Bracket Watch - Friday, February 26th

UPDATE as of 12:08 PM: Fixed a few matchups so as to avoid a Georgetown-Temple or Old Dominion matchup.

A friendly reminder to all who visit that I also have another blog out there. It's called Conference Tournament Central. It's where I update all 31 conference tournaments daily. The blog can be accessed on the right hand side of the page in the college basketball statistics links.

Note: Starting now, the projected winner in some conferences will be the top seed in it's conference tournament.

Final four pairings:
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
East(2) vs. South(3)

Midwest region

@ Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-Robert Morris(Northeast)
8-Florida State vs. 9-Connecticut
@ San Jose
4-Tennessee vs. 13-Kent State(Mid-American)
5-Butler(Horizon) vs. 12-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
@ Buffalo
2-West Virginia vs. 15-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
7-Xavier vs. 10-Texas-El Paso(Conference USA)
@ Milwaukee
3-Michigan State vs. 14-Sam Houston State(Southland)
6-Wake Forest vs. 11-Nevada-Las Vegas

West region

@ Milwaukee
1-Purdue(Big Ten) vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening Round: Lehigh(Patriot) vs. Jackson State(Southwestern Athletic)
8-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley) vs. 9-Virginia Tech
@ Spokane
4-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 13-Mississippi State
5-Texas vs. 12-Marquette
@ Jacksonville
2-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 15-North Texas(Sun Belt)
7-Texas A&M vs. 10-Utah State(Western Athletic)
@ Providence
3-Georgetown vs. 14-Oakland(Summit)
6-Richmond(Atlantic 10) vs. 11-UAB

East region

@ New Orleans
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Jacksonville(Atlantic Sun)
8-Missouri vs. 9-Clemson
@ San Jose
4-Pittsburgh vs. 13-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
5-Brigham Young vs. 12-Rhode Island
@ Providence
2-Villanova vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Baylor vs. 10-Florida
@ Jacksonville
3-Ohio State vs. 14-Wofford(Southern)
6-Maryland vs. 11-Old Dominion(Colonial)

South region

@ Buffalo
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-California(Pacific-10) vs. 9-Oklahoma State
@ New Orleans
4-Vanderbilt vs. 13-Cornell(Ivy)
5-Wisconsin vs. 12-Georgia Tech
@ Oklahoma City
2-Kansas State vs. 15-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
7-Illinois vs. 10-Louisville
@ Spokane
3-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 14-Weber State(Big Sky)
6-Temple vs. 11-St. Mary's

Procedural moves: Connecticut(up 1), Virginia Tech(up 1), Florida(down 1), UTEP(down 1)

New to the field: Jacksonville, Connecticut, Mississippi State, Wofford
Out of the field: Campbell, Dayton, Northeastern, College of Charleston

Last four in the field: Georgia Tech, Rhode Island, Marquette, Mississippi State
First four left out: San Diego State, Dayton, Notre Dame, Arizona State
Next four left out: Washington, Charlotte, Mississippi, South Florida
Also under consideration: Virginia, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, Northwestern, Tulsa, New Mexico State

Next projection: Monday

The Woody Woodpecker game 3.0

Once again, it's your turn to pick out and guess who's resume you just picked: All info is current as of Tuesday night and comes from the college basketball section on http://rivals.yahoo.com/:

Team A:
RPI rank: 64
Division I record: 18-10
SOS rank: 58
record vs. RPI top 50: 4-6
record vs. 51-100 in RPI: 2-2
record vs. 101-150 in RPI: 0-2
record vs. 151-200 in RPI: 6-0
record vs. 201-347 in RPI: 6-0

Team B:
RPI rank: t-58
Division I record: 17-9
SOS rank: 53
record vs. RPI top 50: 1-6
record vs. 51-100 in RPI: 3-2
record vs. 101-150 in RPI: 3-1
record vs. 151-200 in RPI: 2-0
record vs. 201-347 in RPI: 8-0

Hints: Team A faces a tricky(but manageable) finish, while Team B is behind a non-bubble team in a weak division. It's a cross-regional comparison this week too.

