BRACKETOLOGY: March 3, 2007 7:45 am (Welcome Penn)

Mid-Continent: Oral Roberts has already beaten Kansas, Montana and Seton Hall out of conference this year. They return much of the team that went to the tournament last year and got screwed with a 16-seed. Oakland, the second place team, did beat ORU in the final game of the regular season. However, that game was at Oakland and the conference tournament will be in ORU's hometown of Tulsa. Oral Roberts will repeat.

Big Sky: With a conference so cluttered, it's difficult to pick. No one in this tournament has a league record below .500. Something has got to give. Well, good thing Weber St swept Northern Arizona in the regular season because that won the Bobcats the tiebreaker and got them the home court for the semi-finals and finals. The Dee Events Center will be the X-factor and the reason Weber St wins this tournament.

Last Four In: Missouri St, Drexel, Creighton, Syracuse
Last Four Out: West Virginia, Michigan, Alabama, San Diego St

East
1.Wisconsin16.Delaware St Chicago, IL
8.Stanford9.Villanova
5.Virginia Tech12.Drexel Buffalo, NY
4.Vanderbilt13.Vermont
6.Louisville11.Creighton Columbus, OH
3.Texas14.Toledo
7.UNLV10.USC Winston-Salem, NC
2.North Carolina15.Sam Houston St
West
1.UCLA16.Weber St Sacramento, CA
8.Kentucky9.Marquette
5.Nevada12.Missouri St Spokane, WA
4.Maryland13.Holy Cross
6.Duke11.Air Force New Orleans, LA
3.Texas A&M14.Oral Roberts
7.Michigan St10.Old Dominion Buffalo, NY
2.Pittsburgh15.East Tennessee St
Midwest
1.Ohio St16.Austin Peay Lexington, KY
8.Arizona9.Georgia Tech
5.Notre Dame12.Gonzaga Spokane, WA
4.Tennessee13.Virginia Commonwealth
6.Oregon11.Syracuse Columbus, OH
3.Southern Illinois14.Marist
7.Boston College10.Purdue Lexington, KY
2.Memphis15.Long Beach St
South
1.Kansas16.Central Connecticut/Mississippi Valley St Chicago, IL
8.Xavier9.Indiana
5.Virginia12.Winthrop Sacramento, CA
4.Washington St13.Davidson
6.BYU11.Texas Tech Winston-Salem, NC
3.Georgetown14.Penn(IVY)
7.Butler10.Illinois New Orleans, LA
2.Florida15.South Alabama

Bracketology: More Conference Tournaments

I want to apologize for this not being updated in a couple days, but I've had the flu and the only thing I've been able to do consistently is sleep and talk to the porcelain god (I know...TMI). So I'm doing previews for tournaments that have already started.

Atlantic Sun: So we're down to the final four and I believe it's a two-team race. The defending Champion Belmont and this year's regular season champion East Tennessee St. East Tennessee St went 16-2 in league play and has the home court for the tournament. However, one of those losses came to Belmont at home. I'm picking the Belmont Bruins to repeat.

Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois was the dominant team in this league while the rest of the MVC cannabilized itself. Weird things happen in this tournament though. The #1 seed hasn't won the championship since 1998 and I'm willing to bet that it's not going to happen this year either. Two teams will be extremely motivated this weekend, Bradley and Missouri St. I got Missouri St taking the title and getting rid of the bitter taste in its mouth after missing the Big Dance last year.

Northeast: This is another tournament that's already down to the semi-finals. I see nothing but chalk here. Central Connecticut won the regular season and it's 6-0 against the other three semi-finalist. We like the other Blue Devils in the NEC.

Colonial: This a tough one to call. Any of the top four seeds could win it and it wouldn't be a surprise. In this situation, I'm going with the hottest team. The Old Dominion Monarchs have had a fantastic season finishing in second place. They've hit their stride at the right time of the year and looks good for the Big Dance whether they win or not. Expect to see ODU versus the Drexel Dragons on Monday. Expect to see both their names called on Selection Sunday regardless of who wins.

Metro Atlantic: Seven teams in this conference finished with league records of .500 or better which makes for a competitive tournament. However, Marist is on a roll and is the best team in this conference. Not only are the Foxes dangerous here, they'll also be a tough out in the Big Dance too.

West Coast: Gonzaga and Santa Clara, the top two seeds don't have to lace them up until Sunday even though their opponents may have had to play twice just in two days. It's a format that I believe more mid-major conferences should adopt to make sure their best teams represent them in the NCAA tournament. Santa Clara could've won the league outright but lost its last two games. It seems they couldn't handle prosperity very well, but they'll be chasing Gonzaga again. The Ghosts of Steve Nash are revisited...Santa Clara goes dancing.

