Projecting the Field
Projecting the Seeds
(Updated morning of Jan. 16, 2008)
The top four seeds at CBSSports.com haven't changed all season.
Truth be told, I'll be surprised if they ever do.
Here's the latest Projecting the Field.
Top four seeds by region
| Seed | South | East | Midwest | West |
| 1 |  |  |  |  |
| 2 |  |  |  |  |
| 3 |  |  |  |  |
| 4 |  |  |  |  |
Bubble teams
Last four in: Florida, UMass, California, Illinois StateLast four out: Boston College, Syracuse, Providence, Mississippi State
Bids by conference
| ACC (5) | |
 | Automatic bid: North Carolina |
| At-large: Duke, Clemson, Miami, Florida | |
| Bubble: Virginia, Boston College | |
| Comment: UNC is off to its best start since it opened with 21 straights wins in 1985-86. | |
| AMERICA EAST (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Maryland-Baltimore County |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Senior Brian Hodges is averaging 17.4 points through 17 games for UMBC. | |
| ATLANTIC 10 (4) | |
 | Automatic bid: Dayton |
| At-large: Xavier, Rhode Island, UMass | |
| Bubble: Saint Joseph's, Duquesne | |
| Comment: Duquesne has no good wins or bad losses to date and with an RPI in the 40s an at-large bid is still a possibility. | |
| ATLANTIC SUN (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Belmont |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Watch out for Jacksonville in this league. The Dolphins have won their first four A-Sun contests. | |
| BIG 12 (6) | |
 | Automatic bid: Kansas |
| At-large: Texas A&M, Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor | |
| Bubble: Missouri | |
| Comment: Nebraska's loss to Colorado is a good indication the Huskers aren't ready to make the NCAA Tournament. | |
| BIG EAST (8) | |
 | Automatic bid: Marquette |
| At-large: Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Louisville, West Virginia, Connecticut, Villanova | |
| Bubble: Syracuse, Providence | |
| Comment: UConn is still looking for a marquee win. But the good news for the Huskies is that there are no bad losses to damage their body of work. | |
| BIG SKY (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Northern Arizona |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Three of Northern Arizona's early losses were to Arizona, Kansas and UNLV. | |
| BIG SOUTH (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Winthrop |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Winthrop deserves the benefit of the doubt in this league, at least for now. | |
| BIG TEN (4) | |
 | Automatic bid: Indiana |
| At-large: Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State | |
| Bubble: Purdue, Minnesota | |
| Comment: Indiana hasn't lost since Nov. 24 and Eric Gordon has scored at least 15 points in every game in which he's played a minimum of 13 minutes. | |
| BIG WEST (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Cal State Northridge |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Balance is the key for Cal State Northridge, which has four players -- including junior Deon Tresvant -- averaging double-figures in points. | |
| COLONIAL (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Virginia Commonwealth |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: George Mason | |
| Comment: VCU's second-year coach Anthony Grant won 20 of his first 23 regular-season CAA games. | |
| CONFERENCE USA (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Memphis |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Unless Memphis loses in the C-USA Tournament it's difficult to imagine a scenario where C-USA isn't a one-bid league. | |
| HORIZON (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Butler |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Butler has eight Top 100 wins, including victories over Florida State and Ohio State. | |
| IVY LEAGUE (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Cornell |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Cornell closed non-league play with an 8-5 record. | |
| MAAC (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Siena |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Siena is one of three Metro Atlantic schools with Top 100 RPIs. | |
| MAC (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Kent State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: It looks like that ambitious non-league schedule might've drained Miami-Ohio, which dropped its first two MAC games. | |
| MEAC (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Hampton |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Hampton, led by senior Rashad West, is one of just four teams to beat Virginia Commonwealth this season. | |
| MISSOURI VALLEY (2) | |
 | Automatic bid: Drake |
| At-large: Illinois State | |
| Bubble: Creighton | |
| Comment: Southern Illinois' streak of six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances seems set to be snapped this season. | |
| MOUNTAIN WEST (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: San Diego State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: UNLV, Utah, New Mexico | |
| Comment: BYU is falling apart thanks to recent losses at Boise State, Wake Forest and UNLV. | |
| NORTHEAST (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Wagner |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Wagner won its first five league games, which included a trip to Sacred Heart. | |
| OHIO VALLEY (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Austin Peay |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: The OVC ranks 30th out of 31 leagues at CollegeRPI.com. | |
| PAC-10 (7) | |
 | Automatic bid: UCLA |
| At-large: Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, Arizona, California | |
| Bubble: Southern California | |
| Comment: UCLA looks ready to make a third straight Final Four under Ben Howland. | |
| PATRIOT LEAGUE (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Lafayette |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Lafayette opened league play with a double-digit win over Holy Cross. | |
| SEC (5) | |
 | Automatic bid: Tennessee |
| At-large: Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Florida | |
| Bubble: Mississippi State | |
| Comment: Mississippi State's six-game winning streak has the Bulldogs back in contention for an at-large bid. | |
| SOUTHERN (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Davidson |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Davidson's Stephen Curry is averaging 23.6 points per contest. | |
| SOUTHLAND (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Sam Houston State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Sam Houston State dropped two of three games after starting the season with a 10-0 record. | |
| SUMMIT LEAGUE (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Oral Roberts |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: ORU is the only team in this league with a Top 100 RPI. | |
| SUN BELT (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: South Alabama |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Ronnie Arrow is proving to be the perfect replacement for John Pelphrey at South Alabama. | |
| SWAC (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Alabama State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: The countdown is ongoing for Grambling State to win its first game. | |
| WAC (1) | |
 | Automatic bid: Utah State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Utah State has won nine of its past 10 game since starting the season with a 3-4 record. | |
| WEST COAST (2) | |
 | Automatic bid: Gonzaga |
| At-large: Saint Mary's | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: We'll know a lot more about this league once Gonzaga and Saint Mary's play Feb. 4. | |
