NCAA Men’s Basketball Conference Review- March 2
All six major conferences wrap-up their regular season this weekend in preparation for next week’s conference tournaments. There are a number of teams that have already punched a ticket for the NCAA Tournament by compiling an impressive regular season resume while there are a number of teams still on the outside looking in.
Here is a look at which teams in each major conference should be an automatic lock to make it into the field of 68 and which teams are still on the bubble with some work left to do to get their invitation.
Check out the latest College Basketball Odds here.
ACC
The only two locks in the ACC are No.4 Duke (26-2) and No.13 North Carolina (22-6). Florida State is 20-8 overall and should get a bid unless it loses its last two regular season games and makes any early exit in conference tournament. Virginia Tech (19-9) certainly enhanced its position with a 64-60 win over the Blue Devils, but it still needs a decent showing next week to nail down a spot. Boston College, Maryland, and Clemson still have an outside shot but would most likely need make it to the finals of the ACC’s to get in.
Big East
Right now it looks like there are nine teams from the Big East that should be a lock starting with No.5 Pitt, No.7 Notre Dame, No.11 Louisville, No. 12 Syracuse, No.15 St. John’s, No.16 Connecticut, No.17 Georgetown, No.19 Villanova, and West Virginia. Despite not being ranked, the Mountaineers (18-10) overall body of work remains strong enough to get in. Cincinnati (22-7) will most likely be the 10th team from the conference to get a bid unless they bow out of the conference tournament early. Marquette (18-11) can still make a strong case for a bid but it will need to go deep next week to seal a spot.
Big Ten
No. 1 Ohio State (28-2), No.6 Purdue (25-5), and No.10 Wisconsin (22-6) are obvious locks but after that the pickings get slim. Michigan State (16-12), Illinois (18-12), and Michigan (18-12) all still have a chance to make it in but each of their records are littered with bad losses. At this point, they would all need to close out the regular season with wins and probably have to knock-off one of the big three in the Big Ten Tournament to get in.
Big 12
Five teams from the Big 12 should be headed to the dance starting with No.2 Kansas, No.8 Texas, No.22 Texas A&M, No.24 Missouri, and Kansas State. Colorado 18-11 kept its chances alive with a 91-89 win over the Longhorns but will still need a strong showing in the conference tournament get in. Baylor (18-11) beat the Aggies 58-51 to help its cause, but Wednesday’s 71-60 loss to Oklahoma State may mean that winning the Big 12 Tournament is its only way in.
PAC-10
No.18 Arizona (23-6) is the only ranked team in the PAC-10 and a lock, but UCLA (21-8) has done enough to get in as well. After that things drop off dramatically with Washington (19-9) being the only other team that could get an at-large bid based on its regular season resume. The Huskies would still need an impressive run in the PAC-10 Tournament to guarantee themselves a spot.
SEC
The SEC has three teams that have already locked up a spot; No. 14 Florida (22-6), No. 20 Vanderbilt (21-7), and No.22 Kentucky (20-8). The other three teams that still have a chance to make it in are Alabama (19-10), who is 11-4 in the conference but has very few quality wins to go along with that record, Tennessee (17-12), who is hanging its hat on some early season wins, and Georgia (19-9), who has enough wins but has struggled down the stretch. Each of these schools will still have to bank on a strong showing in next week’s tournament to punch their ticket.
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