Predicting the finish-The Bracket

Sorry for the long delay on the bracket. It was finished a few days ago, but forgot to put it up because I was too busy. So, let's get to it.

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

The First Four
(UD Arena; Dayton, OH; University of Dayton)

March 13th
Game 1: Wagner(Northeast) vs. Alabama State(Southwestern)
Game 2: Brigham Young vs. Cincinnati
March 14th
Game 1: South Dakota State(Summit) vs. UNC Asheville(Big South)
Game 2: Creighton vs. Mississippi State

MIDWEST Region
(Edward Jones Dome; St. Louis; Missouri Valley Conference)

@ Consol Energy Center; Pittsburgh; Duquesne University
1-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 16-Wagner/Alabama State
8-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 9-Florida State
@ Rose Garden Arena; Portland; University of Oregon
4-Wichita State vs. 13-North Texas(Sun Belt)
5-Vanderbilt vs. 12-Utah State(Western Athletic)
@ The Pit; Albuquerque; University of New Mexico
2-Baylor(Big 12) vs. 15-Lamar(Southland)
7-Washington vs. 10-Marquette
@ Nationwide Arena; Columbus; Ohio State University
3-Pittsburgh vs. 14-Western Michigan(Mid-American)
6-Temple(Atlantic 10) vs. 11-Northwestern

WEST Region
US Airways Center; Phoenix; Arizona State University

@ Pittsburgh
1-Connecticut(Big East) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-Clemson vs. 9-Michigan State
@ Albuquerque
4-Arizona(Pacific-12) vs. 13-Marshall(Conference USA)
5-Texas A&M vs. 12-Brigham Young/Cincinnati
@ Greensboro Coliseum; Greensboro, NC; Atlantic Coast Conference
2-Duke vs. 15-Loyola(MD)(Metro Atlantic)
7-West Virginia vs. 10-Virginia Commonwealth(Colonial)
@ Portland
3-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 14-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
6-Michigan vs. 11-Belmont(Atlantic Sun)

SOUTH Region
Georgia Dome; Atlanta; Georgia Tech

@ Greensboro
1-North Carolina(Atlantic Coast) vs. 16-Hampton(Mid-Eastern)
8-Old Dominion vs. 9-St. Mary's
@ KFC Yum! Center; Louisville; University of Louisville
4-Florida vs. 13- Appalachian State(Southern)
5-Notre Dame vs. 12-Creighton/Mississippi State
@ Bridgestone Arena; Nashville; Ohio Valley Conference
2-Memphis vs. 15-Austin Peay(Ohio Valley)
7-Louisville vs. 10-Miami(FL)
@ Century Link Center; Omaha; Creighton University and Missouri Valley Conference
3-Wisconsin vs. 14-Weber State(Big Sky)
6-Alabama vs. 11-Detroit

EAST Region
TD Garden; Boston

@ Columbus
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-South Dakota State/UNC Asheville
8-Missouri vs. 9-Unlv
@ Nashville
4-Purdue vs. 13-Harvard(Ivy)
5-Virginia Tech vs. 12-Indiana State(Missouri Valley)
@ Louisville
2-Syracuse vs. 15-Lehigh(Patriot)
7-Xavier vs. 10-Central Florida
@ Omaha
3-Kansas vs. 14-Milwaukee(Horizon)
6-Ucla vs. 11-Georgetown

Last four in the field: Brigham Young, Cincinnati, Creighton, Mississippi State
First four left out: Saint Louis, Villanova, Oklahoma State, Uab
Next four left out: Indiana, Virginia, George Mason, California

Reminder: The first Bracket Watch will be posted on January 3rd.

Drama in the City of Jealousy

Yes, I'll have my preseason predictions for the bracket up today, but I couldn't pass this story up.

As the Big East(as in Big East of the Pacific Time Zone) prepares to add 6 more schools, one school who's in the Big East's backyard is going to be left out because of envy. The school is Temple, and their main tormentor is Villanova. SBNation's Temple page(link forthcoming) has the scoop:

The Wildcats reportedly do not want to share the Philadelphia market with another Big East team. There had been some speculation that Villanova’s concerns about adding Temple as a basketball school would lead the conference to extend the Owls a football only invite. However, at least according to McMurphy’s source, that will not be the case.

SNIP

Temple fans will cry foul about an uneven playing field – but if you want the basketball playing field to be even, football needs to be too. And if the Big East isn’t willing to extend that olive branch, Villanova should be opposed to sharing their dominance in the Philadelphia market, a known hoops haven. So no, Villanova isn’t scared of Temple. They’re just being savvy and not giving up a territory that they dominate with nothing in return.

