Hello New Mexico, Goodbye New Mexico. One day after being added to the tourney New Mexico loses at home to BYU and fall out. Ohio State also continues their free fall and are now on the outside looking in. Replacing them, for what I'm sure will only be temporary, is Syracuse and Houston. Remember them? They were added and dropped a couple days ago but with everybody around them losing they come back for more.
The other big news of the night was Tennessee losing to Vanderbilt. The only thing I know about Vanderbilt is that they had a player hit a shot from their knees last tournament. I might have to do research on this year's squad...
Since it was a slow night I thought I would highlight a couple teams in the bracket now that are most likely to fall out and teams that are currently out that will take their place.
Teams most likely to fall out of the bracket:
Houston/UAB - There's no way Conference USA will get 3 teams and if both win out they'll meet in the C-USA semi-final. That will basically be an elimination game for the loser.
Syracuse - their struggles have been well documented. 2 starters out for the season, only 7 deep, 3 freshman. This team is fading and it ain't going to get better.
Florida - see Syracuse. Their young and not as talented. Their record is based on a bunch of creampuffs at the beginning of the season and their RPI in the 60's show it.
Maryland - On shaky ground to begin with they close with 3 road games and a lone home game against Clemson. They'll need to split those 4 and win at least 1 in the ACC tournament to make it.
Arizona State - Their RPI is 73 right now which tells you all you need to know. Their last 4 are against UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Oregon State. 2 wins is a must
Team chopping at the bit to take their spots:
Southern Illinois - the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley their aggressive non-conference schedule has killed their record, 17-12. However, they are currently tied with Illinois State for second. If they win out and lose in the MVC finals they'll be hard to keep out.
Illinois State - tied with Southern Illinois, their RPI has been floating between 40-45 all year. 13-5 in the regular season and 2 wins in the tournament should be enough. The MVC should end up with 2 bids when all is said and done
Western Kentucky - The second team from the Sun Belt they have closes loses at Tennessee and Gonzaga and their only conference loses are against South Alabama. If they win out and lose in the final again to South Alabama they could be the 65th team this year.
New Mexico - Currently 22-6 their game coming up against UNLV is an elimination game. If they lose that they'll need the auto-bid.
Rhode Island/Dayton - These two are lumped together because they are essentially the same team. Both started out hot and have faded down the stretch due to injuries and a tough conference. If one of them makes a A-10 conference run they can play themselves back in.
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