Sorry for the lack of posts recently

You know, I had an idea to put out a preseason bracket this year on November 9th, but then something funny happened....Gardner-Webb upset Kentucky the night before I was to put out my picks. After this incident, I have vowed never to put out another preseason bracket ever again.

Don't worry though, I will resume putting out weekly brackets every Thursday starting on January 10th, Monday brackets on February 25th and daily updates starting March 10th. I also hope to make weekly critiques of other people's fieldson occasion.

'Til then, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Coming soon....the College Basketball Invitational?

Yep, those pesky folks at the Gazelle Group are at again creating the College Basketball Invitational a planned 16 team event that will start this season. The thing is it won't last beyond 2010. WHY? The NCAA has plenty of reasons to fear it, not for the Main Event of course, but the NIT instead. The CBI will compete with the NIT for those teams that don't make the big dance. And believe me, it will be intense. More on this tournament as info becomes available

Bracket coming....soon

I should have my preseason projections up on Wednesday. I have the projected champions already chosen, but haven't selected any of the at-large teams.

Also, I will have a weekly Top 30 list each week, but will have no bearing on the bracket. (Think of it as a hot list). Without more ado, here it is:

1. UCLA
2. Memphis
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Georgetown
6. Tennessee
7. Michigan State(loss to Grand Valley State not withstanding)
8. Louisville
9. Indiana
10. Washington State
11. Alabama
12. Southern Illinois
13. Gonzaga
14. Duke
15. North Carolina State
16. Texas A&M
17. Ohio State
18. Butler
19. Southern California
20. Villanova
21. Oregon
22. Davidson
23. Clemson
24. Arizona
25. Virginia Commonwealth
26. Kentucky
27. Kansas State
28. Arkansas
29. Xavier
30. Pittsburgh

close: Florida, Mississippi State, Washington, Syracuse, Bradley, Utah

Conference-to-Conference: Independents

Offered only as a prediction, and the fact that none of these teams will be even close to an NCAA bid:

1. Utah Valley State
2. Chicago State
3. Texas-Pan American
4. Longwood
5. Winston-Salem State
6. New Jersey Institute Of Technology
7. Savannah State
8. Cal State-Bakersfield
9. North Carolina Central

Also en Route to Division I: Houston Baptist, Bryant, SIU-Edwardsville, North Dakota, South Dakota, Seattle(Thankfully these will be the last of the D-I newbies for at least the next 4 years, as Division I has instituted a moratorium on move-ups).

Next up tomorrow, The SWAC.

Howard Salwasser's Bracket Watch: Now Available In Blog Form

After 3 years of posting on Yahoo! Groups, I've decided to move on to make my own blog to put out my weekly bracket projections each week. Thus the introduction of....

HOWARD SALWASSER'S BRACKET WATCH: THE BLOG!!!

Yeah, I could have done a more elaborate site, but since I have neither the inclinations nor the cash to do so, the result is this site. I'll have more updates as the 2007-08 season approaches, but essentially I'll make a preseason bracket around November 1st, with projections every Thursday starting in January, Monday projections starting in mid-Februrary and daily projections the week before Selection Sunday.

As for the Bracketwatch group, that will continue on as a general college basketball group.

Cheers and Happy Hooping,

Howard Salwasser