This is CBS SportsLine.com's seventh installment of Build-a-Bracket, which will be posted late each night until the official bracket is revealed Sunday.
The RPI is a liar. New RPI, old RPI, it doesn't matter. It's a big, fat liar.
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| Sorry, Charlie Coles, but if your Miami RedHawks make the NCAAs, it'll be a real head-scratcher. (AP) |
The RPI says Memphis has no shot at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Build-a-Bracket begs to differ.
Even if Memphis (19-14) loses Saturday to Louisville in the Conference USA title game, the Tigers belong in the NCAA Tournament -- period.
No team with 15 losses, which Memphis would have, has received an at-large bid (five teams have gotten bids with 14 losses), but Build-a-Bracket doesn't care. Build-a-Bracket is adamant.
The Tigers belong more than a handful of teams long considered locks, especially UCLA (18-10) and Miami-Ohio (19-10). Forget the new RPI, which says Memphis is No. 112 in the country -- twice the RPI of DePaul (55), whom Memphis has beaten -- and not in the same class with Miami (31) or UCLA (33). Forget the old RPI, though it's closer: Memphis is No. 97, compared with UCLA (30) and Miami (53).
Memphis has beaten Louisville and Charlotte, and is 10-6 since losing Sean Banks in January. UCLA has beaten Washington and Notre Dame. Miami has beaten ... Buffalo.
View college basketball through RPI-colored glasses if you want. Not here. UCLA might deserve an NCAA bid, but not more than Memphis. And Miami? If the RedHawks get in ahead of the Tigers, the 2005 NCAA Tournament is a joke.
Going up nicely
- Georgia Tech (18-10) avoided joining the awkward Selection Sunday fate of Notre Dame and Maryland by taking care of Virginia Tech. The Hokies (15-13) are that rare ACC bird: an 8-8 team in league play going to the NIT.
- Even with that loss to North Carolina State, Wake Forest (26-5) is a No. 1 seed. Chris Paul's absence is a mitigating factor, and the Deacs' resume is too good.
- In the Patriot League, justice was served by Bucknell's win against Holy Cross. The Crusaders (24-6) were the subject of NCAA bubble talk, but Bucknell (22-9) has the stronger resume, including two wins against Holy Cross and wins at Pittsburgh and Saint Joseph's. Friday's RPI said Holy Cross (59) was 22 spots better than Bucknell (81), which shows how little the RPI can be trusted.
- After beating Michigan State, Iowa (21-10) is an NCAA lock. Iowa lost five of its first six games without Pierre Pierce, but has won five in a row.
- Under the radar, Ohio is 8-2 in its last 10 games after beating Miami (Ohio) in the MAC semifinals. Ohio (20-9, 14-7) has beaten Miami twice and swept the other MAC finalist, Buffalo (22-8, 14-7). If Buffalo wins the MAC title Saturday and the selection committee wants a second MAC team, Ohio deserves it more than Miami (19-10), which is 5-5 in its last 10 games and went 2-3 against Buffalo and Ohio. Buffalo has to win the automatic bid.
- If anyone falls out of the bracket between now and Sunday night, Notre Dame and Southwest Missouri State are waiting in the wings.
Falling to pieces
- Indiana's valiant drive for an NCAA at-large bid died. Needing to beat Minnesota, Indiana (15-13) was blown out. Bad final impression, good NIT team.
- Despite its 13-1 league mark in the regular season, Holy Cross doesn't deserve an NCAA bid. The Patriot is the No. 23 RPI league, and the Crusaders didn't beat anybody of note out of conference. If the committee wants a mid-major, take Davidson, which beat Missouri.
- Memphis knocked UAB (21-10) from our 65-team bracket because the Blazers haven't beaten an NCAA Tournament team other than Memphis. And that 73-70 home victory -- two months ago, and only four days after Memphis dismissed Banks -- isn't enough to get past the surging Tigers.
- Miami (Ohio), you're out. Forget what the RPI says. You're entire body of work says you're out. Sorry.
Heroes
West Virginia's Mike Gansey had 22 points, including two free throws with 0.2 seconds left that beat Villanova. ... Clemson had a chance at an upset until UNC guard Raymond Felton decided that, no, Clemson did not. ... Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt clinched the Bison's Patriot title with two free throws with eight seconds left against Holy Cross.
Goats
Down one with six seconds left, Michigan State's Alan Anderson missed two free throws to let Iowa escape. ... An NCAA at-large invitation was there for the taking, but Bracey Wright and Robert Vaden kept taking shots, and taking, and taking. They went 6-for-26, and pop went Indiana's bubble.
Seeds on the move
Rising: Syracuse, West Virginia, N.C. State
Falling: UConn, Texas, Mississippi State
The 65-team field, by seed
Note: Friday's five additions to the bracket are denoted by italics. Automatic bids are denoted by an asterisk.
No. 1s: Illinois, UNC, Wake Forest, Arizona
No. 2s: Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, Oklahoma State
No. 3s: Washington, Gonzaga*, Oklahoma, Syracuse
No. 4s: UConn, Louisville, Boston College, Villanova
No. 5s: Florida, Michigan State, Utah, LSU
No. 6s: Alabama, Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, West Virginia
No. 7s: Pacific, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh
No. 8s: Charlotte, Nevada, Mississippi State, N.C. State
No. 9s: Stanford, UTEP, St. Mary's, Iowa State
No. 10s: Minnesota, Georgia Tech, George Washington, Texas
No. 11s: Old Dominion*, New Mexico, Iowa, UCLA
No. 12s: Penn*, Memphis, Creighton*, Ohio
No. 13s: Northern Iowa, Saint Joseph's, Vermont, Louisiana-Lafayette*
No. 14s: Wisconsin-Milwaukee*, Bucknell*, Winthrop*, Niagara*
No. 15s: Central Florida*, Eastern Kentucky*, Chattanooga*, Delaware State
No. 16s: Northwestern State, Montana*, Fairleigh Dickinson*; Alabama State vs. Oakland* in play-in game.
Fell out of the bracket Friday: Indiana, UAB, Miami (Ohio), Holy Cross, Coppin State
