Bracket Watch - January 30th

Last week I promised to present a tournament based on European Soccer tourneys, but when trying to run it I ran into a lot of trouble. So I've had to put the tournament on the shelf until the end of the season. Now onto this week's projections, which look rather ragged after the week that has occured(Though, admittedly, not as ragged as they were the week previous).

Note: All projections are done as if the season has ended already, with no attempt to predict the future. Conference leaders are determined by each leagues' tiebreakers(Which is new this year, previously, if no H2H meetings had been played, I would revert to the RPI. This year, I won't chance it and will use the criterias the conferences are using to determine seeds) .

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

First Four Games
Tuesday
Stony Brook(America East) vs. Mississippi Valley State(Southwestern)
Illinois vs. Arkansas
Wednesday
Texas-Arlington(Southland) vs. UNC Asheville(Big South)
North Carolina State vs. Cincinnati

EAST Region

Pittsburgh
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Stony Brook/MVSU
8-Harvard(Ivy) vs. 9-Iowa State
Columbus
4-Wisconsin vs. 13-LaSalle(Atlantic 10)
5-Murray State(Ohio Valley) vs. 12-Louisville
Albuquerque
2-Baylor vs. 15-Belmont(Atlantic Sun)
7-Gonzaga vs. 10-Colorado State
Greensboro
3-North Carolina vs. 14-George Mason(Colonial)
6-Connecticut vs. 11-Iona(Metro Atlantic)

SOUTH Region

Pittsburgh
1-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 16-Long Island(Northeast)
8-Alabama vs. 9-Long Beach State(Big West)
Nashville
4-Georgetown vs. 13-Davidson(Southern)
5-Vanderbilt vs. 12-Xavier
Greensboro
2-Duke vs. 15-Bucknell(Patriot)
7-Wichita State vs. 10-New Mexico
Nashville
3-Florida vs. 14-NC State/Cincinnati
6-Michigan vs. 11-Seton Hall

MIDWEST Region

Louisville
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Norfolk State(Mid-Eastern)
8-Kansas State vs. 9-Middle Tennessee(Sun Belt)
Portland
4-San Diego State(Mountain West) vs. 13-Notre Dame
5-Indiana vs. 12-Dayton
Omaha
2-Missouri vs. 15-Akron(Mid-American)
7-Virginia vs. 10-Minnesota
Albuquerque
3-Creighton(Missouri Valley) vs. 14-Nevada(Western Athletic)
6-Mississippi State vs. 11-Memphis

WEST Region

Omaha
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-UTA/UNCA
8-California(Pacific-12) vs. 9-Purdue
Louisville
4-Marquette vs. 13-Illinois/Arkansas
5-Florida State(Atlantic Coast) vs. 12-Oral Roberts(Summit)
Portland
2-Unlv vs. 15-Weber State(Big Sky)
7-St. Mary's(West Coast) vs. 10-Temple
Columbus
3-Michigan State vs. 14-Cleveland State(Horizon)
6-West Virginia vs. 11-Southern Mississipps

Switches: St. Mary's and West Virginia swapped seed lines for better early round placement.

Last four in the field: Illinois, Arkansas, NC State, Cincinnati
First four left out: Washington, Texas, Mississippi, Brigham Young
Next four left out: Massachusetts, Stanford, South Florida, Marshall
Also under consideration: Miami(FL), Saint Louis, Pittsburgh, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Central Florida, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico State