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I see Illinois State is possibly dancing. Now THAT would be a great first rounder.

I think the NCAA now gets (somewhat) the strength of the AAC and will always (for the most part) put 3+ in the tourney. So, if we win at Cincy, I definitely like our chances getting in. Lose, and lose big, and I still feel we are very much on the bubble (would need to finish top 2 in regular season if don't win conf tourney and get to at least semi finals there).

Hard road indeed with 6-7 man rotation. I'll give my prediction after the Cincy game. I really like our chemistry right now though.

Here is a composite that is updated weekly.

http://bracketmatrix.com/

We will still get into the tournament if we lose to Cincy and don't have any losses to the dreck of the AAC.
IMO we're a two bid league -- us and Cincy. Houston is only other team that could sneak in.

I think Temple can still play their way in. If they finish AAC play at 10-6 without any bad losses, they could get in because of the wins over FSU and WV. Those are easily the two best OOC wins by any team in the AAC.

At this point, Temple will have to avoid bad losses and make a good run in the conference tourney.

LA_Mustang wrote:I think Temple can still play their way in. If they finish AAC play at 10-6 without any bad losses, they could get in because of the wins over FSU and WV. Those are easily the two best OOC wins by any team in the AAC.

We might have the best two wins of any team in the country. If we win 18-20 games and don't lose to ECU, USF, Tulane, I think we get in.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... eve-parity

23. SMU Mustangs
The Ponies have won 10 in a row, and Duke transfer Semi Ojeleye has been a major contributor. Against Temple and USF, Ojeleye averaged 20 points per game and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 13-of-24 from the floor in that two-game span.

22. Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats lead the American by shooting 48.4 percent from the field this season. The Bearcats are tied for second in the conference in offensive efficiency, at 114.0, and lead the conference in steals per game (7. and blocked shots per game (6.0). Troy Caupain has not yet played his best, but Gary Clark, Kyle Washington and Jacob Evans have picked up the slack. This is an outstanding defensive team.

27. USC Trojans
The Trojans get a steal on 10 percent of their opponents' possessions, best in the Pac-12. Southern Cal allows 10.7 points off turnovers, the fewest in the Pac-12.

39. Pittsburgh Panthers
Michael Young and Jamel Artis are averaging 22.3 points and 21.5 points, respectively, and each have 10 games with 20 or more points. They rank first and second in the ACC in scoring. Pittsburgh is very good on the offensive end but ranks outside the top 140 in defense.

40. Michigan Wolverines
The Wolverines are a pleasure to watch on the offensive end, and John Beliein has a lot of good pieces to move around on offense. Michigan takes care of the ball and doesn't turn it over. But the Michigan defense lets the offense down and puts a ton of pressure on the offense to generate enough points to win. Until Michigan can get consistent stops, the bubble will be in play.

54. TCU Horned Frogs
TCU allows 8.6 points in transition, fewest among Big 12 teams. And 19.7 percent of TCU's points are off second-chance opportunities, the highest percentage in the Big 12.

63. Houston Cougars
Former Oregon Duck Damyean Dotson put up his fifth double-double of the season against Cincinnati, leading scorer Rob Gray Jr. leads the American Athletic Conference in scoring, at 20 points, and Galen Robinson Jr. leads the American in assists, with 5.1 per game.

64. Memphis Tigers
Dedric Lawson has 13 double-doubles this season and 30 double-doubles in his young career, sixth among Division I players and first among sophomores. Lawson averages 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and if he bumps up his assist rate, he could become the first 20-10-4 guy in Division I since 1994.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... acketology

7 seed in Buffalo vs. URI. Would play Press Virginia in the next round

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

8 seed vs. NW; would play Rock Chalk KU in next round.

That ESPN bracket was before last night's game, have to figure we drop a bit. CBS posted a new bracket this morning, dropped us from a 7 to a 9, but still very safely in. Would love to play in Tulsa (and would welcome that Northwestern matchup), but would much rather be looking at Baylor in round two than Kansas (if we were to win the opener, and I know - big "if").

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketb ... igan-state

7/10 in Sac Town vs. Miami (FL.); would play UCLA in next round

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/20 ... twitter_si

8/9 vs. NW; would play UCLA in next round

TCU has really been helped by the development of that big eastern European kid whose name I can't remember or pronounce. He played well against SMU and last week I believe was Big 12 Player of the Week. He's averaging 13 ppg and 6 rpg. playing only 21 minutes a game. He's talented although you wouldn't know it to look at him