NCAA Basketball: My Field of 68

A-Sun (1)
Auto:  Lipscomb
Bubble  None

America East (1)
Auto: Bryant
Bubble: None

AAC (1)
Auto: Memphis
Bubble: None

Atlantic-10 (1)
Auto: VCU
Bubble (In): None
Bubble (Out): Dayton, George Mason

Dayton won three Quadrant 1 games and lost to North Carolina by two and Iowa State by five. Win one of those games and we would have a different conversation.
George Mason wasn’t competitive against Marquette or Duke and went 0-2 against VCU. It’s a fun team with a fun player, but the resume doesn’t add up.

ACC (4)
Auto: Duke 
In: Louisville, Clemson
Bubble (In): North Carolina
Bubble (Out): Wake Forest

It pains me to include North Carolina. However, their scrubbed resume shows:
SOR: 38th
NET: 36th
WAB: 43
Non-Conf SOS: 4th
Quad 1: 1-11
Quad 2: 8-0

Their resume is not good. But this bubble is filled with questionable resumes. North Carolina is my final team in the field.

Wake Forest has two Quad 1 wins and two Quad 3 losses. If they completed a sweep of North Carolina, I may have switched them. Their 44th-ranked SOR is there with squads like Arkansas and West Virginia, but their win over Michigan isn’t enough to put them over the top.

Big 12 (8)
Auto: Houston
In: Arizona, Texas Tech, BYU, Iowa State, Kansas
Bubble (In): Baylor, West Virginia
Bubble (Out): None

Baylor is closer to the edge than it should be. They are 19-14 and lost most of their tough in-conference games. Their strong non-conference schedule includes wins over St. John’s and Arkansas, which squeaks them into the field. If that St. John’s game goes the other way, this could be a different discussion.
West Virginia is all over the place, but the final product is enough for inclusion. Wins over Gonzaga and Arizona resonate, and their loss to Louisville was in overtime. Furthermore, they avoided a bad loss.
(FYI: I point out the Arizona win because, while they play in the same conference, the game was played in the Battle 4 Atlantis, which helps their non-conference resume)

Big East (4)
Auto: St. John’s
In: Creighton, UConn, Marquette
Bubble (In): None
Bubble (Out): Xavier

See my analysis under the Big Ten for Xavier.

Big Sky (1)
Auto: Montana
Bubble: None

Big South (1)
Auto: High Point
Bubble: None

Big Ten (9)
Auto: Michigan
In: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Maryland, Purdue, UCLA, Illinois, Oregon
Bubble (In): Indiana
Bubble (Out): Ohio State

Let’s scrub the resumes of Xavier, Indiana, and Ohio State:

Xavier:  SOR: 42; Non-Conf SOS: 79; WAB: 49; KenPom: 43;  NET: 45; Quad 1: 1-9; Bad Losses: 0
Indiana: SOR: 50; Non-Conf SOS: 61; WAB: 48; KenPom: 48; NET: 54; Quad 1: 4-13; Bad Losses: 0
Ohio State: SOR: 56; Non-Conf SOS: 42; WAB: 55; KenPom: 39; NET: 41; Quad 1: 6-11; Bad Losses: 0

Like Texas, Ohio State has 15 losses. Their non-conference schedule, however, is stronger, keeping them in the mix.
Xavier would be a no-brainer with a few more Quad 1 wins.
Indiana blends the two extremes, but they have the worst NET.

I am picking Indiana.

Big West (1)
Auto: UC San Diego
Bubble (In): None
Bubble (Out): UC Irvine

UC Irvine can win an NCAA Tournament game. However, their resume isn’t in the same league as UC San Diego’s, and UC San Diego was a bubble team if they lost the title game.

CAA (1)
Auto: UNC-Wilmington
Bubble: None

Conference USA (1)
Auto: Liberty
Bubble: None

Horizon League (1)
Auto: Robert Morris
Bubble: None

Ivy League (1)
Auto: Yale
Bubble: None

MAAC (1)
Auto: Mount St. Mary’s (16)
Bubble: None

MAC (1)
Auto: Akron
Bubble: None

MEAC (1)
Auto: Norfolk State
Bubble: None

Missouri Valley (1)
Auto: Drake
Bubble: None

Mountain West (4)
Auto: Colorado State
In: New Mexico
Bubble (In): Utah State, San Diego State
Bubble (Out): Boise State

San Diego State:  SOR: 47; Non-Conf SOS: 17; WAB: 44; KenPom: 46; NET: 52
Utah State: SOR: 37; Non-Conf SOS: 73; WAB: 38; KenPom: 51; NET: 37
Boise State: SOR: 55; Non-Conf SOS: 54; WAB: 53; KenPom: 50; NET: 44

In typical fashion, the Mountain West is bunched up with similar resumes. Boise State beat Clemson and St. Mary’s. They lost to Washington State (Quad 3) and Boston College (Quad 4).  San Diego State has one Quad 3 loss, while Utah State has zero bad losses.

It’s razor-thin, and I can see the quintet being selected. However, Boise State’s resume comes up just short of the others – including squads in other conferences.

Northeast (1)
Auto: St. Francis (PA) (16)
Bubble: None

Ohio Valley (1)
Auto: SIU Edwardsville
Bubble: None

Patriot League (1)
Auto: American
Bubble: None

SEC (13)
Auto: Florida
In: Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Missouri, Mississippi State, Georgia
Bubble (In): Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Arkansas
Bubble (Out): Texas

Texas lost 15 games. Their non-conference schedule was terrible. The two good teams they played (Ohio State and UConn) beat them. I am impressed by their seven Quad 1 wins, though four of them are in the bottom half of Quad 1. Their SOR falls short of Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas. It’s my tiebreaker.

Southern (1)
Auto: Wofford
Bubble: None

Southland (1)
Auto: McNeese
Bubble: None

SWAC (1)
Auto: Alabama State
Bubble: None

Summit (1)
Auto: Omaha
Bubble: None

Sun Belt (1)
Auto: Troy
Bubble: None

WCC (2)
Auto: Gonzaga
In: St. Mary’s
Bubble (In): None
Bubble (Out): San Francisco

San Francisco has zero bad losses and a Quad 1 win, but it isn’t enough. Their profile would have been interesting if they defeated Gonzaga in the semi-finals.

WAC (1)
Auto: Grand Canyon
Bubble: None

 

 

 

 

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