Seeds using my Plan B. These are still subject to change based on results of conference tournaments.

1.. Kentucky, Virginia, Arizona, Villanova
2.. Wisconsin, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas
3.. Utah, Baylor, Oklahoma, Iowa St
4.. Wichita St, Louisville, Notre Dame, Northern Iowa
5.. Georgetown, Michigan St, Butler, SMU
6.. Maryland, Davidson, Arkansas, San Diego St
7.. Providence, VCU, BYU, Georgia
8.. Boise St, Cincinnati, Dayton, LSU
9.. Stephen F Austin, Oregon, Purdue, Colorado St
10.UCLA, Old Dominion, Buffalo, Temple
11.Rhode Island, Green Bay, Tulsa, Valparaiso
12.Louisiana Tech, Georgia St, Murray St, Harvard/Yale*

* Harvard and Yale will have a 1 game playoff for the Ivy crown. All of the above are automatic qualifiers and have a first round bye.

13. Wofford, UC Davis, Central Michigan, Iona
14. New Mexico St, S Dakota St, NC Central, Wyoming
15. Northeastern, Albany, Eastern Washington, High Point
16. North Florida, St Francis NY, Bucknell, Texas Southern

These ^ are also automatic qualifiers but would play the first round against #17-20 seeds below.

17. North Carolina, Ohio St, West Virginia, Iowa
18. Texas, Xavier, Oklahoma St, St John's
19. NC State, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Stanford
20. Vanderbilt, Florida, Coastal Carolina, Belmont**

These ^ teams did not finish high enough in their conference to get an automatic bid. They would play in the first round on Tuesday or Wednesday. They are also subject to being bumped from the field if a team not already in the field wins its conference tournament. So far, Coastal Carolina and Belmont bumped Illinois and Miami (FL). The next two on the bubble are Florida and Vanderbilt.

As it stands now, the 5 power conferences would have 32 bids, but could still have a few teams bumped. The next 7 multi-bid conferences would have 24 bids, all of which are safe. The one bid leagues now would have 4 at large bids in addition to their 20 auto bids, and that could increase, but not decrease.

At least you have Murray State in.

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(03-06-2015 02:54 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  The only thing I think shoudk be changed, if anything, is I think the four play in games should've ALL at large teams. Teams who earned their way in by winning their tournament shouldnt be able to be eliminated before the tprimary even starts.

I agree with this, but we had this situation in the SWAC when they had most of their schools on academic probation and ended up in Dayton and not in the actual field.

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(03-09-2015 10:48 AM)Lenvillecards Wrote:  At least you have Murray State in.

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As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend".

As I ponder the implications of my Plan B, a nagging thought occurs to me. The minor (one bid) conferences have a choice as things now stand. They can either have a regular season that is essentially meaningless or they can have a conference tournament that is. They can't have both. While I was attempting to give them both, by having both their regular season champ and their tournament champ get in, I created a potential problem.

What would stop every minor conference from creating a new bid for itself by having its regular season champ simply tank in the tournament? And who could tell if they did? So far, 7 regular season champs have been knocked out, and only 3 have won their tournament.

So I've had to back off once again, and go to Plan C.

My new and improved plan now gives the P5 conferences auto bids for every team that finishes in the top four in its conference. Then, they get 10 at large bids based on power rank without regard to conference.

The other 4 Basketball Power conferences, AKA the BP4 (Big East, Atl 10, AAC and MWC) get bids for their first three finishers, and together they share 8 at large bids.

The remaining 23 conferences get a tentative auto bid for their conference regular season winner, and they get 7 at large bids among them.

All 80 of these teams are selected immediately after the completion of the regular season and seeded by power rank, with the top 48 getting a first round bye. All 80 are assigned to a regional and one of the 8 sub regional sites so they can make tentative travel plans a week earlier. However, there is still a hurdle for some of them to clear.

In the event a team not already in the field wins its conference tournament, it bumps the last team to qualify from its own conference and takes the seed of the bumped team. For a one bid league, that means the regular season champ is out (sorry, Murray St). For all others, it is the lowest seeded at large selection if there is one. If not, it's the team that finishes lowest in the regular season standings. So, most teams in the original field of 80 will know their fate and destination much earlier than they do now.

Using the standings and rankings as of last Sunday, The field would consist of:

7 teams Big 12
6 teams ACC, A10, Big East, Big Ten, SEC
5 teams AAC, PAC
3 teams MWC, MVC, WCC
2 teams CUSA, Horizon, MAC
1 team Remaining 18 conferences

Teams still on the bubble as of this morning would be:

P5: NC State, Iowa, Oklahoma St, Ole Miss and Stanford

BP4: St John's, George Washington, UConn and Colorado St

1 bid: Old Dominion **, Albany, Montana, UC Davis, NC Central, SF Austin, Texas Southern, Georgia St and New Mexico St.
** ODU is an at large team from CUSA which only has one auto bid (La Tech).

So far, the only team Lunardi lists as being in his field of 68 that I don't have in my field of 80 is Indiana. which he has slotted for a play-in game as one of the last four in.