Automatic Qualifiers (14)
|
RPI
|
SOS
|
T10
|
T11-20
|
T21-30
|
31+ L
|
North Carolina |
1 |
1 |
3-3 |
4-0 |
4-0 |
— |
Maryland |
2 |
5 |
4-1 |
4-0 |
2-0 |
— |
James Madison |
4 |
19 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
4-0 |
— |
Florida |
5 |
2 |
2-2 |
4-1 |
0-0 |
— |
Stony Brook |
6 |
36 |
2-0 |
3-0 |
2-0 |
— |
Loyola |
9 |
26 |
1-1 |
32- |
3-0 |
— |
Stanford |
12 |
31 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
4-0 |
— |
Princeton |
15 |
14 |
1-2 |
0-2 |
1-2 |
— |
High Point |
22 |
57 |
0-2 |
0-0 |
2-0 |
— |
UMass |
24 |
32 |
0-1 |
1-0 |
2-0 |
Cornell (31), Yale (32), VCU (74) |
Marist |
47 |
67 |
0-0 |
0-2 |
0-0 |
Yale (32), Canisius (44), La Salle (77), Iona (81) |
Jacksonville |
50 |
103 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
— |
Bryant |
69 |
100 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
Delaware (32), Brown (34), Canisius (44), Harvard (46), Mount St. Mary's (66) |
Detroit Mercy |
89 |
113 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
Michigan (36), Ohio State (55), Cincinnati (65), Coastal Carolina (78), Duquesne (82), Mercer (94) |
North Carolina now owns the top RPI and SOS and is in line for a top-four seed. … Maryland remains the top-seeded team. A third straight Big Ten tournament title would clinch that on Selection Sunday. … James Madison’s win over Towson was a boost to the Dukes’ hopes of a top-four seed. …
Florida’s numbers took a hit by playing Butler. The Gators host the Big East tournament this week and likely need help to gain a top-four seed. … Stony Brook dispatched Albany for another America East regular season title. Another two wins should keep the Seawolves in top-four seeding. … Loyola is on the cusp of hosting duties. A Patriot League championship, if it comes against Navy in the final, could be enough for those rights. …
Stanford’s impressive run to the inaugural Pac-12 title on Colorado’s home field secured the Cardinal’s return to the NCAA tournament. … Princeton crushed Penn to capture the Ivy League’s top seed and hosting the tournament. … High Point rose to 22nd in the RPI, has a decent at-large profile, but likely not enough if the Panthers don’t win the Big South tournament. …
UMass returns to Richmond, Va., for the Atlantic 10 tournament. The first opponent could be the last team to beat the Minutewomen: fourth-seeded VCU, which has to get past Davidson first. … Jacksonville hosts the Atlantic Sun tournament and is a heavy favorite to repeat. … Marist is the top seed in the volatile MAAC, which features four semifinalists that all shared the conference regular season title. …
Bryant hosts the NEC tournament for the fifth straight season. … Detroit Mercy is the Southern Conference’s regular-season winner and must faces host Mercer in a semifinal matchup.
