NCAA Tournament Mock Bracket: Feb 5

There are still over five weeks until Selection Sunday, and many teams have opportunities to get on a roll and grab an at-large bid. Also, there are the surprise teams like Mississippi State and USC last year that will grab a tournament spot by winning their conference tournament. As of now, there are a few interesting trends developing:

1. The Pac 10 needs a miracle to get an at-large team.
2. The more games ACC teams play in conference, the closer the teams get to the bubble.
3. Before the season, thinking that four or five teams from the Atlantic 10 could make the tournament would be crazy. Now, they have six teams contending for spots.
4. UConn and North Carolina will make for a superb NIT game.

Some fans of teams will read this and be angry that there team isn’t included in this mock bracket. Remember, your team still has over a month to prove their worth, and there are plenty of teams with a very thin margin of error. Probably the team that stands out the most for being excluded is Virginia Tech, simply because their best win is at Virginia (Virginia has a beef also). They will have time to proof themselves especially with Clemson and Georgia Tech and Florida State falling backwards.

I didn’t use RPI as a guide for seeding. I factored in geography a bit more than last year’s committee and tried to keep teams closer to home if possible. Sometimes geography is challenging, which is why Georgetown has to go to Spokane or a battle of Florida takes place in Oklahoma City (The three Florida teams can charter a plane together). Otherwise the process involved my guess of the best teams today.

South Regional (Houston)

Oklahoma City (Thursday)

1          Kansas            vs         Arkansas St     16

8          St Mary’s        vs         Maryland         9

New Orleans (Thursday)

4          Vanderbilt       vs         Charleston       13

5          Pittsburgh        vs         Richmond       12

Jacksonville (Friday)

6          Oklahoma St   vs         Florida             11

3          Duke               vs         Coastal Carolina          14

Buffalo (Friday)

7          Temple            vs         Siena               10

2          West Virginia  vs         Morgan St       15

Analysis: Kansas doesn't get a lot of favors here. A lot of dangerous high teams. Some good lesser seeds would be the best assistant to the Jayhawks in this bracket. Duke and Coastal Carolina would probably be the most interesting first round game, especially with a huge neutral site advantage for Coastal Carolina.

West Regional (Salt Lake City)

Buffalo (Friday)

1          Syracuse          vs         Lehigh             16

8          Xavier             vs         Texas A&M    9

San Jose (Thursday)

4          Wisconsin        vs         Murray St        13

5          Wake Forest    vs         Old Dominion 12

San Jose (Thursday)

6          Gonzaga          vs         Ole Miss          11

3          BYU               vs         Pacific             14

Oklahoma City (Thursday)

7          Florida St        vs         South Florida  10

2          Kansas St        vs         Jacksonville     15

Analysis: In theory, Syracuse should have the easiest bracket, however if BYU made it to the Sweet 16 they would hold a big home court advantage. The bottom of the bracket is like the Florida Invitational, in Oklahoma City. Wisconsin and Wake Forest would be on upset alert in San Jose.

East Regional  (Syracuse)

Providence (Thursday)

1          Villanova         vs         Stony Brook    16

8          Missouri          vs         Rhode Island  9

Jacksonville (Friday)

4          Tennessee        vs         Kent St            13

5          Ohio St            vs         UNLV             12

New Orleans (Thursday)

6          Mississippi St  vs         UTEP              11

3          Texas               vs         Sam Houston St          14

Providence (Thursday)

7          Cornell                        vs         Clemson          10

2          Michigan St     vs         Northeastern   15

Analysis: Yes, an Ivy league team would be a seven seed. Even more fun is if they could pull out two wins, they would be 50 miles from home in Syracuse. I'm sure Villanova would not be fans of having Rhode Island as a nine seed in Providence. UNLV is probably the last team in as of this point.

Midwest Regional (St Louis)

Milwaukee (Friday)

1          Kentucky        vs         Jackson St/Robert Morris        16

8          Butler              vs         Louisville        9

Spokane (Friday)

4          Baylor             vs         Arizona           13

5          New Mexico   vs         Utah St            12

Spokane (Friday)

6          Georgia Tech   vs         Tulsa                11

3          Georgetown    vs         Weber St         14

Milwaukee (Friday)

7          Northern Iowa            vs         Charlotte         10

2          Purdue             vs         Oakland          15

Analysis: Milwaukee would be the hottest venue of the first two rounds with most of the teams a decent drive away. Georgetown was sent out West since they finish fourth in their conference, and I wanted a Georgetown-Weber State rematch. The only Pac 10 team is currently a 13 seed.

Bids By Conference

Big East          7
Big 12             7
SEC                 6
ACC                6
A-10                5
Big 10             4
Mountain West  3
Colonial           2
West Coast      2
C-USA            2