Somebody’s Going to Get Hurt
With most teams playing their last two games in the major conferences, NCAA basketball is providing one of the most hectic approaches to March Madness ever. The ACC and Big East have lived up to their billing as the money conferences with likely as many as eight teams each over .500 which normally secures a tournament bid for big conference teams. Things have changed, the Mid-Majors are much stronger as Davidson proved almost pulling the upset against Kansas in the great eight. George Mason went deep recently too, and Gonzaga on the west coast has become a tournament regular. That being said, none of these schools could get at large bids.
Here’s the scene in Chesapeake country and close by.
MAJOR CONFERENCES (AP Top 25 Rankings noted.)
ACC
#2 North Carolina 11-3 25-3
#7 Duke 10-4 24-5
# 10 Wake Forest 9-5 22-5
#24 Florida State 9-5 22-7
#18 Clemson 8-6 22-6 (Home: Virginia, Away: Wake Forest)
Boston College 8-6 20-9 (Away: NC State, Home: Georgia Tech)
Maryland 7-7 18-10 (Home: Wake Forest, Away: Virginia)
Virginia Tech 7-7 17-11 (Home: UNC, Away: Florida State)
Miami 6-8 17-10 (Away; Georgia Tech, Home; NC State)
North Carolina through Boston College are all but locked in now. Only a major collapse could spoil Clemson and Boston College. Maryland has the edge over Virginia Tech who’d have to win their last two games and pull some major upsets in the ACC Tournament. Maryland needs their last two games and should survive the first round, at least, to make it in, but the field is tight, and seven teams from the ACC is asking a lot of the field. Miami gets a lot of buzz for their RPI.
Big East
#1 Connecticut 15-2 27-2
#6 Louisville 14-2 23-5
#3 Pittsburgh 13-3 26-3
#13 Marquette 12-4 23-6
#11 Villanova 12-5 24-6
Providence 10-7 18-11 (Away: Villanova)
#25 Syracuse 9-7 21-8 (Home: Rutgers, Away: Marquette)
West Virginia 9-7 20-9 (Home: DePaul, Home: Louisville)
Cincinnati 8-8 18-11 (Away: South Florida, Home: Seton Hall)
Providence is not showing up on any National surveys because of their weak schedule were they did not play well out of conference. Cincinnati slips in on a stronger schedule and more quality wins say the experts.
Big Ten
#8 Michigan State 13-3 23-5
#19 Purdue 11-5 22-7
#23 Illinois 11-6 23-7
Penn State 9-7 20-9 (Home: Illinois, Away: Iowa)
Wisconsin 9-7 18-10 (Away: Minnesota, Home: Indiana)
Minnesota 8-8 20-8 (Home: Wisconsin, Home; Michigan)
Ohio State 8-8 18-9 (Away: Iowa, Home: Northwestern)
Michigan 8-9 18-12 (Away: Minnesota)
Michigan’s a long shot. The experts put Penn State on the bubble. Go figure.
Mid Major Conferences
Colonial Athletic Conference
Virginia Commonwealth 14-4 21-9
George Mason 13-5 20-9
Towson is buried next to the bottom at 5-13, 10-21 overall. While plans develop for a more respectable arena, fans have to wonder what went wrong. They brought in Pat Kennedy with his major conference resume in 2004 with visions of a perennial conference leader in mind, but the Tigers have not played up to expectations so far.
Loyola, UMBC, Coppin, James Madison, Delaware, William & Mary, East Carolina, and North-Carolina-Wilmington are all buried deep in their respective conferences.
Of Chesapeake area schools, the bragging rights also go to Old Dominion at 12-6, 20-9 overall, but for James Madison, 9-9, 18-13, it just gets worse for teams in this region: Delaware 6-12, 13-18; William & Mary 5-13, 10-19, and Towson 5-13, 10-21.
Southern Conference
North
Western Carolina 11-9 16-14
Chattanooga 11-9 15-16
South
Davidson 18-2 25-6
Patriot
American University 13-1 21-7
Holy Cross 11-3 16-13
Navy 8-6 19-10
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Morgan State 12-3 19-11
South Carolina State 10-6 15-13
Still undecided are conference tournaments with make or break power where the Mid-Majors essentially must win to get in. Some great teams will be heading to the consultation tournament, NIT, while surely some will be screaming to see who sneaks in. While Maryland could pull off the job, it’s hard not to forget how pathetic they looked in many of their losses. How analytic opposed to how much is based on media hype and reputation is hard to assess as no one is privy to the selection committee’s secretive selection meetings.
One way or another, the makeup of this year’s NCAA Tournament will be extremely competitive and the best teams atop the field have suffered some embarrassing losses so this could be a year of huge upsets. March Madness fans know the tournament never follows the script and even if a number one seed wins, the road to the final four is full of landmines and diversions. Who will be this year’s big surprise? Is there another Davidson or Davidson themselves poised to shock the field.
