Two teams in (North Carolina and USC), 24 to go.

Just 39 games and 11 automatic bids remain before the NCAA selection committee announces its 26-team field and they will have quite the task ahead of them on two fronts.

First of all, aside from the top two seeds (Maryland and North Carolina), there are eight quality teams vying for the remaining six seeded slots. Parsing those teams out in a systematic order will be a highly debated task.

Determining which of the main criteria the committee will favor (RPI, strength of schedule, head-to-head, common opponents) varies from year to year. Nevertheless, teams like Penn State, Princeton, Florida, Syracuse and Stony Brook can feel good about their chances at being a seeded team barring any major upsets, while Penn, USC, Colorado, Boston College and Virginia will also be considered.

Toward the bubble, things get murky. There are teams like Notre Dame (No. 23 RPI) and Louisville (No. 29 RPI) who have impressive wins of their resumes, but a lower rating than would be expected. Then there are teams like Johns Hopkins (No. 18 RPI) and Albany (No. 21 RPI) who don’t have as many high profile wins, but don’t have any bad losses either. Toss in a team like Duke (No. 22 RPI) who isn’t eligible because of its sub-.500 record and the bubble is softer than normal.

Among those teams that are missing a signature win that bumps them into a safe standing is Hopkins, who is 0-6 against the RPI top 15. The Blue Jays’ lone top 25 victory is Loyola, who is 0-7 in the same category. The Greyhounds would not be safe if they stumble in the Patriot League tournament. As of now, Hopkins is projected to miss the tournament because Albany is the final team slotted in. Just three places back of the Blue Jays in the ratings, the Great Danes picked up a win over Cornell (No. 14 RPI) as its top win.

Other bubble situations involve CAA stalwarts Towson (No. 15 RPI) and Elon (No. 17 RPI). They’re two of the final four in the field and face off on Friday in the semifinals in Baltimore. Elon has a signature win over Virginia early in the season and could use a victory to solidify its position, while Towson would sew up its at-large bid with a second win over the Phoenix.

Even while projecting the No. 18 RPI team out, Notre Dame and Louisville have strong enough profiles to get in. Both teams can’t add to their resumes, and in Louisville’s case it has a loss to fellow bubble resident Denver. In the end, Notre Dame’s wins over Syracuse, Elon and Louisville coupled with no bad losses mean the Irish are comfortably in, while Louisville will sweat things out.

Ultimately, Louisville’s wins over Syracuse and Duke get them in as of now. Denver’s best wins (Temple at No. 24 and No. 29 Louisville) coupled with a loss at Georgetown don’t stack up against the Cardinals. Virginia Tech is also projected out of the field of 26 with an RPI of 32 and losses to bubble teams Elon and Louisville offsetting its signature win over Boston College.

Last thing to factor when the field is finalized is the travel. In 2016, only three teams had to fly on opening weekend (James Madison to USC, Penn State and Winthrop to Florida). This year, there will be five teams that have to fly (USC, Colorado, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Louisville) unless they host, which means the committee will be primed to keep teams close to home even in the face of bracket integrity.

The RPI and strength of schedule data is from the NCAA’s RPI Archive with records against the RPI top 10, 11-20, top 25 and losses outside the 25 listed. LaxPower’s RPI replica updates daily as the tournaments progress.

Automatic Qualifiers (13)

	RPI	SOS	T10W	T11-20	T25	26+ L
North Carolina*	1	1	4-2	4-0	12-2	—
Maryland	2	6	7-0	4-0	11-0	—
Princeton	5	5	1-3	3-0	7-3	—
Florida	6	9	2-2	3-0	6-2	—
Stony Brook	7	15	1-1	4-0	6-1	—
USC*	12	27	2-2	1-1	3-3	—
James Madison	16	11	0-3	2-1	2-5	Rutgers (30)
Massachusetts	19	45	0-3	0-0	0-3	—
Loyola	20	13	0-4	0-3	0-7	—
High Point	28	60	0-1	0-2	0-3	—
Jacksonville	35	50	0-2	0-1	0-3	Coastal Carolina (44), Ohio State (61)
Canisius	37	76	0-2	0-1	1-3	Columbia
Bryant	51	89	0-1	0-0	0-1	Navy (31), UMass Lowell (75

*Automatic bid clinched

North Carolina, the reigning national champion, took care of business in the ACC Championship to nab the first automatic qualifier. The Tar Heels are assured no less than the No. 2 seed. … Undefeated Maryland is the regular-season champion in the Big Ten and earned the No. 1 seed in the four-team conference tournament this week in College Park. Barring an upset to Johns Hopkins in the semifinals, the Terrapins will be the overall No. 1 seed for the fifth straight year. …

Princeton battled its way to a three-way tie atop the Ivy standings, and while the Tigers are the No. 3 seed in its conference tournament, they are the top-rated RPI team at No. 4. Princeton faces fellow co-champ Penn in the semifinals at Cornell. … Stony Brook hosts the America East tournament this weekend and will look to hold serve in order to host in the NCAA tournament. …

Florida heads into the Big East Championship (hosted by Villanova) as the top seed and winners in 15 of its last 16 games with the lone setback coming at No. 1 Maryland on March 29. … The USC Trojans earned their second straight MPSF title and the league’s automatic bid with a decisive 16-11 win over Colorado on Sunday. A loss by Stony Brook or Penn could see the Trojans host national tournament games again. ...

The ever-competitive CAA has James Madison at the top with a 5-1 mark. The Dukes will likely get in even if they stumble to Delaware in the semifinals. … The Greyhounds of Loyola steamrolled through the Patriot League once again this season with nine straight wins to offset a 1-7 non-conference slate. The Patriot League will be a one-bid league. ...

UMass is poised to win its ninth straight Atlantic 10 title after breezing through its regular season competition. The Minutewomen have not dropped a game to an A-10 foe since 2010. … High Point concluded Big South play unbeaten with its closest contest a seven-goal win over Campbell. The Panthers host its tournament as the top seed. ...

The class of the MAAC, Canisius is the top seed in the tournament on its home field this weekend. The Golden Griffins have made the MAAC final every year since 2011, winning five titles in that span. … Jacksonville is the highest RPI team in the Atlantic Sun and hosts its tournament as the No. 2 seed after sharing the regular season title with regular season champion Coastal Carolina. … Bryant swept the NEC and hosts the league tournament in search of its first NCAA bid.

At-Large Bids (21 Teams/13 Slots)

	RPI	SOS	T10W	T11-20	T25	26+ L
Penn State	3	10	1-2	7-0	9-2	—
Syracuse	4	2	2-4	6-0	10-5	Louisville (29)
Penn	8	12	1-1	2-1	5-2	—
Colorado	9	14	1-1	2-2	4-3	—
Boston College	10	8	0-4	2-0	4-5	Virginia Tech (32)
Virginia	11	4	0-7	2-1	4-8	—
Northwestern	13	3	0-7	1-1	3-8	—
Cornell	14	19	1-3	1-0	2-4	—
Towson	15	16	0-3	3-1	5-4	Hofstra (43)
Elon	17	23	0-1	1-2	2-5	—
Johns Hopkins	18	18	0-4	1-2	1-6	—
Albany	21	35	0-4	1-0	1-4	—
Notre Dame	23	26	1-4	1-3	3-7	—
Temple	24	43	0-2	0-0	0-2	Denver (26), UConn (48)
Delaware	25	21	0-3	1-2	1-5	Virginia Tech (32), Canisius (37)
Denver	26	56	0-2	0-0	1-2	Georgetown (33)
Lehigh	27	37	0-2	0-1	0-3	Navy (31), Colgate (73)
Louisville	29	38	1-2	0-3	2-6	Denver (26)
Rutgers	30	20	0-3	1-3	1-8	—
Navy	31	57	0-1	0-2	0-4	—
Virginia Tech	32	32	1-3	0-3	3-7	Louisville (29)

Anyone in the top 15 RPI is nearly a lock at this point with Penn State leading the batch of at-large candidates. The Nittany Lions are slated as a No. 3 seed with a floor of a top five seed even with a potential loss in the Big Ten semifinals. … Syracuse fell in the ACC final last weekend to top-rated North Carolina and will slot in the No. 5-7 seed range come Selection Sunday. …

Penn, Colorado, Boston College and Virginia are vying for a seed. As of now, the Quakers come ahead of the other three in that department heading into the Ivy League tournament. … Northwestern, Cornell and Towson are safely in. The Wildcats have a small chance to host, should it get past both Penn State and Maryland for a conference title, and the same goes for the Big Red if they sweep the Ivy title. …

The bubble teams come into play now with Elon, Notre Dame, Louisville and Albany supplying the final four spots in the field. The Irish and Cardinals can only wait and see how things play out in other leagues, while the Phoenix and Great Danes have chances to pick up important resume building (and NCAA automatic bid-clinching wins). …

On the outside looking in are Johns Hopkins, Virginia Tech, Denver and Delaware. Three of those four teams have opportunities to pick up bid-clinching wins: the Blue Jays at Maryland in the Big Ten semifinals; the Pioneers if they can get by Georgetown, but they likely need the auto bid in the Big East; and the Blue Hens can leapfrog those ahead of them with a win over top-seeded JMU in the CAA Championship. Virginia Tech doesn’t have any games left to play after squandering a two-goal second-half lead against Syracuse in the ACC quarterfinals where a win could have sewn up an NCAA bid.

Another team who will need some tournament magic will be Temple, who play Florida in the Big East semifinals, where a win could vault the Owls up into an at-large position if they were to lose in a championship game. Lehigh and Navy will have to win the Patriot League in order to make the field of 26, while Rutgers failed to qualify for the Big Ten tournament.

Projected Bracket  

A few reminders on bracket construction:

• The committee seeds its top eight teams in the bracket and then evaluates travel situations. The committee limits travel and the amount of flights. With no Midwest team in the top eight, there will be more flights this year (5) than last year (3).

• 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. (Last season, Penn was the seven seed, but traveled to a Towson-hosted pod.)

• Conference rematches are to be avoided in the first round.

• The seven and eight 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.

Notre Dame vs. Towson
Winner plays at (1) Maryland (BIG TEN)

Philadelphia, Pa.

(8) Penn vs. Canisius (MAAC)
USC (MPSF) vs. Loyola (PATRIOT)

Princeton, N.J.

Virginia vs. Albany
Winner plays at (4) Princeton (IVY)

Gainesville, Fla.

Northwestern vs. Jacksonville (ATLANTIC SUN)
Winner plays at (5) Florida (BIG EAST)

State College, Pa.

James Madison (CAA) vs. Louisville
Winner plays at (3) Penn State

Syracuse, N.Y.

Colorado vs. UMass (ATLANTIC 10)
Winner plays at (6) Syracuse

Stony Brook, N.Y.

(7) Stony Brook (AMERICA EAST) vs. Bryant (NEC)
Boston College vs. Cornell

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Elon vs. High Point (BIG SOUTH)
Winner plays at (2) North Carolina (ACC)

Last Four In: Towson, Elon, Louisville, Albany

Last Four Out: Johns Hopkins, Virginia Tech, Denver, Delaware

Multi-bid Conferences: ACC (6), Big Ten (3), CAA (3), Ivy League (3), MPSF (2), America East (2)

Note: All records and data are as of Sunday, April 30.