Here we are just a few days from selection Sunday. The major conference tournaments are beginning to get underway, giving the bubble teams one last chance to make their case. Isn’t it wonderful.
The last couple of days ended the drama for a few teams. It seemed like just a couple of weeks ago that pundits were saying Butler and Gonzaga both might miss the tournament. I guess we don’t have to worry about that pair of Bulldogs staying home.
2011 NCAA Tournament
Certain At-Large Locks (33) Automatic Bids(13)
Xavier (OH) UNC-Asheville
Temple Belmont
Duke Morehead State
N. Carolina Indiana State
Kansas St. Peter’s
Texas Gonzaga
Texas A&M Old Dominion
Kansas State Wofford
Missouri Butler
Pitt Oakland (MI)
Notre Dame Arkansas-Little Rock
Louisville Long Island/Robert Morris
Syracuse Montana/N. Colorado
St. John’s
West Virginia
Cincinnati
Georgetown
UConn
Villanova
Ohio State
Purdue
Wisconsin
George Mason
BYU
San Diego State
UNLV
Arizona
UCLA
Washington
Florida
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
Utah State
Until the bubble teams start playing in their conference tournaments we won’t be able to add any to the At-Large locks. We are steadily adding numbers to the automatic bid side. In addition to Butler and the Zags, Ark-Little Rock played themselves into a probable play-in game with their surprising run to the Sun Belt title.
Don’t sleep on Oakland University. They have tournament experience from last year, so they won’t be in awe. They have an NBA type big man, and quality shooters. They will probably be a 13 seed and could give somebody some trouble. Two more bids will go out tonight. Both will be low seeds. Robert Morris tries to get back to the tournament with a new coach after putting a serious scare into Villanova last year; while Northern Colorado might make the tournament in only their 5th year as a D1 team.
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