Sounds like envy right? Of course it is. It's also a sign to the new football playing schools that it's the hoop schools that dominate the agenda in this league. And that might not change until those who play football make their break. And then they might welcome the Owls to their ranks.

Predicting the finish-Conference races(Part 2)

Onward we go with the regular season finishes(before the season even starts!

Key:
Conference Tournament Champion
Regular Season Champion, NIT Automatic Bid

Mid-Eastern
1. Coppin State
2. HAMPTON
3. North Carolina Central
4. Morgan State
5. Howard
6. Norfolk State
7. North Carolina A&T
8. Bethune-Cookman
9. Delaware State
10. South Carolina State
11. Florida A&M
12. Umes
13. Savannah State

Missouri Valley
1. Wichita State
2. Creighton
3. INDIANA STATE
4. Missouri State
5. Evansville
6. Northern Iowa
7. Drake
8. Illinois State
9. Southern Illinois
10. Bradley

Mountain West
1. NEW MEXICO
2. Unlv
3. San Diego State
4. Texas Christian
5. Boise State
6. Colorado State
7. Air Force
8. Wyoming

Northeast
1. Long Island
2. Robert Morris
3. Central Connecticut State
4. WAGNER
5. Mount St. Mary's
6. St. Francis(NY)
7. Quinnipiac
8. Sacred Heart
9. Bryant
10. Monmouth
11. St. Francis(PA)
12. Fairleigh Dickinson

Ohio Valley
1. Tennessee Tech
2. AUSTIN PEAY
3. Murray State
4. Tennessee State
5. Jacksonville State
6. SE Missouri State
7. Eastern Kentucky
8. Morehead State
9. Tennessee-Martin
10. Eastern Illinois
11. SIU-Edwardsville

Pacific 12
1. ARIZONA
2. Ucla
3. Washington
4. California
5. Southern California
6. Stanford
7. Oregon
8. Arizona State
9. Washington State
10. Colorado
11. Oregon State
12. Utah

Patriot League
1. Bucknell
2. LEHIGH
3. American
4. Army
5. Holy Cross
6. Colgate
7. Lafayette
8. Navy

Southeastern
1. KENTUCKY
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Vanderbilt
5. Mississippi State
6. Mississippi
7. Arkansas
8. Georgia
9. Tennessee
10. Louisiana State
11. South Carolina
12. Auburn

Southern
North Division
1. Western Carolina
2. APPALACHIAN STATE
3. Elon
4. Chattanooga
5. UNC Greensboro
6. Samford
South Division
1. Davidson
2. College of Charleston
3. Furman
4. The Citadel
5. Wofford
6. Georgia Southern

Southland
East Division
1. LAMAR
2. Northwestern State
3. SE Louisiana
4. Central Arkansas
5. McNeese State
6. Nicholls State
West Division
1. Texas-Arlington
2. Utsa
3. Stephen F. Austin
4. Sam Houston State
5. Texas State
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Southwestern
1. ALABAMA STATE
2. Jackson State
3. Texas Southern
4. Alabama A&M
5. Prairie View A&M
6. Mississippi Valley State
7. Uapb
8. Alcorn State
9. Grambling
10. Southern

Summit
1. Oral Roberts
2. Oakland
3. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
4. North Dakota State
5. Iupui
6. Southern Utah
7. Missouri-Kansas City
8. South Dakota
9. Ipfw
10. Western Illinois

Sun Belt
East Division
1. Florida Atlantic
2. South Alabama
3. Middle Tennessee
4. Western Kentucky
5. Florida International
6. Troy
West Division
1. NORTH TEXAS
2. Arkansas State
3. Louisiana-Lafayette
4. Ualr
5. Denver
6. Louisiana-Monroe

West Coast
1. GONZAGA
2. St. Mary's
3. Brigham Young
4. Portland
5. Santa Clara
6. Pepperdine
7. San Francisco
8. San Diego
9. Loyola Marymount

Western Athletic
1. UTAH STATE
2. Nevada
3. New Mexico State
4. Idaho
5. Fresno State
6. Hawai'i
7. San Jose State
8. Louisiana Tech

And last, but not least, the Great West(if you constitute west as being west of the Hudson.)
1. NJIT
2. Utah Valley
3. North Dakota
4. Houston Baptist
5. Texas-Pan American
6. Chicago State

Predicting the finish-Conference Races(Part 1)

As I explained last week, I was planning on unveiling my conference predictions after releasing my preseason bracket. But that was before I decided it was better to release my regular season predictions first. So with that out of the way, here now are my predictions for the 32 conferences. For space purposes, it's divided into two parts.

