Andrew's March Talk

We’re now over halfway through the year, and under two months away from Selection Sunday. I have thoroughly enjoyed the college basketball season, with this past Saturday truly being a highlight. Teams are now collecting signature wins, and conference play is revealing the true colors of teams across the country. Here is how things look at this point:

NOTE: These are not team rankings, but seeding’s based upon each team’s resume up to this point in the year.

1 Seeds

1. Duke – Number 1 in RPI with wins over Kentucky, Minnesota, VCU, Ohio State, Louisville, and Temple.

2. Michigan – 5 in RPI, Big Ten favorites, wins over Pitt, KSU, NCST, and at Minnesota.

3. Kansas – 2 in RPI and will likely win the Big 12 again too.

4. Syracuse – Gets the nod over Louisville here since they just beat them on the road.

2 Seeds

Arizona – Don’t look pretty all the time but they’ve beaten Florida and SD State and have only lost at Oregon. 3 in RPI.

Louisville – Dropped to a 2 seed by losing to Syracuse at home on Saturday.

Florida – SEC Favorites have beaten Wisconsin, Marquette, FSU, and Missouri.

Butler – Gets the nod over Indiana here due to their head-to-head win against them.

3 Seeds

Indiana – Preseason number one has some work to due after losing to Wisconsin.

Gonzaga – Lost a heartbreaker at Butler but still in good shape overall.

Minnesota – Only 3 losses came against top 5 teams (Duke, IU, Michigan).

Michigan State – Solid RPI, no bad losses, and wins against Kansas and Ohio State.

4 Seeds

Oregon – The Ducks are playing the best basketball of any team out west.

Kansas State – Bad RPI but have beaten a number of quality teams.

New Mexico – Leading the Mountain West early, and boast a top 10 RPI.

N.C. State – Handed Duke their only loss of the year.

5 Seeds

Miami – Still don’t know how legit this team is, but they can show me this week against Duke.

Wichita State – Win over Creighton Saturday proves their legitimacy.

Creighton – Their early win over Wisconsin is looking better and better.

Ohio State – Their losses don’t hurt them but only Michigan win helps them.

6 Seeds

Cincinnati – Went though a bad stretch in early January, but fine now.

Missouri – They need Bowers, and it showed in an ugly loss to Florida on Saturday.

VCU – Winners of 13 straight…

Marquette – Solid RPI due to a solid start in the Big East.

7 Seeds

Notre Dame – Terrible RPI but they have a decent resume outside of that.

UNLV – No bad losses but few good wins. Good thing they won at SD State.

Illinois – Tons of resume wins but are fading quickly in Big Ten play.

Oklahoma – In this spot due to their top 15 RPI, but only as a placeholder for now.

8 Seeds

Connecticut – Have endured a pretty tough schedule, but need to start winning again.

Mississippi – Terrible RPI because they haven’t played tough competition.

Oklahoma State – When ranking these teams, their win over NCST stands out.

Colorado – Impressive resume but they are falling apart. Probably too high here.

Next Four: SD State, UCLA, Wisconsin, Colorado State

Other At-Large Bids (alphabetical): Baylor, Boise State, Georgetown, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Temple, Wyoming