Colleges

NCAA tournament

Projecting the field

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 3, 2007

Selection Sunday is eight days away. Times staff writer Brian Landman's best guess at who will make the field of 65 if the season ended Friday.

AUTOMATIC BERTHS 31

Vermont America East

Xavier Atlantic 10

North Carolina ACC

E. Tenn. State Atlantic Sun

Texas A&M Big 12

Pittsburgh Big East

Weber State Big Sky

Winthrop Big South

Ohio State Big Ten

Long Beach St. Big West

Old Dominion Colonial

Memphis Conf. USA

Butler Horizon League

Penn Ivy League

Marist Metro Atlantic

Oral Roberts Mid Continent

Kent State Mid-American

Delaware State MEAC

Southern Illinois Missouri Valley

UNLV Mountain West

C.Conn. State Northeast

Austin Peay Ohio Valley

UCLA Pac-10

Bucknell Patriot League

Florida SEC

Davidson Southern

Texas A&M-CC Southland

Jackson State SWAC

South Alabama Sun Belt

Santa Clara West Coast

Nevada WAC

AT-LARGE (34)

ACC (6): Virginia Tech, Duke, Virginia, Maryland, Boston College, Georgia Tech.

Big 12 (3): Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech.

Big East (7): Georgetown, Louisville, Villanova, Marquette, Notre Dame, Syracuse, West Virginia.

Big Ten (4): Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois.

Colonial (1): Virginia Commonwealth.

Missouri Valley (2): Creighton, Missouri State.

Mountain West (2): BYU, Air Force.

Pac-10 (5): Washington State, USC, Oregon, Arizona, Stanford.

SEC (4): Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama.

LAST FOUR IN

Stanford, Alabama, Virginia Commonwealth, West Virginia.

LAST FOUR OUT

Purdue, Florida State, Clemson, Oklahoma State.

BRACKET-SHAPING GAMES

No. 1 Ohio State at Michigan, 4 p.m. today, Ch. 10. The Buckeyes already may have locked up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, but the Wolverines, fresh off an impressive win against Michigan State, need another big win to punch their NCAA ticket.

VMI at Winthrop, 2 p.m. today, ESPN. It's the Big South final and the Winthrop Eagles will not only have the crowd in their building rooting for a title, but will have the support and prayers of "bubble teams" everywhere. Winthrop would be considered for an at-large if it falters to the nation's top scoring team (101.6 ppg).

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347.

NCAA Tournament automatic berths

WOMEN: HARVARD, IVY LEAGUE

MEN: Penn, Ivy League

Projecting the field

Selection Sunday is 14 days away. Times staff writer Brian Landman's best guesses at who would make the field of 65 if the season ended Saturday.

Automatic berths (31)

Vermont America East

Xavier Atlantic 10

North Carolina ACC

E. Tenn. State Atlantic Sun

Texas A&M Big 12

Pittsburgh Big East

Weber State Big Sky

Winthrop Big South

Wisconsin Big Ten

Long Beach St. Big West

Old Dominion Colonial

Memphis Conf.USA

Butler Horizon League

Penn Ivy League

Marist Metro Atlantic

Oral Roberts Mid Continent

Kent State Mid-American

Delaware State MEAC

Southern Illinois Missouri Valley

Air Force Mountain West

C.Conn. State Northeast

Austin Peay Ohio Valley

UCLA Pac-10

Bucknell Patriot League

Florida SEC

Davidson Southern

Texas A&M-CC Southland

Jackson State SWAC

South Alabama Sun Belt

Santa Clara West Coast

Nevada WAC

AT-LARGES (34)

ACC (6): Virginia Tech, Duke, Virginia, Maryland, Boston College, Georgia Tech.

Big 12 (4): Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech.

Big East (6): Georgetown, Marquette, Louisville, Notre Dame, Villanova, West Virginia.

Big Ten (4): Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue.

Colonial (1): Virginia Commonwealth.

Missouri Valley (2): Creighton, Missouri State.

Mountain West (2): BYU, UNLV.

Pac-10 (5): Washington State, USC, Stanford, Oregon, Arizona.

SEC (4): Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama.

LAST FOUR IN

Virginia Commonwealth, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Purdue.

LAST FOUR OUT

Clemson, Bradley, Illinois, Syracuse

BRACKET-SHAPING GAME

No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 2 Ohio State. 4 p.m. today, Ch. 10. The Badgers' loss at Michigan State took some of the luster off this one, but both teams are still very much alive for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

[Last modified March 3, 2007, 01:16:08]