At-Large Bids (17 teams/13 spots)
|
RPI
|
SOS
|
T10
|
T11-20
|
T21-30
|
31+L
|
Boston College |
3 |
12 |
1-1 |
4-0 |
6-0 |
— |
Northwestern |
7 |
6 |
1-3 |
3-0 |
3-1 |
— |
Towson |
8 |
21 |
1-3 |
3-0 |
3-1 |
— |
Penn |
10 |
27 |
0-2 |
3-1 |
1-0 |
— |
Colorado |
11 |
13 |
0-2 |
3-2 |
1-1 |
— |
Georgetown |
13 |
15 |
0-5 |
2-2 |
3-2 |
— |
Navy |
14 |
33 |
0-3 |
0-0 |
3-0 |
— |
Virginia Tech |
16 |
23 |
0-4 |
2-1 |
4-1 |
— |
Denver |
17 |
22 |
0-2 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
Temple (43) |
Johns Hopkins |
18 |
7 |
1-5 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
— |
Dartmouth |
19 |
30 |
0-2 |
1-0 |
0-1 |
Brown (34) |
Syracuse |
20 |
3 |
2-5 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
— |
Virginia |
21 |
4 |
0-5 |
2-2 |
3-2 |
— |
USC |
23 |
10 |
0-3 |
2-4 |
1-0 |
Oregon (40) |
Penn State |
25 |
11 |
0-6 |
1-1 |
2-0 |
Michigan (34) |
Richmond |
26 |
59 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
— |
Notre Dame |
27 |
18 |
0-4 |
1-1 |
2-3 |
Albany (56) |
Boston College missing out on a second win over North Carolina will likely cost the Eagles a top three seed. … Northwestern faces Penn State in the Big Ten semifinals for the fourth straight year as the Wildcats look to secure hosting rights. … Towson narrowly missed a major win over JMU and could get a rematch in a few days on the Dukes’ home turf. …
Penn won a share of its 11th straight Ivy League title, but missed out on the outright title and hosting the league tournament due to its loss to Princeton. … Colorado couldn’t complete a perfect home schedule. The Buffaloes are a lock to get in and will likely be flying to Florida or Northwestern for its first-round game. … A repeat of last year’s Patriot League championship is the easiest path for Navy, which is squarely on the bubble. …
Virginia Tech is a lock for the tournament with five wins against the RPI top 30. … Denver’s numbers have continued to rise in the computer due to the success of Colorado and Stanford, both of which fell to the Pioneers. … Johns Hopkins is once again on the bubble and hoping the committee values the early-season win over Loyola enough to get them in if the Jays can’t win the Big Ten. …
Some losses hurt more than others and Dartmouth’s result against Brown could derail the Big Green’s NCAA push. … Syracuse has the highest-rated strength of schedule among its 10 best opponents (average of 8.0). … Virginia’s loss to Notre Dame pushed it further down the line, but the Cavaliers should be OK on Sunday. …
USC will have one of the longest waits on Sunday as the Trojans were unable to overcome Stanford, falling for a third time to the Cardinal. … Penn State played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, going 0-6 against the RPI top 10 and 3-1 against teams rated 11-30. … Richmond has no bad losses, but no good wins to get them into the discussion. … Notre Dame likely fell one win shy in the ACC tournament to garner an at-large selection.
PROJECTED BRACKET
Bracketing procedures:
-
The committee seeds the top eight teams to host first- and second-round games. All other teams are unseeded and will be placed geographically, while keeping bracket integrity when possible.
-
Conference matchups are to be avoided in the first round.
-
This year there are 14 automatic qualifiers, which means the two weakest résumés are assigned to a play-in game on Tuesday, May 8 or Wednesday, May 9, on the campus of the stronger team. No at-large teams will be selected for the play-in games. That play-in winner will travel to the No. 7 seed.
-
It’s possible a seeded team may not host due to factors such as facility availability. We anticipate each seed hosting and bracket them accordingly, but the committee may not have that option.
-
The 7 and 8 seeds host two games in the first round, leading to a second-round game at its home site, while the top six seeds get byes into the second round.
College Park, Md.
Virginia vs. Georgetown
Winner plays at (1) Maryland/BIG TEN
Towson, Md.
Marist/MAAC at (8) Towson
Loyola/PATRIOT vs. Penn State
Harrisonburg, Va.
Penn vs. Johns Hopkins
Winner plays at (5) James Madison/CAA
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Syracuse vs. UMass/ATLANTIC 10
Winner plays at (4) Boston College
Stony Brook, N.Y.
Princeton vs. USC
Winner plays at (3) Stony Brook /AMERICA EAST
Gainesville, Fla.
Colorado vs. Jacksonville/ATLANTIC SUN
Winner plays at (6) Florida/BIG EAST
Evanston, Ill.
Detroit Mercy/SOUTHERN/Bryant/NEC at (7) Northwestern
Stanford vs. Denver
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Virginia Tech vs. High Point/BIG SOUTH
Winner plays at (2) North Carolina
Last four in: USC, Penn State, Johns Hopkins, Denver
First four out: Navy, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Richmond
Moving in: Princeton, Denver, Bryant, Detroit Mercy
Moving out: Navy, Dartmouth, Wagner, Central Michigan
Multi-bid Conferences: ACC (5), Big Ten (4), Pac-12 (3), Big East (3), CAA (2), Ivy (2)