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Updated morning of Feb. 7 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Duke's win at North Carolina reshuffled things at the top. The Tar Heels are now a No. 2 seed. UCLA is back as the top seed in the West. And I can no longer stand by Miami after that home loss to Florida State. Here's the latest Projecting the Field. Top four seeds by region | Seed | South | Midwest | East | West | | 1 |  |  |  |  | | 2 |  |  |  |  | | 3 |  |  |  |  | | 4 |  |  |  |  | Bubble teams Last four in: Saint Joseph's, UNLV, BYU, UMass Last four out: George Mason, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia Tech Bids by conference | ACC (4) |  | Automatic bid: Duke | | At-large: North Carolina, Clemson, North Carolina State | | Bubble: Maryland, Virginia Tech | | Comment: Duke's win over UNC solidified the Blue Devils as a No. 1 seed and the ACC favorites. | | AMERICA EAST (1) |  | Automatic bid: Maryland-Baltimore County | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: UMBC's Brian Hodges has missed the past two games with an injured ankle. | | ATLANTIC 10 (5) |  | Automatic bid: Xavier | | At-large: Rhode Island, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, UMass | | Bubble: None | | Comment: This league is solid, though it could go from five bids to three bids in a matter of one bad weekend. | | ATLANTIC SUN (1) |  | Automatic bid: Jacksonville | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Jacksonville is the only one-loss team in A-Sun play. | | BIG 12 (6) |  | Automatic bid: Kansas | | At-large: Texas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Michael Beasley now has 18 double-doubles in just 21 games for Kansas State. | | BIG EAST (8) |  | Automatic bid: Georgetown | | At-large: Notre Dame, Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse | | Bubble: Seton Hall | | Comment: The Hoyas are sitting alone atop the Big East standings. | | BIG SKY (1) |  | Automatic bid: Portland State | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Portland State has won four consecutive games to pull into first place in the Big Sky standings. | | BIG SOUTH (1) |  | Automatic bid: UNC-Asheville | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: What would be better than having a 7-foot-7 center (like UNC-Asheville's Kenny George) in the NCAA Tournament? | | BIG TEN (5) |  | Automatic bid: Wisconsin | | At-large: Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Michigan State would be a nice Final Four pick if it would just stop losing to bad teams. | | BIG WEST (1) |  | Automatic bid: Cal State Northridge | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Cal State Northridge, led by junior Deon Tresvant, has a half-game lead in the Big West standings. | | COLONIAL (1) |  | Automatic bid: Virginia Commonwealth | | At-large: None | | Bubble: George Mason | | Comment: George Mason has won six of seven games heading into Thursday's contest against Drexel. | | CONFERENCE USA (1) |  | Automatic bid: Memphis | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Memphis is 9-0 against the Top 100 at CollegeRPI.com. | | HORIZON (1) |  | Automatic bid: Butler | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Butler got a nice come-from-behind win at Valparaiso on Tuesday night. | | IVY LEAGUE (1) |  | Automatic bid: Cornell | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Cornell is the only Ivy League school with at least 11 victories. | | MAAC (1) |  | Automatic bid: Rider | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: It would be nice to see Jason Thompson lead Rider to the NCAA Tournament, then go for 25 and 12 against a high-major opponent. | | MAC (1) |  | Automatic bid: Kent State | | At-large: None | | Bubble: Ohio | | Comment: Kent State is 7-2 in the MAC following Wednesday's overtime win over Ball State. | | MEAC (1) |  | Automatic bid: Morgan State | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Three Morgan State players, including Jamar Smith, are averaging at least 12 points per contest. | | MISSOURI VALLEY (1) |  | Automatic bid: Drake | | At-large: None | | Bubble: Illinois State, Creighton | | Comment: Drake is now 12-0 in the MVC, if you're keeping count. | | MOUNTAIN WEST (2) |  | Automatic bid: BYU | | At-large: UNLV | | Bubble: San Diego State, New Mexico | | Comment: UNLV took its second league loss Wednesday night at Utah. | | NORTHEAST (1) |  | Automatic bid: Sacred Heart | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Sacred Heart will take a seven-game winning streak into Thursday's game against Monmouth. | | OHIO VALLEY (1) |  | Automatic bid: Austin Peay | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Austin Peay has won two consecutive games since losing to Samford and Southeast Missouri State. | | PAC-10 (5) |  | Automatic bid: UCLA | | At-large: Stanford, Arizona, Washington State, Southern California | | Bubble: Oregon | | Comment: Is anybody playing better than UCLA these days? | | PATRIOT LEAGUE (1) |  | Automatic bid: Lafayette | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Lafayette is the only Patriot League team more than three games over .500. | | SEC (6) |  | Automatic bid: Tennessee | | At-large: Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida, Vanderbilt | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Tennessee seems capable of running away with the SEC East, especially after what the Vols did to Florida. | | SOUTHERN (1) |  | Automatic bid: Davidson | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Davidson is 14-0 in league play and the Wildcats haven't lost since Dec. 21. | | SOUTHLAND (1) |  | Automatic bid: Stephen F. Austin | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: The Southland Tournament will be one of the more interesting events this March, far as one-bid leagues are concerned. | | SUMMIT LEAGUE (1) |  | Automatic bid: Oral Roberts | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: ORU has won eight straight games to improve to 10-0 in league play. | | SUN BELT (1) |  | Automatic bid: South Alabama | | At-large: None | | Bubble: Western Kentucky | | Comment: The Sun Belt is now interesting thanks to South Alabama's loss at North Texas and Western Kentucky's eight-game winning streak. | | SWAC (1) |  | Automatic bid: Alabama State | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: The SWAC is rated as the worst league in the country at CollegeRPI.com. | | WAC (1) |  | Automatic bid: Utah State | | At-large: None | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Utah State is atop the league standings, though Nevada actually has the best RPI. | | WEST COAST (2) |  | Automatic bid: Gonzaga | | At-large: Saint Mary's | | Bubble: None | | Comment: Gonzaga is still projected as the WCC champ because what should essentially be the title game will be played at Gonzaga on March 1. |
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Gary Parrish
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