There's no questioning the strength at the top of the Big East Conference. For the second consecutive week, the Big East has a record four teams among the top seven teams in the Associated Press poll.Syracuse and Villanova are virtual locks to land No. 1 seeds for next month's NCAA Tournament. And if the Orange and Wildcats land top seeds, it would give the Big East five different No. 1 seeds in the past two seasons.
Besides Syracuse and Villanova, West Virginia and Georgetown are strong candidates to receive No. 2 NCAA Tournament seeds.
As dominating as the league's Fab Four have been, it's the handful of teams bunched in the middle of the league standings that will make this one of the maddest March's in league history.
After the top four teams and fifth-place Pittsburgh, there are six teams within two games in the league standings. All six teams -- Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, South Florida, Cincinnati and UConn -- have RPIs between 42 and 60, according to CollegeRPI.com.
Overall, the Big East features 12 teams with a 64 RPI or better. It's doubtful this year's Big East Tournament will feature another six-overtime classic, but every single game in the five-day tournament could determine who advances to the NCAA Tournament or drops down to the NIT.
Here is a look at FanHouse's NCAA Tournament projected field of 65 if the season ended Monday. This does not attempt to predict future results. All records are through Monday's games.
Multiple bid leagues:
ACC (6): Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Florida State, Clemson.
Breakdown: During his days as coach at South Florida, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg knew all too well about life on the NCAA Tournament bubble. This season his Hokies are making a strong push to reach the NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech (18-4, 5-3 ACC) has won five of six to improve its RPI to 63. As long as the Hokies can survive at N.C. State on Wednesday, Virginia Tech's NCAA future probably will be determined in its final seven games, which include four Top 50 RPI opponents. The NCAA hopes for defending national champion North Carolina (13-10, 2-6) is all but RIP with its 80 RPI. Clemson (43 RPI, 16-7, 4-5) has lost four of its last five, putting its tournament future in danger. However, the Tigers can right the ship with all of their final seven games against Top 100 RPI clubs, so they certainly can improve their NCAA resume.
Atlantic 10 (6): Temple, Rhode Island, Charlotte, Dayton, Xavier, Richmond.
Breakdown: It's becoming more of a reality that the Atlantic 10 will land six NCAA Tournament bids. The half-dozen squads continue to jockey for position. Although Temple is in a three-way tie for third place, the Owls (17 RPI, 19-5, 7-2 Atlantic 10) have the league's best NCAA resume with four Top 50 victories. Charlotte (46 RPI, 18-5, 8-1), which was considered a bubble team a couple of weeks ago, has climbed to the top of the league standings courtesy of a seven-game winning streak. Dayton (34 RPI, 16-6, 5-3) has split its last six games to drift toward bubble status, so the Flyers could use a victory Wednesday against Charlotte.
Big East (7): Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Cincinnati.
Breakdown: Six teams? Seven, eight, nine, 10 teams? Pick a team, any Big East team and they've probably got a decent shot at reaching the NCAA Tournament (except for Providence, St. John's, Rutgers and DePaul, that is). Even UConn (57 RPI, 14-9, 4-6 Big East) and Seton Hall (64 RPI, 12-9, 3-7) can become NCAA Tournament worthy by finishing strong. A few pegs up the standings are a logjam of teams: Louisville (42 RPI, 15-8, 6-4), Notre Dame (60 RPI, 17-7, 6-5), Marquette (59 RPI, 15-8, 6-5), South Florida (52 RPI, 15-8, 5-6) and Cincinnati (56 RPI, 14-9, 5-6) all have their strengths and weaknesses on why they might be NCAA Tournament worthy. Thank goodness there is still three weeks in the season to sort out the league's NCAA bids.
Big Ten (4): Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Ohio State.
Breakdown: This still looks like only a four-bid league, although Northwestern (66 RPI, 16-7, 5-6 Big Ten), Minnesota (61 RPI, 14-8, 5-5 Big Ten) and Illinois (72 RPI, 16-8, 8-3) continue to hang around. Even though they have the worst RPI of the trio, the Illini have made the greatest strides with four consecutive wins, including Saturday's upset of Michigan State. Illinois can make more noise Tuesday at Wisconsin and Sunday against Ohio State. The Big Ten is likely out of the running for an overall No. 1 seed, but Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue and Ohio State all appear headed for top four seeds next month when the NCAA field is announced. The question is whether Northwestern, Minnesota or Illinois will join them in the Big Dance?
Big 12 (7): Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Missouri.
