Bracket - February 28

Note: Tuesday, March 1 is the deadline to contribute new sites to the matrix. If you've been in the matrix in years past, this deadline does not apply to you but you do need to let me know when you become active again. Thanks.

More shuffling after another tumultous weekend. Coming in are Michigan, after a road win over struggling Minnesota who falls out, and Boston College, which yo-yo's its way back in after a win over Virginia. They replace Colorado State after their loss to Air Force.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/022811.pdf

Guide to the Conference Tournaments

I made a handy pdf of dates and times for the 30 conference championships this year. Check it out...conference tournaments start this Tuesday.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/Conference%20Tournaments%20-%202011.pdf

Seeding Update + NIT Bracket - February 26

For any bracketologists out there, if you're not listed in this year's matrix list or on the rankings page, you have until March 1 to submit your bracket site to be included in the final matrix of the year.

Clemson, Gonzaga and Richmond moved into the bracket, pretty much for not losing, but the Zags got the biggest win with their road triumph over struggling St. Mary's. Moving out was Nebraska, Cleveland State and Boston College.

1 - Ohio State, Kansas, Duke, Pittsburgh
2 - Texas, BYU, San Diego State, Purdue
3 - Wisconsin, Georgetown, Notre Dame, North Carolina
4 - Arizona, Syracuse, Louisville, Florida
5 - Connecticut, Kentucky, Villanova, Missouri
6 - St. John's, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Cincinnati
7 - George Mason, Washington, Texas A&M, UNLV
8 - Utah State, Xavier, Temple, Illinois
9 - Kansas State, Marquette, Michigan State, Old Dominion
10 - Tennessee, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, UCLA
11 - Florida State, St. Mary's, Clemson, Georgia
12 - UAB, Butler, Southern Miss, Colorado State, Gonzaga, Richmond
13 - Belmont, Wichita State, Harvard, Oakland
14 - College of Charleston, Bucknell, Fairfield, Vermont
15 - Long Beach State, Coastal Carolina, LIU-Brooklyn, Kent State
16 - Montana, Murray State, Florida Atlantic, McNeese State, Texas Southern, Bethune-Cookman

NIT - 2/26/11

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/NIT022611.pdf

Bracket - February 21

Memphis and Baylor suffered bad losses to Rice and Texas Tech respectively to fall out of the bracket. To replace them, Nebraska and Southern Miss move in. Right now, I think the CUSA will get two teams in, but it's a toss-up to pick which teams. If nobody takes control of the conference race, they'll become a one-bid league quickly. Nebraska's in with their big win over Texas. Winning 3 of their last 4 will help a lot.

With all the top teams losing last week, Ohio State remains the top seed with Kansas right behind.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/022111.pdf

Seeding Update + NIT Bracket - February 18

Here's the seeding update for today. The NIT bracket link is below.

1 - Ohio State, Texas, Kansas, Pittsburgh
2 - Duke, BYU, San Diego State, Notre Dame
3 - Georgetown, Purudue, Wisconsin, Connecticut
4 - Arizona, Villanova, Florida, North Carolina
5 - Syracuse, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Louisville
6 - Missouri, West Virginia, Washington, St. John's
7 - George Mason, Texas A&M, Temple, Illinois
8 - Utah State, Xavier, UNLV, St. Mary's
9 - Cincinnati, Kansas State, Tennessee, Minnesota
10 - Virginia Tech, Marquette, UCLA, Florida State
11 - Michigan State, Old Dominion, Cleveland State, Colorado State
12 - UAB, Memphis
First Four At-larges - Butler, Georgia, Boston College, Baylor
13 - Belmont, Wichita State, Princeton, Oakland
14 - College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Vermont, Bucknell
15 - Fairfield, Montana, LIU-Brooklyn, Long Beach State
16 - Morehead State, Miami (OH)
First Four Qualifiers - Florida Atlantic, Hampton, Texas Southern, Texas State

NIT - 02/18/11

As usual, regular season conference champions who do not earn a NCAA bid get an automatic NIT bid. So consider teams seeded 7 or 8 in the linked bracket to be on the NIT bubble.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/NIT021811.pdf

Bracket - February 14

A couple of weeks ago, I was not happy with the way the bracket was ending up. Ugly was the word I used. Now, I think I'm pretty content about it. Sure, there a few teams that don't seem like they should belong but it's like that every year. This year, the problem is magnified by the need to add 3 extra at-large teams.

