Feb. 1 update

Hello, college basketball fans!

This is the first Schmolik 64 update for 2008. This is my 15th season doing the Schmolik 64. I will be making updates periodically up to Selection Sunday, March 16, 2008. My final bracket will be done after the Big 10 championship on Selection Sunday.

I only choose up to the top 12 seeds in each regional until Championship Week since the bottom four are usually reserved for champions of "one-bid" conferences. Most of the teams that "lead" those conferences now will not gain automatic bids because they fail to win their conference tournament. Giving these teams a "seed" would not be accurate, even if the teams do win their automatic berth since their seed may change due to their position among the eventual teams in those bottom seeds. 

Records as of Jan. 31, 2008.

SOUTH REGIONAL (Houston, TX Fri/Sun March 28-30)

At North Little Rock, AR – Fri/Sun  March 21-23
1 Memphis (20-0) vs 16
8 Marquette (14-4) vs 9 UNLV (15-4)

At North Little Rock, AR – Fri/Sun  March 21-23
5 Massachusetts (14-6) vs 12 Mississippi State (14-6)
4 Texas (15-4) vs 13

At Anaheim, CA – Thur/Sat March 20-22
6 Texas A&M (16-4) vs 11 Seton Hall (15-6)
3 Stanford (17-3) vs 14

At Raleigh, NC –  Fri/Sun  March 21-23
7 Indiana (17-3) vs 10 Rhode Island (18-3)
2 North Carolina (20-1) vs 15

WEST REGIONAL (Phoenix, AZ Thur/Sat March 27-29)

At Birmingham, AL - Fri/Sun  March 21-23
1 Tennessee (17-2) vs 16
8 Dayton (15-4) vs 9 Purdue (16-5)

At Tampa, FL - Fri/Sun  March 21-23
5 Connecticut (15-5) vs 12 South Alabama (15-4)
4 Butler (19-2) vs 13

At Denver, CO – Thur/Sat March 20-22
6 Pittsburgh (16-4) vs 11 BYU (16-5)
3 Kansas State (14-4) vs 14

At Anaheim, CA - Thur/Sat March 20-22
7 Ohio State (15-6) vs 10 Gonzaga (16-5) 
2 UCLA (18-2) vs 15

EAST REGIONAL (Charlotte, NC Thur/Sat March 27-29)

At Raleigh, NC - Fri/Sun  March 21-23
1 Duke (18-1) vs 16
8 Vanderbilt (17-4) vs 9 Louisville (15-6)

At Birmingham, AL - Fri/Sun March 21-23
5 Baylor (15-3) vs 12 George Mason (15-6)
4 Wisconsin (17-3) vs 13

At Washington, DC - Thur/Sat March 20-22
6 Mississippi (16-3) vs 11 USC (13-7)
3 Xavier (17-4) vs 14

At Tampa, FL - Fri/Sun March 21-23
7 Oklahoma (15-5) vs 10 Kent State (17-4)
2 Georgetown (17-2)  vs 15

MIDWEST REGIONAL (Detroit Fri/Sun March 28-30)

At Omaha, NE - Thur/Sat March 20-22
1 Kansas (19-1) vs 16
8 St. Mary's (16-3) vs 9 St. Joseph's (13-5)

At Denver, CO – Thur/Sat March 20-22
5 Arizona (14-6) vs 12 Arkansas (15-5)
4 Notre Dame (15-4) vs 13

At Omaha, NE - Thur/Sat March 20-22
6 Washington State (17-3)  vs 11 Syracuse (15-7)
3 Drake (17-1) vs 14

At Washington, DC - Thur/Sat March 20-22
7 Florida (18-3) vs 10 Clemson (14-5)
2 Michigan State (18-2) vs 15

By Conference:

Big East – 8

Big 12 - 6
SEC – 6
Pac 10 – 5

Big 10 – 5
A-10 - 5

ACC – 3

MWC – 2
WCC - 2

Other -  (MVC, Horiz, C-USA, MAC, Colon, Sun B)
Remaining Automatics - 16
Remaining At Large Bids – 1

 
*RPI data courtesy of ESPN.com's Bracketology Section.

Comments:

At the moment, it looks like there are six teams worthy of #1 seeds (Memphis, Duke, Kansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and UCLA). Duke currently leads the ACC and Tennessee is the #1 team in the RPI and has four top 25 wins, the most of any team.

ESPN.com's conference RPI ranks has ACC the #1 ranked conference. Still, they only have three teams in the top 39.  By contrast, the A-10 has four. Miami currently has a 2-4 conference record and has gone 5-5 in their last 10 games. The only other team in the top 50 that was 5-5 and worse was fellow ACC team Clemson. It seems like the ACC outside of Duke and North Carolina has beaten themselves up.

Illinois will likely miss the NCAA tournament for the first time this millenium, so my excitement for this season is way down. In addition, Kentucky will likely miss the tournament for the first time since 1991 (although they did beat Tennessee and Vanderbilt).

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