The Field of 65: Early Projections

Better late than never, but I am going to begin projecting teams for the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I am not going to start predicting seeds until February. It is hard to do projections before now, because of the inconsistency of computer ratings and the variety of non-conference schedules. Conference play brings out the best in teams, and offers a peek at a team’s true strength.

This will be a weekly feature. Here goes my first shot at picking the field of 65:

(by conference)
America East (1): Vermont
ACC (5): North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland
Atlantic Sun (1): Belmont
Atlantic 10 (1): UMass
Big East (8): Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Providence, Louisville, West Virginia, UConn, Marquette
Big Sky (1): Weber State
Big South (1): Winthrop
Big 10 (5): Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State
Big XII (5): Texas A&M, Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State
Big West (1): Cal State-Fullerton
Colonial (2): VCU, Old Dominion
Conference USA (1): Memphis
Horizon (1): Butler
Ivy (1): Penn
MAAC (1): Marist
MAC (1): Ohio
Mid-Continent (1): Oral Roberts
Mid-Eastern (1): Delaware State
Missouri Valley (4): Creighton, Missouri State, Wichita State, Southern Illinois
Mountain West (2): Air Force, BYU
Northeast (1): Fairleigh Dickinson
Ohio Valley (1): Austin Peay
Pac 10 (5): USC, Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Washington State
Patriot (1): Holy Cross
SEC (6): Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Arkansas
Southern (1): Davidson
Southland (1): Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
SWAC (1): Jackson State
Sun Belt (1): Western Kentucky
West Coast (1): Gonzaga
WAC (2): Nevada, New Mexico State