(Updated March 13, 2011) 2011 March Madness Bracketology Predictions and Projections – NCAA Bracket Field of 68 from Expert March Madness Bracket Prognosticators: The field of 68 for this year’s 2011 NCAA Tournament will finally be announced on Sunday, March 13th and teams are punching their March Madness tickets by playing themselves into at-large and automatic bids in this week’s exciting Conference Tournament action and unfortunate programs are playing themselves out and off the “Bubble” by losing must-have games in their March Madness Postseason Conference Tournaments. Who will make it in as this year’s 37 at-large selections? We got a pretty good handle on who will make it and have posted our March Madness Expert Predictions below as we get ready to finally see the field announced so we can get down to business and start forecasting the WINNERS of each game and round in this year’s NCAA Tournament 2011 Bracket. Well, enough of of the yapping, let’s get down to picking who will make it in and out of this year’s March Madness Bracket baby!
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ACC Conference
LOCKS: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St
“Bubble Teams” IN: Clemson, Virginia Tech
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Boston College
NOTES: Clemson, and Virginia Tech sealed their at-large bids with making it to the ACC semifinals. Boston College was IN but is now OUT after Penn St leap frogged them with their run to the Big 10 title game. BC went 2-0 versus Virginia Tech but the Hokies get IN over BC because of their more impressive wins including victories over Duke, Florida St(twice) and Penn St.
ATLANTIC 10 Conference
LOCKS: Xavier, Temple, Richmond
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: NONE
NOTES: Richmond’s WIN over Rhode Island in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament to reach saturday’s semifinals should have sealed up their at-large bid. Their BIG WIN over Temple saturday to reach the A-10 Title Game made them a LOCK.
BIG EAST Conference
LOCKS: Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Louisville, Cincinnati, St John’s, Uconn, Georgetown, West Virginia
“Bubble Teams” IN: Marquette, Villanova
“Bubble Teams” OUT: NONE
NOTES: Villanova faltered badly down the stretch and left the committe a good enough reason to deny the Big East a record 11 teams in the field. However, with Alabama and Georgia folding badly in the SEC the Wildcats are barely IN as of right now.
BIG 10 Conference
LOCKS: Ohio St, Purdue, Wisconsin
“Bubble Teams” IN: Illinois, Michigan, Michigan St, Penn St
“Bubble Teams” OUT: NONE
NOTES: Like Villanova, Michigan St was awful down the stretch and left the committee enough reasons to leave the Spartans out but their win friday night over Purdue puts them back IN our bracket projections. Penn St had a HUGE WIN over Michigan St saturday to reach the Big 10 Championship Game and that should be enough to get the Nittany Lions the last bid IN the field as an at-large. Unless they get blown out badly today vs Ohio St they should be the LAST TEAM IN the field as an at-large bid with Boston College being the LAST TEAM OUT.
BIG 12 Conference
LOCKS: Kansas, Texas, Kansas St, Texas A&M, Missouri, Colorado
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Nebraska
NOTES: Colorado is now a LOCK after beating Kansas State for a 3rd time on thursday in the Big 12 Tournament.
Colonial Athletic Conference
LOCKS: George Mason, Old Dominion
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Hofstra, VCU
NOTES: George Mason’s regular season CAA title and 27 RPI rating makes the Patriots a LOCK to make the 2011 March Madness Bracket.
Conference USA Conference
LOCKS: Memphis
“Bubble Teams” IN: UAB
“Bubble Teams” OUT: UTEP
NOTES: Memphis’s win in the CUSA Championship game saturday earned the Tigers the league’s automatic bid and removed any lingering doubt. UAB gets the edge over UTEP due to their better RPI, regular season win head to head and regular season CUSA title. UTEP needed to WIN the Automatic Bid by beating Memphis saturday or else they figured to be OUT. We have the Miners as one of our LAST FOUR “Bubble Teams” OUT.
Horizon League Conference
LOCKS: Butler
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Cleveland St
NOTES: Cleveland St’s early exit in the Horizon League Tournament sealed their fate. They’ll be headed to the NIT despite having a RPI of 41 and a 26-8 overall record.
IVY League Conference
LOCKS: Princeton
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Harvard
NOTES: What a HUGE WIN by Princeton over Harvard at the buzzer saturday. It’s a shame both of these teams won’t make the March Madness field. Princeton is IN with the automatic bid but unfortunately Tommy Amaker’s Harvard ballclub will just miss out on making it as an at-large bid.
