Projecting the Field: Time to trade places

Updated March 13

Still no changes to the teams in the field, but again more seeds have been shuffled. Illinois, Washington and Mississippi State have pushed their way to the top of the next in line, but UW can win a spot tonight when it plays Cal for the Pac-10 title.

Florida, Mississippi and Virginia Tech are done playing now, but are still in for the moment. The Hokies took a bad loss to Miami and might be getting close enough to the bottom of the bracket where the committee decides that their nonconference schedule is reason enough to leave them out.

•  Bracket projections are always based on "as if the tournament started today." I am not predicting how teams will finish the season. For those of you who followed this space last year, that is a change.

•  The committee tries to place teams as close to home as possible without violating any of their other bracket rules (like conference separation). However, teams cannot play on their home floors or where they are the host school. That means Syracuse, even if it ends up the overall No. 1 seed, cannot play in the regional in Syracuse. However, Gonzaga can play in Spokane because the games are not on its home floor and it is not the host school.

•  The conference "champion" is the team with the fewest conference losses, with ties broken by RPI. I am not predicting that team will win the league. It is just the current leader. As conference tournament seeding gets determined, the leader will be the highest remaining seed in the conference tournament.

The Seeds

Midwest 1 16 Kansas Winthrop Oklahoma City March 18, 20 St. Louis March 26, 28 8 9 UNLV Georgia Tech 4 13 Pittsburgh Siena Spokane March 19, 21 5 12 Tennessee California 6 11 Florida State UTEP Providence March 18, 20 3 14 Georgetown Oakland 7 10 Oklahoma State San Diego State Milwaukee March 19, 21 2 15 Purdue Robert Morris		East Syracuse March 25, 27 Milwaukee March 19, 21 Kentucky Lehigh/ UA Pine Bluff 1 16 St. Mary's Notre Dame 8 9 New Orleans March 18, 20 Temple Murray State 4 13 Michigan State Old Dominion 5 12 New Orleans March 18, 20 BYU Rhode Island 6 11 Baylor Sam Houston 3 14 Buffalo March 19, 21 Clemson Florida 7 10 West Virginia Vermont 2 15
West 1 16 Duke Morgan State Jacksonville March 19, 21 Salt Lake City March 25, 27 8 9 Richmond Marquette 4 13 Texas A&M Wofford Spokane March 19, 21 5 12 Wisconsin Mississippi 6 11 Butler Seton Hall San Jose March 18, 20 3 14 New Mexico Montana 7 10 Texas Wake Forest Providence March 18, 20 2 15 Villanova North Texas		South Houston March 26, 28 Buffalo March 19, 21 Syracuse East Tenn State 1 16 Missouri Northern Iowa 8 9 San Jose March 18, 20 Maryland Cornell 4 13 Vanderbilt Utah State 5 12 Jacksonville March 19, 21 Xavier Virginia Tech 6 11 Ohio State Akron 3 14 Oklahoma City March 18, 20 Gonzaga Louisville 7 10 Kansas State UC Santa Barbara 2 15

Last four in: Florida, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Seton Hall
First four out: Dayton, Illinois, Mississippi State, UAB

Quick Breakdown

Detailed Breakdown

ACC (7) Champion: Duke At-large: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest On the fence: None

AMERICA EAST (1) Champion: Vermont At-large: None On the fence: None

ATLANTIC SUN (1) Champion: East Tennessee State At-large: None On the fence: None

ATLANTIC 10 (4) Champion: Temple At-large: Rhode Island, Richmond, Xavier On the fence: Dayton

BIG EAST (9) Champion: West Virginia At-large: Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova On the fence: South Florida

BIG SKY (1) Champion: Montana At-large: None On the fence: None

BIG SOUTH (1) Champion: Winthrop At-large: None On the fence: None

BIG TEN (4) Champion: Ohio State At-large: Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin On the fence: Illinois

BIG 12 (7) Champion: Kansas At-large: Baylor, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M On the fence: None

BIG WEST (1) Champion: UC Santa Barbara At-large: None On the fence: None

COLONIAL (1) Champion: Old Dominion At-large: None On the fence: None

C-USA (1) Champion: UTEP At-large: None On the fence: Memphis, UAB

HORIZON (1) Champion: Butler At-large: None On the fence: None

IVY (1) Champion: Cornell At-large: None On the fence: None

MAAC (1) Champion: Siena At-large: None On the fence: None

MAC (1) Champion: Akron At-large: None On the fence: None

MEAC (1) Champion: Morgan State At-large: None On the fence: None

MISSOURI VALLEY (1) Champion: Northern Iowa At-large: None On the fence: Wichita State

MOUNTAIN WEST (4) Champion: UNLV At-large: New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV On the fence: None

NORTHEAST (1) Champion: Robert Morris At-large: None On the fence: None

OHIO VALLEY (1) Champion: Murray State At-large: None On the fence: None

PAC-10 (1) Champion: California At-large: None On the fence: Arizona State, Washington

PATRIOT (1) Champion: Lehigh At-large: None On the fence: None

SEC (5) Champion: Kentucky At-large: Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Vanderbilt On the fence: Mississippi State

SOUTHERN (1) Champion: Wofford At-large: None On the fence: None

SOUTHLAND (1) Champion: Sam Houston At-large: None On the fence: None

SUMMIT (1) Champion: Oakland At-large: None On the fence: None

SUN BELT (1) Champion: North Texas At-large: None On the fence: None

SWAC (1) Champion: UA Pine Bluff At-large: None On the fence: None

WAC (1) Champion: Utah State At-large: None On the fence: None

WEST COAST (2) Champion: St. Mary's At-large: Gonzaga On the fence: None