3/14 Bracket - 1AM

Wow, things are getting exciting out there.

Some thoughts: I am going to cave to peer pressure and put Syracuse back at a 1 seed, but I think you could make an argument for any combination of Duke, Syracuse, and WV for the last 2 slots. If Duke falters tomorrow, they will drop to a 2.

It is very hard to know what to do with Purdue. They clearly are not the same team.... ESPN dropped them to a 4 seed. I am not so harsh, but it wouldn't floor me if the committee was.

I'm going to disappoint my New Mexico buddy and restore Wisconsin as the last 3 seed.... the Lobos simply cannot match wins over Duke, Maryland, Marquette, Ohio State (by 22) , Purdue (at full strength), and Michigan State (by 18)

I also gave Baylor a second look and bumped them up a bit... they have a pretty strong profile.

I moved Richmond to a 5 for now, but they probably have to beat Temple to hold on to that spot.... even though they just beat Xavier, the committee will like Xavier's crazy hard non conference scheduling.

1 - Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse

2 - West Virginia, Ohio State, Kansas State, Villanova
3 - Georgetown, Purdue, Temple, Wisconsin
4 - New Mexico, Baylor ,Tennessee, Pitt
5 - Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Maryland, Richmond
6 - Xavier, Butler, BYU, Texas A&M
7 - Gonzaga, Northern Iowa, Texas, Notre Dame
8 - Marquette, Cal, Florida State, Clemson
9 - Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, UTEP, Missouri
10 - San Diego State, UNLV, Louisville, Utah State

11 - Wake Forest, Old Dominion, Washington, St. Mary's

12 - Minnesota, Illinois, Cornell, Siena
13 - Murray State, New Mexico State, Houston, Ohio

14 - Wofford, Sam Houston State, Montana, Oakland
15 - UCSB, Morgan State, East Tennessee State, North Texas
16 - Vermont, Robert Morris, Winthrop, Lehigh, Arkansas Pine Bluff (last 2 are in play-in)

OUT: Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Florida

So Mississippi State is playing for Illinois's spot. What is interesting, is they might not even have to beat Kentucky... if they can play them really close, that just might be enough. It would be an interesting decision.