Bracketology Addendum

Knee-jerk reactions leave people upset on Selection Sunday. For instance, Syracuse got a big late-season win over Georgetown last night and now everybody on planet Earth is declaring them in the tournament. I need everybody to slow down because if Syracuse is a lock then Old Dominion is a lock. Old Dominion actually beat the Hoyas AT Georgetown and have the same amount of RPI top-50 wins. I'm not saying Syracuse shouldn't be in, but I am saying is there is a lot of basketball left. Enough for Syracuse to cement its status or to play itself out of consideration. Remember, Florida St had a big late-season win over Duke, who ended being a #1 seed, last year and they wound up in the NIT. Watch yourselves folks.

Patriot League: Holy Cross has to be sick. SICK. Sick of Bucknell. In 2003 and 2004 the Crusaders made the tournament and almost pulled off upsets both times. In 2005, after having another great year, they were upset in conference championship game by Bucknell. Then they had to sit back and watch Bucknell beat Kansas, the team it had on the ropes in 2003. Last year, Holy Cross had a good year, but Bucknell probably had the best year ever for a Patriot League team and won another game in the Big Dance. Expect the Bison and Crusaders to hook up one more time for the bottles. I've got Holy Cross winning that game and maybe a game in a couple weeks in the Big Dance.

Sun Belt: South Alabama won 12 games in a row this season and, in the process, clinched the Sun Belt regular season championship. They ended the season on a 3-game losing streak. Now which team will we see this weekend? I'm going with the team that went on the winning streak. HOWEVER, I still don't believe the Jaguars are better than Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers destroyed USA by 22 at home while USA had to go to overtime to beat WKU at its place. On a neutral floor in Lafayette, La...I'm going with the Hilltoppers.

Southern: Now, this another tournament I really looking forward to. You have two teams in Appalachian St and Davidson that are very good. In fact Appalachian St is up for an at-large berth. It's actually a shame that the loser of the conference championship probably won't get in. I do believe Appalachian St is better team and will cut the nets down in Charleston. Speaking of Charleston, watch out for the College of Charleston. They're dangerous.

BRACKETOLOGY: Conference Tournament Time

While many of us pay attention to major conferences, the Mid-Major conferences get going starting tomorrow. Today we'll preview the tournaments that start tomorrow, the Big South, Ohio Valley, and Horizon League.

Big South: There's not much to it here. Winthrop is the best team in this conference and it's a long way to second place. This team has beaten Mississippi St, Old Dominion, and Missouri St this year. If they don't win this tournament it'll be the biggest upset out of the 30 conference tournaments that will be played this year. It's just not happening.

Ohio Valley: Austin Peay has long had the top-seed in the conference tournament sewn up so they pretty much shut it down and lost 3 of its last 4. The Governors could very well turn it around and get the automatic bid, but they're being exposed a little bit down the stretch. They have a possible semi-final matchup against what is always the most dangerous team in this tournament, Murray St. I think that's win Austin Peay goes down. I believe Murray St will win this tournament...as it's accustomed to doing. Watch out for Tennessee Tech, they have some great athletes.

Horizon League: So all year, all we've all been hearing is Butler, Butler, Butler (I'm guilty of this as well). However, the Bulldogs finished tied for the league title with Wright St. Wright St won the tiebreaker which means if both teams make it to the championship game, it'll be on the Wright State's home court. When you have a team that KNOWS it's in and a team fighting with everything it has and that team is at home, what do you get? Two teams in the tournament out of the Horizon League. I'm going with Wright St.

More previews to come tomorrow.

On to the bracket:
This is good for games through SUNDAY February 25, 2007 (Emphasis on Sunday because Syracuse just beat Georgetown and I'm not happy about it).

Last Four In: Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, Missouri St, Purdue
Last Four Out: Appalachian St, Kansas St, Syracuse, San Diego St

East
1.North Carolina16.Delaware St Winston-Salem, NC
8.Stanford9.Indiana
5.Tennessee12.Texas Tech Spokane, WA
4.Nevada13.Vermont
6.BYU11.Georgia Tech Winston-Salem, NC
3.Georgetown14.Penn
7.USC10.Illinois Lexington, KY
2.Memphis15.Sam Houston St
West
1.UCLA16.Weber St Sacramento, CA
8.Xavier9.UNLV
5.Vanderbilt12.Villanova Spokane, WA
4.Virginia Tech13.Holy Cross
6.Michigan St11.Missouri St Buffalo, NY
3.Pittsburgh14.Marist
7.Butler10.Old Dominion New Orleans, LA
2.Texas A&M15.East Tennessee St
Midwest
1.Ohio St16. Central Connecticut/Mississippi Valley St Lexington, KY
8.Air Force9.Kentucky
5.Notre Dame12.Gonzaga Buffalo, NY
4.Duke13.Virginia Commonwealth
6.Oregon11.Purdue Columbus, OH
3.Southern Illinois14.Oral Roberts
7.Boston College10.West Virginia Chicago, IL
2.Kansas15.Long Beach St
South
1.Florida16.Austin Peay New Orleans, LA
8.Arizona9.Marquette
5.Maryland12.Winthrop Columbus, OH
4.Texas13.Davidson
6.Virginia11.Drexel Sacramento, CA
3.Washington St14.Toledo
7.Louisville10.Creighton Chicago, IL
2.Wisconsin15.South Alabama