With most teams playing their last two games in the major conferences, NCAA basketball is providing one of the most hectic approaches to March Madness ever. The ACC and Big East have lived up to their billing as the money conferences with likely as many as eight teams each over .500 which normally secures a tournament bid for big conference teams. Things have changed, the Mid-Majors are much stronger as Davidson proved almost pulling the upset against Kansas in the great eight. George Mason went deep recently too, and Gonzaga on the west coast has become a tournament regular. That being said, none of these schools could get at large bids.
Here’s the scene in Chesapeake country and close by.
MAJOR CONFERENCES (AP Top 25 Rankings noted.)
ACC
#2 North Carolina 11-3 25-3
#7 Duke 10-4 24-5
# 10 Wake Forest 9-5 22-5
#24 Florida State 9-5 22-7
#18 Clemson 8-6 22-6 (Home: Virginia, Away: Wake Forest)
Boston College 8-6 20-9 (Away: NC State, Home: Georgia Tech)
Maryland 7-7 18-10 (Home: Wake Forest, Away: Virginia)
Virginia Tech 7-7 17-11 (Home: UNC, Away: Florida State)
Miami 6-8 17-10 (Away; Georgia Tech, Home; NC State)
North Carolina through Boston College are all but locked in now. Only a major collapse could spoil Clemson and Boston College. Maryland has the edge over Virginia Tech who’d have to win their last two games and pull some major upsets in the ACC Tournament. Maryland needs their last two games and should survive the first round, at least, to make it in, but the field is tight, and seven teams from the ACC is asking a lot of the field. Miami gets a lot of buzz for their RPI.
Big East
#1 Connecticut 15-2 27-2
#6 Louisville 14-2 23-5
#3 Pittsburgh 13-3 26-3
#13 Marquette 12-4 23-6
#11 Villanova 12-5 24-6
Providence 10-7 18-11 (Away: Villanova)
#25 Syracuse 9-7 21-8 (Home: Rutgers, Away: Marquette)
West Virginia 9-7 20-9 (Home: DePaul, Home: Louisville)
Cincinnati 8-8 18-11 (Away: South Florida, Home: Seton Hall)
Providence is not showing up on any National surveys because of their weak schedule were they did not play well out of conference. Cincinnati slips in on a stronger schedule and more quality wins say the experts.
Big Ten
#8 Michigan State 13-3 23-5
#19 Purdue 11-5 22-7
#23 Illinois 11-6 23-7
Penn State 9-7 20-9 (Home: Illinois, Away: Iowa)
Wisconsin 9-7 18-10 (Away: Minnesota, Home: Indiana)
Minnesota 8-8 20-8 (Home: Wisconsin, Home; Michigan)
Ohio State 8-8 18-9 (Away: Iowa, Home: Northwestern)
Michigan 8-9 18-12 (Away: Minnesota)
Michigan’s a long shot. The experts put Penn State on the bubble. Go figure.
Mid Major Conferences
Colonial Athletic Conference
Virginia Commonwealth 14-4 21-9
George Mason 13-5 20-9
Towson is buried next to the bottom at 5-13, 10-21 overall. While plans develop for a more respectable arena, fans have to wonder what went wrong. They brought in Pat Kennedy with his major conference resume in 2004 with visions of a perennial conference leader in mind, but the Tigers have not played up to expectations so far.
Loyola, UMBC, Coppin, James Madison, Delaware, William & Mary, East Carolina, and North-Carolina-Wilmington are all buried deep in their respective conferences.
Of Chesapeake area schools, the bragging rights also go to Old Dominion at 12-6, 20-9 overall, but for James Madison, 9-9, 18-13, it just gets worse for teams in this region: Delaware 6-12, 13-18; William & Mary 5-13, 10-19, and Towson 5-13, 10-21.
Southern Conference
North
Western Carolina 11-9 16-14
Chattanooga 11-9 15-16
South
Davidson 18-2 25-6
Patriot
American University 13-1 21-7
Holy Cross 11-3 16-13
Navy 8-6 19-10
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Morgan State 12-3 19-11
South Carolina State 10-6 15-13
Still undecided are conference tournaments with make or break power where the Mid-Majors essentially must win to get in. Some great teams will be heading to the consultation tournament, NIT, while surely some will be screaming to see who sneaks in. While Maryland could pull off the job, it’s hard not to forget how pathetic they looked in many of their losses. How analytic opposed to how much is based on media hype and reputation is hard to assess as no one is privy to the selection committee’s secretive selection meetings.
One way or another, the makeup of this year’s NCAA Tournament will be extremely competitive and the best teams atop the field have suffered some embarrassing losses so this could be a year of huge upsets. March Madness fans know the tournament never follows the script and even if a number one seed wins, the road to the final four is full of landmines and diversions. Who will be this year’s big surprise? Is there another Davidson or Davidson themselves poised to shock the field.
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