Breakdown: Remember when the Lonestar State proudly stated "Don't Mess with Texas." These days Texas is a mess. The Longhorns, once ranked No. 1 in the nation after starting the season 17-0, have lost five of their last seven. The Longhorns' body of work still warrants an NCAA Tournament bid -- even if their free throw shooting doesn't. While the Longhorns (19-5, 5-4 Big 12) still should be an NCAA Tournament lock, a few other Big 12 teams have some work to do. Oklahoma State (16-7, 4-5) has a nice RPI of 36, but the Cowboys have lost three consecutive games and five of eight -- four of the five losses were to Top 50 RPI teams. OSU needs to stockpile some more wins starting Saturday against Oklahoma. Texas Tech has the league's sixth best RPI (33), but only one Top 50 RPI win (against Oklahoma State on Saturday). However, the Red Raiders (15-7, 3-5) have the best chance to strengthen their NCAA Tournament case with five of their final eight games against teams with Top 30 RPIs. Like Tech, Missouri (17-6, 5-3) will be able to improve its resume with four of its final eight games against Top 30 RPI teams.
Colonial (2): Northeastern, Old Dominion
Breakdown: Last week George Mason led the league, but this week Northeastern is the league-leader with a one-game edge over Old Dominion. Yet, the Monarchs, who had a 35 RPI through Monday, own the Colonial's best NCAA Tournament resume. If another team other than ODU wins the league tournament, then the Colonial gets two leagues. If ODU wins the league tournament, then the Monarchs will make this a one-bid league.
Conference USA (2): UTEP, UAB.
Breakdown: UAB opened C-USA play at 6-0, but has dropped two of its last three to drop a game behind UTEP. Since starting 1-1 in C-USA, UTEP has reeled off seven consecutive victories, including a double-overtime win at UAB. However, the Miners probably will need to win the league to get a bid since they don't have any non-conference victories against any Top 50 RPI teams. UAB has non-conference victories against Butler (15 RPI) and Cincinnati (56 RPI) so the Blazers should get an NCAA at-large berth as long as they don't collapse down the stretch. They also get a chance to avenge the UTEP loss in the regular season finale March 6 in El Paso.
Mountain West (3): BYU, New Mexico, UNLV.
Breakdown: The Cougars, Lobos and Runnin' Rebels don't have to worry about their NCAA Tournament futures. They all have solid resumes and quality RPIs -- New Mexico (10), BYU (22) and UNLV (30). San Diego State has a solid RPI (41), but, for now, remains on the wrong side of the bubble. The Aztecs are only 1-3 against BYU, New Mexico and UNLV, but two of the losses were by two points each to BYU (71-69) and New Mexico (88-86 in overtime). For San Diego State to make this a four-bid league, the Aztecs likely need to either sweep UNLV on Saturday and BYU on Feb. 24 or win the league tournament.
SEC (5): Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida, Ole Miss.
Breakdown: A couple of weeks ago, the SEC looked like it could get six bids. However, Mississippi State (16-7, 4-4) has lost four of its last five and fallen out of contention with a 71 RPI. South Carolina, after its upset of No. 1 Kentucky on Jan. 26, improved its position, but then the Gamecocks lost at Tennessee. With eight SEC games remaining, the Gamecocks (70 RPI, 13-9, 4-4) still have ample opportunities with games remaining at home against Florida on Wednesday and Tennessee on Feb. 20 and road games at Kentucky on Feb. 25 and Vanderbilt on March 6. Anything less than a 3-1 record in those contests probably won't be enough to earn the Gamecocks an at-large bid.
West Coast (2): Gonzaga, St. Mary's
Breakdown: St. Mary's can lock up an NCAA Tournament at-large bid on Thursday by defeating Gonzaga in a matchup of the WCC's top teams. St. Mary's (20-3, 8-1 WCC) is already to 20 wins, but only has one Top 50 RPI win (against San Diego State). The Gaels don't have any bad losses in conference, but if they lose to Gonzaga Thursday and their RPI (45) dips into the 50s by next month, they might have to win the league tournament to guarantee a berth.
America East: Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun: Belmont
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: Pacific
Horizon: Butler
Ivy: Cornell
Metro Atlantic: Siena
Mid-American: Kent State
Mid-Eastern: Morgan State
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Pac-10: California
Patriot: Lehigh
Southern: College of Charleston
Southland: Sam Houston State
Summit: Oakland
Sun Belt: Arkansas State
SWAC: Jackson State
Western Athletic: Utah State
Contact FanHouse senior writer Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I think CUSA will get 3 in and none of them are named Memphis. UTEP (the best team in CUSA this year), Tulsa (tournament is in Tulsa and they will have plus 20 wins), and UAB (who beat some pretty good teams outside the league). The Colonial will only get one.
good choices but I think you're wrong about Cincy and Illinois. Don't think Cincy has the horses but the Illini should be there in March. Time will tell.