March 7, 2011

Mike Huguenin
Rivals.com College Basketball Editor

"Selection Sunday" is just six days away, and here is our latest projection at how we think the field will look that day.

It's important to note that this is a projection of how teams are going to finish, not how the field would look if it were decided today.

We will update this projection again Wednesday.

Teams are grouped by projected seed. At the bottom is a breakdown by league of the number of projected bids and some information on the makeup of the field, the selection committee and the sites.

Remember that this is the first season of a 68-team field. There will be four play-in games this season: two involving teams that will be No. 16 seeds and two involving the final four at-large teams. The supposition for this exercise is the final four at-large teams will be No. 12 seeds. That's why there are six teams at the Nos. 12 and 16 seedings.

(Notes: Asterisked teams must win their conference titles to receive an NCAA bid. Teams in bold already clinched an NCAA bid.)

Rivals.com Projected NCAA Field of 68

No. 1s

1. Ohio State 2. Kansas 3. Pittsburgh 4. Notre Dame

No. 2s

5. Duke 6. San Diego State 7. North Carolina 8. Syracuse

No. 3s

9. Florida 10. Purdue 11. Wisconsin 12. BYU

No. 4s

13. Texas 14. Louisville 15. St. John's 16. Kentucky

No. 5s

17. West Virginia 18. Connecticut 19. Xavier 20. Vanderbilt

No. 6s

21. Georgetown 22. Kansas State 23. Temple 24. Texas A&M

No. 7s

25. Arizona 26. Cincinnati 27. George Mason 28. Villanova

No. 8s

29. Missouri 30. UNLV 31. Old Dominion 32. Florida State

No. 9s

33. UCLA 34. Illinois 35. Utah State 36. Gonzaga

No. 10s

37. Georgia 38. Washington 39. Butler 40. Boston College

No. 11s

41. Michigan 42. Tennessee 43. Marquette 44. Clemson

No. 12s

45. Richmond 46. Michigan State 47. Memphis 48. Saint Mary's 49. UAB 50. Virginia Tech

No. 13s

51. Belmont 52. Princeton* 53. Oakland* 54. College of Charleston*

No. 14s

55. Iona* 56. Indiana State 57. Kent State* 58. Long Island*

No. 15s

59. Bucknell* 60. Long Beach State* 61. Morehead State 62. Northern Colorado*

No. 16s

63. North Texas* 64. Texas Southern* 65. Boston U.* 66. McNeese State* 67. UNC Asheville 68. Bethune-Cookman*

BREAKDOWN BY LEAGUE

11: Big East 6: ACC, Big Ten 5: Big 12, SEC 3: Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Pac-10 2: Colonial, Conference USA, West Coast 1: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern Athletic, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic (20)

SOME NOTES ON THE MAKEUP OF THE FIELD

The NCAA uses an "S curve," meaning it ranks all 68 teams in order 1-68, then places them in regions under the theory the top No. 1 seed would have the worst No. 2 seed in its bracket, the worst No. 1 seed would have the top No. 2 seed, etc. The balancing of the regions is the most important factor in seeding the tournament. As far as other rules go, teams from the same conference hopefully won't meet until a regional final, but the NCAA has relaxed that because some conferences have six and seven bids (it's even permissible for an intraconference matchup in the second round, though that is to be avoided whenever possible). But the first three teams selected from a given conference must be in different regions. Higher-seeded teams should be placed as close to home as possible. No team may play on its home floor, but most sites are "neutral courts" anyway. Teams can move up or down a spot or two in the "S-curve," maybe even a seed, to preserve other principles. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is the chairman of the 10-member NCAA Tournament Selection Committee this season. He is one of four members with a "Big Six" affiliation, joining Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, Connecticut AD Jeff Hathaway and Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman. The other six members: Utah State AD Scott Barnes, Xavier AD Mike Bobinski, Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton, Texas-San Antonio AD Lynn Hickey, UC Riverside AD Stan Morrison and SMU AD Steve Orsini. Hickey is the second woman to serve on the committee, following Charlotte AD Judy Rose (1999-2003).

TOURNAMENT DATES

March 15: Four play-in games in Dayton, Ohio First and second rounds March 17 and 19: Denver, Tampa, Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C. March 18 and 20: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland and Tulsa, Okla. Regional semifinals and final March 24 and 26: Anaheim, Calif., and New Orleans. March 25 and 27: Newark, N.J., and San Antonio Final Four April 2 and 4: Reliant Stadium, Houston

Mike Huguenin is the college sports editor for Rivals.com. He can be reached at mhuguenin@rivals.com.