Key:
Conference Tournament Champion
Regular Season Champion, NIT Automatic Bid

America East
1. STONY BROOK
2. Albany
3. Hartford
4. Vermont
5. Maine
6. Boston University
7. New Hampshire
8. Binghamton
9. Maryland-Baltimore County

Atlantic Coast
1. NORTH CAROLINA
2. Duke
3. Virginia Tech
4. Clemson
5. Florida State
6. Miami(FL)
7. Virginia
8. NC State
9. Boston College
10. Maryland
11. Georgia Tech
12. Wake Forest

Atlantic Sun
1. BELMONT
2. Jacksonville
3. North Florida
4. East Tennessee State
5. Lipscomb
6. South Carolina Upstate
7. Stetson
8. Kennesaw State
9. Mercer
10. Florida Gulf Coast

Atlantic 10
1. Xavier
2. TEMPLE
3. Saint Louis
4. Duquesne
5. Charlotte
6. St. Bonaventure
7. Massachusetts
8. George Washington
9. St. Joseph's
10. Dayton
11. Richmond
12. Rhode Island
13. La Salle
14. Fordham

Big East
1. Syracuse
2. CONNECTICUT
3. Pittsburgh
4. Notre Dame
5. Louisville
6. Marquette
7. Cincinnati
8. Georgetown
9. West Virginia
10. Villanova
11. St. John's
12. Rutgers
13. Providence
14. DePaul
15. Seton Hall
16. South Florida

Big Sky
1. WEBER STATE
2. Montana
3. Northern Colorado
4. Montana State
5. Idaho State
6. Northern Arizona
7. Portland State
8. Sacramento State
9. Eastern Washington

Big South
1. Liberty
2. Radford
3. UNC ASHEVILLE
4. Coastal Carolina
5. Winthrop
6. High Point
7. Virginia Military
8. Campbell
9. Charleston Southern
10. Gardner-Webb
11. Presbyterian

Big Ten
1. OHIO STATE
2. Wisconsin
3. Purdue
4. Michigan
5. Northwestern
6. Michigan State
7. Indiana
8. Minnesota
9. Penn State
10. Illinois
11. Nebraska
12. Iowa

Big 12
1. BAYLOR
2. Kansas
3. Texas A&M
4. Missouri
5. Oklahoma State
6. Texas
7. Kansas State
8. Oklahoma
9. Texas Tech
10. Iowa State

Big West
1. Long Beach State
2. Cal State Fullerton
3. UCSB
4. UC Davis
5. UC Irvine
6. Pacific
7. UC Riverside
8. Cal Poly
9. Northridge State

Colonial
1.VCU
2. Old Dominion
3. George Mason
4. James Madison
5. UNC Wilmington
6. William & Mary
7. Northeastern
8. Drexel
9. Hofstra
10. Delaware
11. Towson
12. Georgia State

Conference USA
1. Memphis
2. Central Florida
3. MARSHALL
4. Uab
5. Tulsa
6. Southern Methodist
7. Rice
8. Tulane
9. Utep
10. East Carolina
11. Houston
12. Southern Mississippi

Horizon League
1. Detroit
2. Cleveland State
3. MILWAUKEE
4. Butler
5. Wright State
6. Green Bay
7. Loyola of Chicago
8. Valparaiso
9. Illinois-Chicago
10. Youngstown State

Ivy League
1. HARVARD
2. Princeton
3. Cornell
4. Pennsylvania
5. Yale
6. Dartmouth
7. Columbia
8. Brown

Metro Atlantic
1. Fairfield
2. St. Peter's
3. Iona
4. Canisius
5. LOYOLA(MD)
6. Niagara
7. Manhattan
8. Rider
9. Siena
10. Marist

Mid-American
Eastern Division
1.Akron
2. Ohio
3. Kent State
4. Miami(OH)
5. Buffalo
6. Bowling Green
Western Division
1. Ball State
2. WESTERN MICHIGAN
3. Toledo
4. Central Michigan
5. Northern Illinois
6. Eastern Michgan

Coming soon...

...the preseason look at the end result will be up next week. I have the field already chosen, just need to make a seed list and then bracket them. I'll also have a superpost predicting the 32 regular season races the next day.