Feedback, please.
My take is that the list has Maryland as a tournament lock, but I'm unsure. IMO, Maryland is in the same spot Rutgers was in a few years ago. They are unbeatable at home but can't get important wins on the road. If Maryland is to secure a spot in the field of 68, they need to win on the road and have two shots at it. I feel this year, you have fewer questions about which team is in and which team is out. The biggest remaining question is seeding for most of the teams outside of the top 16.
Current NET ranking is noted in parentheses.
FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played February 26)
PROJECTED 1-BID CONFERENCES (current leader/highest remaining conference tournament seed) (23)
1 America East: Vermont (123)
2 ASUN: Kennesaw State (120)
3 Atlantic 10: VCU (68)
4 Big Sky: Eastern Washington (118)
5 Big South: UNC-Asheville (140)
6 Big West: UC-Irvine (95)
7 Colonial: Hofstra (86)
8 Conference USA: FAU (19)
9 Horizon: Youngstown State (114)
10 Ivy: Yale (66)
11 Metro Atlantic: Iona (58)
12 MAC: Toledo (85)
13 MEAC: Howard (235)
14 Missouri Valley: Bradley (56)
15 NEC: Fairleigh Dickinson (307)
16 OVC: Morehead State (221)
17 Patriot: Colgate (99)
18 SoCon: Furman (88)
19 Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (194)
20 SWAC: Alcorn State (248)
21 Summit: Oral Roberts (44)
22 Sun Belt: Marshall (77)
23 WAC: Utah Valley (82)
An * denotes the automatic qualifier in a multiple-bid conference.
TOURNAMENT LOCKS (27)
1 *Houston (1)
2 *Alabama (2)
3 Tennessee (3)
4 *UCLA (4)
5 *Purdue (5)
6 *Kansas (6)
7 *Saint Mary’s (7)
8 UConn (8)
9 Gonzaga (9)
10 Texas (10)
11 Arizona (11)
12 Baylor (12)
13 *Marquette (13)
14 Arkansas (14)
15 *San Diego State (15)
16 Creighton (16)
17 Kansas State (17)
18 Indiana (18)
19 Kentucky (20)
20 Maryland (21)
21 TCU (22)
22 Duke (24)
23 Xavier (25)
24 Virginia (28)
25 Miami (35)
26 Northwestern (41)
27 *Pitt (53)
IN THE FIELD/WIN 1 TO BECOME A LOCK (10)
1 Iowa State (23)
2 Texas A&M (27)
3 Nevada (30)
4 Rutgers (32)
5 Michigan State (33)
6 Illinois (34)
7 Providence (37)
8 Iowa (43)
9 USC (45)
10 Missouri (49)
IN THE FIELD/WIN 2 TO BECOME A LOCK (2)
1 Boise State (29)
2 Memphis (38)
SQUARELY ON THE BUBBLE/IN THE FIELD (6) – this gets us to 68 teams in the field.
1 West Virginia (26) -- LAST 4 IN
2 Auburn (36) -- LAST 4 IN
3 Mississippi State (39)
4 NC State (42)
5 Michigan (55) – LAST TEAM IN
6 Arizona State (61) -- LAST 4 IN
SQUARELY ON THE BUBBLE/OUT OF THE FIELD (7)
1 Utah State (31)
2 Oklahoma State (46) – FIRST TEAM OUT
3 North Carolina (47)
4 College of Charleston (51) -- FIRST 4 OUT
5 Penn State (59)
6 Clemson (60) -- FIRST 4 OUT
7 Wisconsin (72) -- FIRST 4 OUT
LONGSHOTS HANGING BY A STRING (5)
1 New Mexico (48)
2 North Texas (50)
3 Oregon (52)
4 Texas Tech (54)
5 Wake Forest (84)
_________________________
Last 4 In: West Virginia (26), Auburn (36), Michigan (55), Arizona State (61)
First 4 Out: Oklahoma State (46), College of Charleston (51), Clemson (60), Wisconsin (72)
Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (4): Gonzaga (9), Boise State (29), Nevada (30), Memphis (38)
First 4 Automatic Qualifiers: Morehead State (221), Howard (235), Alcorn State (248), Fairleigh Dickinson (307)
___________________________
In With the New (3): Arizona State, Bradley, Furman
Out With the Old (3): Drake, Samford, Wisconsin
My take is that the list has Maryland as a tournament lock, but I'm unsure. IMO, Maryland is in the same spot Rutgers was in a few years ago. They are unbeatable at home but can't get important wins on the road. If Maryland is to secure a spot in the field of 68, they need to win on the road and have two shots at it. I feel this year, you have fewer questions about which team is in and which team is out. The biggest remaining question is seeding for most of the teams outside of the top 16.
