The Monday Bracket Report is back, and we’re starting to hone in on a future for the 2012 NCAA tournament field. Only two teams dropped out of the at-large field this week, and the seeding didn’t shift around quite as dramatically as we’ve seen in the recent past.
In: Miami, Northwestern
Out: Seton Hall, Texas
Just the jumbles, the jumbles!: One thing is certain – the top three #1 seeds are Kentucky, Ohio State, and Syracuse, in some order. Which order? That’s up for debate. But those three teams are ahead of everyone else — and therein lies the jumble, because there’s whole lotta “everyone else” below. By my count, there are six teams with legitimate shots at the fourth #1 seed, and those teams seem mostly interested in hot potatoing that spot around between them. Last week it was Duke, who promptly clanked their way to yet another ACC home loss, this time to previously middling Miami. Kansas could’ve moved into the spot, but they of course blew a late lead and lost to Missouri. Now the Tigers are back in it, but they have to keep up the intensity against a sneaky difficult Big 12 slate. This week, the nod goes to North Carolina for the fourth #1 seed, but frankly it’s a weak recommendation — this UNC team just doesn’t seem like top seed material. Then again, neither does anyone else in the conversation.
Big East oddity: Here’s a conference that is probably going to land seven to nine teams in the dance, yet of those teams, only Syracuse might end up with a protected seed (i.e., seeded four or above). Currently, Georgetown is in that territory, and Marquette is right around the edges, but both teams have some difficulty on the upcoming schedule, and have resumes that might be eclipsed by other teams in that range (such as Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida, Vanderbilt) if those squads get hot.
It really is the bottom: The lower ranges of the bubble continue to create fear and loathing. Miami got in this week simply by picking up a big road win — which is what you’re supposed to do, but the problem is that they had almost nothing of note on their resume beforehand. Northwestern got back in after doing the same, and suddenly their resume doesn’t look that bad. They absolutely have to win at least four more conference games to be seriously considered, but at least that victory at Illinois kept them in the conversation. Outside of that, it’s head-scratchingly bad. Wyoming? California? Arizona? Marshall? Not at this point, no.