Missouri Valley Conference
LOCKS: Indiana St
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Missouri St, Wichita St
NOTES: Wichita St’s 0-2 regular season record versus Missouri St and early MVC Tournament exit plus a RPI of 61 makes them an easy call. Shockers are OUT and headed to the NIT Tournament. Missouri St won the regular season MVC and have an RPI of 41 but are lacking in BIG TIME quality wins out of conference. They are one of the last four OUT.
Mountain West Conference
LOCKS: BYU, San Diego St, UNLV
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: New Mexico, Colorado St
NOTES: Colorado St is now OUT for sure after thursday’s loss to New Mexico. New Mexico needed to win the Mountain West Tournament to get IN. They lost and are now OUT.
Pac 10 Conference
LOCKS: Arizona, UCLA, Washington
“Bubble Teams” IN: NONE
“Bubble Teams” OUT: USC, California, Washington St
NOTES: Washington got revenge for their two regular season losses to Washington St by beating them thursday in the Pac 10 Tournament and that should be the final nail in WSU’s NCAA Tournament coffin. They are OUT. USC, Cal and Washington St are a LONG SHOT at making it IN now. They are all OUT.
Southeastern Conference(SEC)
LOCKS: Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
“Bubble Teams” IN: Tennessee
“Bubble Teams” OUT: Alabama, Georgia
NOTES: Alabama’s terrible 83 RPI this week and lack of quality wins had them in trouble. However, with Alabama’s win over Georgia in the SEC Tournament friday they jumped over the Bulldogs and went from being OUT to IN. Their BAD LOSS today to Kentucky leaves them in trouble AGAIN and now OUT. Georgia is now OUT in our field with their tough overtime loss friday in Atlanta.
West Coast Conference
LOCKS: Gonzaga
“Bubble Teams” IN: St Mary’s
“Bubble Teams” OUT: NONE
NOTES: Gonzaga’s IN with the automatic bid but St Mary’s is sweating it out. Michigan State BIG WIN over Purdue friday night leap frogged them over St Mary’s in our Bracket field as of right now pushing St Mary’s almost off the Bubble. However, for now, ther are one of our LAST FOUR IN.
LAST FOUR BUBBLE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: Virginia Tech, St Mary’s, Villanova, Penn St
LAST FOUR BUBBLE TEAMS OUT OF THE FIELD: Boston College, UTEP, Alabama, Georgia
#1 THRU #12 SEED FORECAST:
#1 SEED PREDICTIONS: Ohio St #1 seed in East, Kansas #1 seed in Southwest, Pittsburgh #1 seed in West and Duke the #1 seed in Southeast
#2 SEED PREDICTIONS: Notre Dame, Uconn, North Carolina, San Diego St
#3 SEED PREDICTIONS: Kentucky, Purdue, Louisville, Texas
#4 SEED PREDICTIONS: Florida, Wisconsin, Syracuse, BYU
#5 SEED PREDICTIONS: Arizona, Washington, Utah St, Old Dominion
#6 SEED PREDICTIONS: Georgetown, St John’s, Vanderbilt, Xavier
#7 SEED PREDICTIONS: George Mason, West Virginia, Texas A&M, Kansas St
#8 SEED PREDICTIONS: UNLV, Tennessee, Butler, Cincinnati
#9 SEED PREDICTIONS: Memphis, Temple, Richmond, Missouri
#10 SEED PREDICTIONS: Marquette, UCLA, Gonzaga, Michigan St
#11 SEED PREDICTIONS: Michigan, Princeton, Florida St, Illinois
#12 SEED PREDICTIONS: Villanova, Colorado, Penn St, St Mary’s, Virginia Tech, Clemson, UAB, Belmont
BREAKDOWN BY LEAGUE:
11: Big East
7: Big Ten
6: Big 12
5: ACC
4: SEC
3: Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Pac-10
2: Colonial, Conference USA, West Coast
1: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern Athletic, Summit, Sun Belt, Western Athletic (20)
TOURNAMENT DATES
March 15: Four play-in games in Dayton, Ohio
First and second rounds
March 17 and 19: Denver, Tampa, Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C.
March 18 and 20: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland and Tulsa, Okla.
Regional semifinals and final
March 24 and 26: Anaheim, Calif., and New Orleans.
March 25 and 27: Newark, N.J., and San Antonio
Final Four
April 2 and 4: Reliant Stadium, Houston