A JERSEY GUY: Madness in March A Lock
We have emphasized the uncertainty of what is happening in college basketball this season. A few very good teams--Gonzaga, San Diego State, Baylor, Kansas--several good teams, but NO great teams.
If you don't believe us--and there is no reason why you should at this point--how about the boys from Vegas, who ALWAYS seem to know what's going on?
Here are the wise words of Nick Bogdanovich, who is the SportsBook Director of William Hill Sports Betting, which is one of the more prestigious odds makers in Las Vegas.
"There is no super team out there,'' Bogdanovich told the Los Angeles Times this week. "I would say 20 teams (can win the NCAA title). And that's about twice as many as normal. Sometimes there are 7 or 8 teams or maybe 10. But I could be wrong. There might be 20. Maybe more.''
If Vegas doesn't know, than we are truly only guessing. And now that we are closing in on the final days of the regular season, let's take our first peak at the potential 68 team NCAA tournament field, filled with 32 guaranteed spots for conference tournament champions and 36 at large selections, with the bids for each conference and a running count of the tournament field provided.
America East Conference (1, 1)
Vermont.
American Athletic Conference (2, 3)
Houston, Cincinnati
Atlantic 10 Conference (2, 5)
Dayton, Rhode Island
Atlantic Coast Conference (5, 10)
Louisville, Duke, Florida State, Virginia, North Carolina
Atlantic Sun Conference (1, 11)
North Florida
Big 12 Conference (5, 16)
Baylor, Kansas, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Oklahoma
Big East Conference (6, 22)
Seton Hall, Creighton, Villanova, Marquette, Butler, Xavier
Big Sky Conference (1, 23)
Montana
Big South Conference (1, 24)
Radford
Big Ten Conference (10,34)
Maryland, Penn State, Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana
Big Sky Conference (1, 35)
UC-Irvine
Colonial Athletic Association (1, 36)
Hofstra
Conference USA (1, 37)
North Texas
Horizon League (1,38)
Wright State
Ivy League (1, 39)
Harvard
Metro Atlantic Athletic Association (1, 40)
Siena
Mid American Conference (1, 41)
Akron
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (1, 42)
Norfolk State
Missouri Valley Conference (1, 43)
Northern Iowa
Mountain West Conference (2, 45)
San Diego State, Utah State
Northeast Conference (1, 46)
St. Francis (Pa.)
Ohio Valley Conference (1, 47)
Belmont
Pac-12 Conference (5, 52)
Colorado, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, USC
Patriot League (1, 53)
Colgate
Southeastern Conference (6, 59)
Kentucky, Auburn, LSU, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina
Southern Conference (1, 60)
East Tennessee State
Southland Conference (1, 61)
SF Austin
Southwestern Athletic Conference (1, 62)
Prairie View A&M
Summit League (1, 63)
South Dakota State
Sun Belt Conference (1, 64)
West Coast Conference (3, 67)
Gonzaga, BYU, Saint Mary's
Western Athletic Conference (1, 68)
New Mexico State