted at "jlunardi@sju.edu". He will also appear Monday nights (10:20 p.m. ET) and Saturday afternoons (2:20 p.m. ET) on ESPN Radio and chat every Friday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.com.
To order the adidas Blue Ribbon Tournament Preview, call 1-800-828-HOOP
(4667). This 80-page volume is prepared on Selection Sunday and rushed to
you in time for first-round games. BLUE RIBBON postseason reports -- including new online editions -- are also available at www.collegebaskets.com.
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