WELCOME TO SELECTION SUNDAY..
Good evening and welcome to Selection Sunday, I am your host Greg Gumbel (GG) and joining me tonight is Greg Anthony (GA) and Seth Davis (SD). Before we get to tonight's seeding. Let's take a look at those who punched a Automatic bid into the tourney and what teams are on the bubble looking to get in.
American East
Stoney Brook (22-9)
ACC
Duke (26-9)
A Sun
Belmont (22-10)
A-10
Temple (22-11)
BIG EAST
UConn (26-8)
BIG SKY
Weber State (17-12)
BIG SOUTH
UNC Ashville (25-3)
BIG TEN
Indiana (17-17)
BIG 12
Texas (22-11)
BIG WEST
UC Riverside (24-6)
Colonial
Georgia St. (22-9)
CUSA
Memphis (26-6)
Horizon
Cleveland St (19-12)
IVY
Cornell (15-12)
Metro Atlantic
Saint Peters (17-15)
Mid-American
Ball State (18-14)
Mid-Continent/Summit
IPFW (18-12)
Mid-Eastern
Howard (21-13)
Missouri Valley
Evansville (16-14
Mountain West
New Mexico (28-5)
Northeast
St Francis NY (18-14)
Ohio Valley
Jacksonville St (14-15) *Will play in the play in game
Pac-10
Oregon State (21-12)
Patriot
Bucknell (23-7)
SEC
Kentucky (28-6)
Southern
UNC Greensboro (22-10)
Southland
UT-Arlington (15-11) *Will play in the play in game
Southwestern
Alcorn State (21-10)
Sun Belt
ULM (19-15)
West Coast
Pepperdine (15-17)
WAC
Nevada (17-14)
GG-Guy's what teams on this list stand out to you?
GA-For me you have to start in the Big 10 and Big 12. Neither Indiana or Texas were going to the NCAA tourney. They were not even bubble teams but with their auto bids, they now push several teams onto the bubble and alot more teams could have to settle for the NIT.
SD- I am going to head out west where we saw huge upsets. Oregon State, Pepperdine and Nevada were all in similar spots. Pepperdine finished last in the WCC and have a sub .500 record. Their win will send Gonzaga to the NIT for sure. Nevada's win puts La Tech on the bubble but with just 19 wins I think they too are head for the NIT. Oregon State win will get the Pac-10 4 teams in a down year for the conference, and their win will send state rival Oregon to the NIT as well as WSU who they beat in the Pac-10 finals to secure the spot. Both the Ducks and Cougs finish with 19 wins as well and that just isn't going to get them into the Dance.
GG- Those are all great choices. To add to that list, I am going with Temple of the A-10. Always a strong Major Conference, I think they will get 4 teams now with Temple's victory. Now the question is who will join them, Richmond and Xavier. The list is St Bonaventure (19 wins), La Salle (19 wins) and Saint Louis (18 wins).
GG-Guy's what conferences do you think will surprise people come selection time and who is going to feel left out.
GA-Cleveland's win and UC Riverside's win means both the Big West and Horizon should have 2 teams this year as both Cal State Fullerton and Detroit rank among the top Mid-Majors in RPI.
SD-Again I am sticking to the West Coast. With all the upsets, I think the Mountain West is going to be disappointed. #1 Seed New Mexico was a shoe in, but now the committee must decide if Air Force (20 wins) BYU (20 wins) Wyoming (19 wins) and UNLV (18 wins) also deserve a chance to play. Also in the WCC I see USF (San Francisco) getting a spot in the at-large field. They won 21 games this year and their RPI is 39. They are in, but like I said ealier Gonzaga's #67 RPI leaves them headed to the NIT.
GG-Okay guy's so from what I am hearing, it looks like the Bubble teams are Oregon, San Francisco,Fordham (#34 RPI but 17 wins), Auburn (#41 RPI, 18 wins), and most of the Big East. Georgetown (#43 RPI, 18 wins) Louisville (#40, 18 wins), St Johns (#44 RPI, 18 wins) Syracuse (#45, 19 wins) Seton Hall (#49 RPI 19 wins).
Let's go to the Selections..
EAST BRACKET
#1 Duke vs Play in winner (UT-Arlington vs Jacksonville St)
#8 Iowa vs #9 Louisville
#5 Ohio State vs #12 Cleveland St
#4 Oklahoma State vs #13 Belmont
#6 Wake Forest vs #11 Cal State Fullerton
#3 Memphis vs #14 Evansville
#7 Southern Miss vs #10 Detroit
#2 UConn vs#15 Saint Peter's
WEST BRACKET
#1 Kentucky vs #16 Weber State
#8 Xavier vs #9 Pitt
#5 NC State vs #12 Georgia State
#4 Miss State vs #13 ULM
#6 South Florida vs #11 Arizona State
#3 Florida vs #14 Indiana
#7 Alabama vs #10 San Francisco
#2 Michigan vs #15 Howard
SOUTH BRACKET
#1 Vanderbilt vs #16 St Francis NY
#8 Temple vs #9 Bucknell
#5 Kansas vs #12 Stoney Brook
#4 UNC vs #13 Pepperdine
#6 UNC Ashville vs #11 St Bonaventure
#3 UCF vs #14 Nevada
#7 Arizona vs #10 Auburn
#2 Baylor vs #15 IFPW
MIDWEST BRACKET
#1 UCLA vs #16 Ball State
#8 Oklahoma vs #9 Miami FL
#5 W. Virginia vs #12 Oregon State
#4 Texas vs #13 UNC Greensboro
#6 Missouri vs #11 Georgetown
#3 Purdue vs #14 Cornell
#7 Richmond vs #10 UC Riverside
#2 New Mexico vs #15 Alcorn State
GG-Guy's what matchups really stand out to you?
GA-Obviously the 5/11, 6/12 and 8/9 always give you great games. But I am really excited about the 7/10 this year, especially the matchups with Alabama and USF and of course UCR vs Richmond.
SD-For me it's look ahead to Round 2. Games like Kansas vs UNC, UCLA vs maybe Oklahoma. Also maybe a Florida vs South Flordia matchup.
GG- Well there you have the teams that made the Big Dance. Now let's look at those headed to the NIT..
N.I.T.
Syracuse vs NJIT
St Johns vs BYU
Tennessee St vs Rider
VCU vs Wyoming
Loyola MD vs UTSA
UNLV vs Tennessee
Arkansas vs Gonzaga
NC A&T vs Fordham
Oregon vs C. Connecticut
Lafayette vs Illinois-Chicago
La Tech vs Illinois
Akron vs Seton Hall
La Salle vs Kennesaw St
Bradley vs UMBC
Minnesota vs Florida State
UALR vs Air Force.
GG-What do you think about this tourney guy's?
GA-Well again you have some great teams who are normally playing in a NCAA tourney. Schools like Syracuse,Florida State, Arkansas, Seton Hall, Oregon, BYU, UNLV, Tennessee, Gonzaga. Any one of those schools have a chance to win it all.
SD- For me it's the Arkansas vs Gonzaga matchup, UNLV vs Tennessee, BYU vs St Johns and Minnesota vs Florida State. Whoever wins those games will prove they are in it to win it.
GG-Well guy's for me it's great to see a Independent like NJIT make it into any post season play even if they do have to take on Syracuse in the opening round.
Well that's it for us. I hope you enjoy the tournament and Good Luck to your favorite team.