About last night - Get your mea culpas!

Ok, I'll admit it. I was wrong about not including the UConn Huskies in my latest bracket. The mistake was not letting them in last Friday, not yesterday. But after Kemba Walker had 21 points and Stanley Robinson racked up a double-double(15 points, 13 boards) in a 73-62 win over West Virginia, there's no denying that the Huskies are very much deserving of being one the 34 at-large teams. Their schedule, however, still remains tricky, with Louisville coming in to Storrs this weekend, followed by road games at desperate Notre Dame and at desperate South Florida.

Elsewhere; Kansas wrapped up half of the Big 12 regular season crown by blitzing Oklahoma and Morgan State secured the top seed in the MEAC tournament by edging UMES on the road.

Bracket Watch - 30 years after the 1st Miracle

Today marks the 30 year anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, where a collection of college kids representing the United States in Olympic hockey(average age: 22) shocked the sporting world defeating the Soviet Union 4-3 in Lake Placid, NY. The win set the stage for the USA to win gold and helped make Hockey cool throughout the country. Last night, a youthful US team did it again, downing heavily favored Canada 5-3 in front of a (mostly) partisan crowd in Vancouver. What does this have to do with Bracketology you ask? Well who can pull off a miracle finish and make the dance? Look at the first four out and next four out columns and you may find a team who could pull it off.

Final Four pairings:
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
East(2) vs. South(3)

Midwest region

@ Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-North Texas(Sun Belt)
8-Florida State vs. 9-Louisville
@ Spokane
4-Vanderbilt vs. 13-Oakland(Summit)
5-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 12-Nevada-Las Vegas
@ Buffalo
2-Pittsburgh vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Xavier vs. 10-Old Dominion
@ Milwaukee
3-Michigan State vs. 14-Kent State(Mid-American)
6-Missouri vs. 11-California(Pacific-10)

West region

@ Milwaukee
1-Purdue(Big Ten) vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening round: Jackson State(Southwestern Athletic) vs. Bucknell(Patriot)
8-Baylor vs. 9-Clemson
@ San Jose
4-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 13-Weber State(Big Sky)
5-Georgetown vs. 12-Rhode Island
@ Jacksonville
2-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 15-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
7-Texas A&M vs. 10-Uab
@ Providence
3-West Virginia vs. 14-College of Charleston(Southern)
6-Richmond(Atlantic 10) vs. 11-Illinois

East region

@ New Orleans
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Campbell(Atlantic Sun)
8-Oklahoma State vs. 9-Cornell(Ivy)
@ San Jose
4-Temple vs. 13-Marquette
5-Brigham Young vs. 12-Georgia Tech
@ Providence
2-Villanova vs. 15-Stony Brook(America East)
7-Virginia Tech vs. 10-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
@ New Orleans
3-Ohio State vs. 14-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
6-Texas vs. 11-St. Mary's

South region

@ Buffalo
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Robert Morris(Northeast)
8-Wake Forest vs. 9-Florida
@ Spokane
4-Butler(Horizon) vs. 13-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
5-Wisconsin vs. 12-Texas-El Paso(Conference USA)
@ Oklahoma City
2-Kansas State vs. 15-Sam Houston State(Southland)
7-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley) vs. 10-Utah State(Western Athletic)
@ Jacksonville
3-Tennessee vs. 14-Northeastern(Colonial)
6-Maryland vs. 11-Dayton

Moving up for procedural purposes: Coastal Carolina(was a 15), Oakland(was a 14)
Moving down for procedural purposes: UC Santa Barbara(was a 14), Kent State(was a 13)

New to the field: Campbell, Marquette
Out of the field: Belmont, San Diego State

Last four in the field: Nevada-Las Vegas, Georgia Tech, Rhode Island, Marquette
First four left out: San Diego State, Connecticut, Mississippi State, Mississippi
Next four left out: Charlotte, Washington, Arizona State, Notre Dame
Also under consideration: Saint Louis, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, South Florida, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Virginia Commonwealth, Memphis, Tulsa, Wichita State, UCLA

Next projection is on Friday(after the US women win gold, of course!)