The quest to beat Joe Lunardi, pickin' the NCAA bracket (after games of 3/14)

Why seed: 21 wins and over .500 in conference usually a good sign. 8-5 vs top 100 also keeps them good. Safe in, helped self with SEC tourney run, might move up slot or two by tomorrow.

5. Butler: 29-3, 16, 126, Horizon champion
Good: Great record, 10-3 against top 100 is tremendous. Beat Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, and Ohio State in consecutive games. All 3 losses against top 86 teams and by 7 or less.
Bad: Only one top 50 win. Perhaps not many tough games could drop their seed some.
Why seed: 1-1 vs top 50 not great, though 10-3 vs top 100 is. Pretty set at 4-6 range with tourney championship.

12. St Joseph’s: 21-11, 42, 55, A-10 auto guess

Good: Big finish, beat Villanova and Siena in non-confernce, beat UMass, Xavier twice and Temple.

Bad: Not in comfortably, bad losses to Holy Cross and George Washington, loss to me will knock them back out, probably have to be auto bid to get in.
Why seed: Barely in, but 8 top 100 wins and tough schedule, so might help. Still could be out if lose in A-10 final, though at-large resume is actually pretty solid.

4. Connecticut: 24-8, 17, 30, Big East #3
Good: 6 top 50 wins, beat Indiana in non-conference. Beat Marquette, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame (split), and West Virginia in Big East.
Bad: "only" 8-6 against top 100, not great for a seed as high as 3. Pretty bad to lose to Providence twice. Pretty cupcake non-conference.
Why seed: 13-5 in Big East, lots of big wins in "best" conference in nation.

Everyone loves Jim Calhoun. Probably won't move up, but may move down 1 with poor Big East tourney showing, and loss in Big East Quarters leaves them at 4-5 area.

13. Boise St: 23-8, 93, 204, WAC auto guess

Only chance of getting in will be winning the WAC over New Mexico St Saturday. New Mexico St will be in the same spot, very similar profiles, survived 12-4 semi battles with Utah St and Nevada. Pretty straight toss-up. Could be fun to watch, and a surprise for either, especially for NM St after Reggie Theus went up to Sacramento. Either team will probably actually be a 14 tomorrow.

6. BYU: 27-6, 23, 105, MWC est champ (#1)
Good: Dominant home team as well, class of MWC, great non-conference run. Beat Louisville in Vegas, and played both UNC and Michigan St to the wire. Also beat New Mexico twice and split with UNLV in conference.
Bad: Really not too many great wins, 8-6 against top 100 teams, could drop in seed.
Why seed: Lots of wins, solid conference, and matched up well in non-conference tourney in Vegas. If go anywhere this week, it would be down, though probably stuck here with trip to MWC final with fellow tourney team UNLV.

11. Massachusetts: 21-10, 44, 68, A-10 #2
Good: Won six in a row, beat Syracuse and Houston non-conference, and beat Dayton and Rhode Island twice in the A-10. 6-7 vs top 100.

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