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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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Jumpology: Bracket Breakdown, Part II By Ron Jumper This is the second edition of Jumpology and a lot has happened since the first edition. How about San Diego beating both St. Mary’s and Gonzaga on the way to a WCC championship? I bet George Mason is thankful William and Mary took VCU out, so that their road was much easier in the CAA tournament. Western Kentucky also benefited from an upset by Middle Tennessee State. With these upsets and shakeups, there has been plenty of movement along the “Bubble.” Here is my rundown of how the NCAA tournament is shaking up. Grid: ** = Automatic Bid AL = At-Large Locks ? = Bubble Watch America East Conference: -UMBC** Atlantic 10: -Xavier** -St. Joe’s? -UMass? ACC: -UNC** -Duke AL -Clemson AL -Miami (FL) AL -Maryland? -Virginia Tech? Atlantic Sun: -Belmont** Big 12: -Kansas** -Texas AL -Kansas State AL -Baylor AL -Oklahoma AL -Texas A&M? Big East: -Georgetown** -Louisville AL -Notre Dame AL -UConn AL -Marquette AL -Pitt AL -West Virginia AL -Villanova? -Syracuse? Big Sky: -Portland State** Big South: -Winthrop** Big Ten: -Wisconsin** -Purdue AL -Indiana AL -Michigan State AL -Ohio State? Big West: -Cal State Northridge** CAA: -George Mason** -VCU AL C-USA: -Memphis** -UAB? -Houston? Horizon: -Butler** Ivy League: -Cornell** MAAC: -Sienna** MAC: -Kent State** MEAC: -Morgan State** MVC: -Drake** -Illinois State AL Mountain West: -BYU** -UNLV? -New Mexico? Northeast Conference: -Robert Morris** Ohio Valley: -Austin Peay** Pac-10: -UCLA** -Stanford AL -Washington State AL -USC AL -Arizona State? -Arizona? -Oregon? Patriot League: -American** SEC: -Tennessee** -Vanderbilt AL -Mississippi State AL -Arkansas? -Kentucky? -Florida? Southern Conference: -Davidson** Southland Conference: -Lamar** SWAC: -Alabama State** Summit League: -Oral Roberts** Sun Belt: -Western Kentucky** -South Alabama AL West Coast Conference: -San Diego -St. Mary’s AL -Gonzaga AL WAC: -Boise State** Automatic Bids: 31 At-Large Locks: 26 Bubble Watch: 18 Last time, we only had 47 teams (31 Automatic Bids and 16 Locks) looking to have done enough to be in the field, but this time we have 57 (31 Automatic Bids and 26 Locks). That leaves us with 18 teams fighting for just 8 spots. This is going to be really tough to wind it down. The first thing to do is look at RPI of the remaining 18 teams: St. Joe’s (RPI 55) UMass (RPI 40) Maryland (RPI 69) Virginia Tech (RPI 57) Texas A&M (RPI 47) Villanova (RPI 56) Syracuse (RPI 45) Ohio State (RPI 48) UAB (RPI 50) Houston (RPI 67) UNLV (RPI 29) New Mexico (RPI 53) Arizona State (RPI 74) Arizona (RPI 31) Oregon (RPI 54) Arkansas (RPI 43) Kentucky (RPI 49) Florida (RPI 65) From this list, it would appear as though UNLV (29), Arizona (31), and UMass (40) would be safe because of how strong their RPI is. However, I would say that all three need wins in their conference tournament to feel comfortable that they will get in. Arizona has a strong RPI because of how strong their schedule was, but they haven’t won enough of these tough games to feel secure that they will get in. UMass is battling St. Joes to get an at-large bid, even though there is an outside shot both will get in. UNLV is part of the Mountain West and they could potentially get 3 teams in, depending on how things play out. Arizona State (74), Florida (65), and Houston (67) would be on the outside looking in, based on their RPI. However, it would be hard to keep the 2-time defending champ and a .500 Pac-10 team out of the dance. I even feel Houston deserves to be in, though no one seems to agree with me. In most years, the conference tournaments help but aren’t heavily counted on. This year, it will probably count more because the committee needs some way to separate these bubble teams fairly. If St. Joes or UMass make the finals of the A-10 tourney, then they should be in. The same could be said for Villanova and Syracuse in the Big East, or Arizona and Oregon in the Pac-10. Those teams would certainly have enough to feel safe. In the SEC, Arkansas and Kentucky could use a win or two to feel comfortable while Florida desperately needs a couple of wins to play their way in. It will be interesting to see how these tournaments play out. As I said last time, it is important for teams like Kent State, Memphis, and Xavier to win their conference tournaments so they don’t take away bids from other at-large teams. There have already been 3 important conference wins by San Diego, George Mason, and Western Kentucky. With those wins, it is still likely St. Mary’s, Gonzaga, VCU, and South Alabama will get into the Big Dance so that cut down on the at-large bids for other teams. The window will just get smaller and smaller if any of Kent State, Memphis, or Xavier go down in their conference tournaments. There will be a third installment of Jumpology once the bracket comes out. I’ll be praising the committee on what they did well and ripping them a new one on what they messed up on. It will be fun, I’m looking forward to the Madness! Stay tuned for more, right here with SportsOverload. March 12, 2008 |
| NCAA Football | |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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