Current NET ranking is noted in parentheses.
FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played February 26)
PROJECTED 1-BID CONFERENCES (current leader/highest remaining conference tournament seed) (23)
1 America East: Vermont (123)
2 ASUN: Kennesaw State (120)
3 Atlantic 10: VCU (68)
4 Big Sky: Eastern Washington (118)
5 Big South: UNC-Asheville (140)
6 Big West: UC-Irvine (95)
7 Colonial: Hofstra (86)
8 Conference USA: FAU (19)
9 Horizon: Youngstown State (114)
10 Ivy: Yale (66)
11 Metro Atlantic: Iona (58)
12 MAC: Toledo (85)
13 MEAC: Howard (235)
14 Missouri Valley: Bradley (56)
15 NEC: Fairleigh Dickinson (307)
16 OVC: Morehead State (221)
17 Patriot: Colgate (99)
18 SoCon: Furman (88)
19 Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (194)
20 SWAC: Alcorn State (248)
21 Summit: Oral Roberts (44)
22 Sun Belt: Marshall (77)
23 WAC: Utah Valley (82)
An * denotes the automatic qualifier in a multiple-bid conference.
TOURNAMENT LOCKS (27)
1 *Houston (1)
2 *Alabama (2)
3 Tennessee (3)
4 *UCLA (4)
5 *Purdue (5)
6 *Kansas (6)
7 *Saint Mary’s (7)
8 UConn (8)
9 Gonzaga (9)
10 Texas (10)
11 Arizona (11)
12 Baylor (12)
13 *Marquette (13)
14 Arkansas (14)
15 *San Diego State (15)
16 Creighton (16)
17 Kansas State (17)
18 Indiana (18)
19 Kentucky (20)
20 Maryland (21)
21 TCU (22)
22 Duke (24)
23 Xavier (25)
24 Virginia (28)
25 Miami (35)
26 Northwestern (41)
27 *Pitt (53)
IN THE FIELD/WIN 1 TO BECOME A LOCK (10)
1 Iowa State (23)
2 Texas A&M (27)
3 Nevada (30)
4 Rutgers (32)
5 Michigan State (33)
6 Illinois (34)
7 Providence (37)
8 Iowa (43)
9 USC (45)
10 Missouri (49)
IN THE FIELD/WIN 2 TO BECOME A LOCK (2)
1 Boise State (29)
2 Memphis (38)
SQUARELY ON THE BUBBLE/IN THE FIELD (6) – this gets us to 68 teams in the field.
1 West Virginia (26) -- LAST 4 IN
2 Auburn (36) -- LAST 4 IN
3 Mississippi State (39)
4 NC State (42)
5 Michigan (55) – LAST TEAM IN
6 Arizona State (61) -- LAST 4 IN
SQUARELY ON THE BUBBLE/OUT OF THE FIELD (7)
1 Utah State (31)
2 Oklahoma State (46) – FIRST TEAM OUT
3 North Carolina (47)
4 College of Charleston (51) -- FIRST 4 OUT
5 Penn State (59)
6 Clemson (60) -- FIRST 4 OUT
7 Wisconsin (72) -- FIRST 4 OUT
LONGSHOTS HANGING BY A STRING (5)
1 New Mexico (48)
2 North Texas (50)
3 Oregon (52)
4 Texas Tech (54)
5 Wake Forest (84)
_________________________
Last 4 In: West Virginia (26), Auburn (36), Michigan (55), Arizona State (61)
First 4 Out: Oklahoma State (46), College of Charleston (51), Clemson (60), Wisconsin (72)
Non-Power 6 At-Large Bids (4): Gonzaga (9), Boise State (29), Nevada (30), Memphis (38)
First 4 Automatic Qualifiers: Morehead State (221), Howard (235), Alcorn State (248), Fairleigh Dickinson (307)
___________________________
In With the New (3): Arizona State, Bradley, Furman
Out With the Old (3): Drake, Samford, Wisconsin