Butler, Boston College, Richmond, and Memphis constitute the at-large first four while Baylor is the first team out.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/021411.pdf

Seeding Update + NIT Bracket - February 11

Here's today's seeding update with the NIT bracket link below.

1 - Ohio State, Kansas, Texas, Pittsburgh
2 - Duke, BYU, San Diego State, Notre Dame
3 - Georgetown, Villanova, Connecticut, Purdue
4 - Syracuse, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Arizona
5 - North Carolina, Florida, Louisville, Missouri
6 - West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Texas A&M
7 - Washington, St. Mary's (CA), UNLV, Cincinnati
8 - Utah State, George Mason, St. John's, Temple
9 - Minnesota, Xavier, Marquette, Tennessee
10 - Kansas State, Florida State, Michigan State, UCLA
11 - Clemson, Virginia Tech, UAB, Cleveland State
12 - Belmont, Old Dominion, Wichita State, Georgia
First Round Games - Duquesne, Colorado State, Richmond, Boston College
13 - Coastal Carolina, Oakland
14 - College of Charleston, Princeton, Bucknell, Vermont
15 - Fairfield, Kent State, Long Beach State, LIU-Brooklyn
16 - Murray State, Northern Colorado
First Round Games - Florida Atlantic, Hampton, Texas Southern, Northwestern State

For the NIT bracket, please keep in mind that regular season conference champions who do not win their conference tournament receive an automatic bid to the NIT.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/NIT021111.pdf

Bracket - February 7

It was actually pretty quiet at the top of the bracket, but the bottom is really falling out and now teams who just win are moving ever higher in the bracket.

I've got George Mason up to an 8 seed after a dominating win over Old Dominion on Saturday. That win is their only win against a top 50 team but they've won 9 in a row and will probably make it 10 before challenging games against James Madison and VCU. 7 seeds Utah State and St. Mary's are having an easy time against their Western opponents so it's a good thing they're facing each other in the ESPN Bracket Busters in a couple of weeks.

On the other end of the scale, Michigan State has lost 5 of their last 6 including an embarrassing 26-point loss to Wisconsin on Sunday. Some brackets have them out and even though I've still got them at an 11 seed, it'll be hard even to keep that position. Much improved Penn State is coming up followed by OSU, Illinois, Minnesota, and Purdue.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/020711.pdf

Seeding Update + NIT Bracket - February 4

Today is the first day of NIT projections, gaining more popularity every year. These will be published on Fridays only along with a NCAA seeding update. Full NCAA brackets will only be published on Mondays.

Without further ado, here is the seeding update. The link for the NIT bracket is below the NCAA seeds.

1 - Ohio State, Kansas, Texas, Pittsburgh
2 - Duke, San Diego State, BYU, Connecticut
3 - Notre Dame, Kentucky, Purdue, Georgetown
4 - Villanova, Louisville, Missouri, Syracuse
5 - Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Arizona, Washington
6 - North Carolina, West Virginia, Minnesota, Florida
7 - Vanderbilt, Illinois, Cincinnati, St. Mary's (CA)
8 - Utah State, UNLV, Tennessee, Temple
9 - George Mason, Cleveland State, Marquette, St. John's
10 - Xavier, Wichita State, Duquesne, Kansas State
11 - Michigan State, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Florida State
12 - Belmont, Maryland, Old Dominion, Penn State/UCLA
13 - Gonzaga/Washington State, Harvard, Oakland, UTEP
14 - Coastal Carolina, Fairfield, Vermont, Bucknell
15 - Florida Atlantic, Long Beach State, LIU-Brooklyn, Austin Peay
16 - Northern Colorado, McNeese State, Bowling Green, Texas Southern, Chattanooga, Bethune-Cookman

For the NIT bracket, keep in mind that regular season conference champions who do not win their conference tournament get an automatic bid into the NIT. Usually, this takes up to 4-6 spots from the possible 32 teams.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/PDFS/NIT020411.pdf