As of Today, March 4th Baltimore Sports and Life believes that 61 teams are currently in the tournament.
A number of these teams (roughly 7) could play their way out of the tournament.
ACC – UNC, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, FSU, BC, Maryland, Miami
America East – Vermont
Atlantic Sun – Jacksonville
Atlantic 10 – Xavier, Dayton
Big 12 – Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State
Big East – Uconn, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
Big Sky – Weber St
Big South – Radford
Big 10 – Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan
Big West – CSU Northridge
Colonial – VCU
Conference USA – Memphis
Horizon – Butler
Ivy – Cornell
Metro Athletic – Siena
Mid-American – Buffalo
Mid-Eastern Athletic – Morgan St
Missouri Valley – Creighton
Mountain West – BYU, Utah
Northeast – Robert Morris
Ohio Valley – Tenn Martin
Pac 10 – Arizona St, Cal, UCLA, Washington, Arizona
Patriot – American
SEC – LSU, Tennessee
Southland – Stephen F. Austin
Southwestern Athletic – Alabama St
Southern – Davidson
Summit – North Dakota St
Sun Belt – Western Kentucky
Western Athletic – Utah State, Nevada
West Coast – Gonzaga
With 61 teams currently ‘in’, that leaves 19 teams competing for the 4 additional at-large spots.
Give me an argument of why any of these teams would make the dance prior to MD.
For comparison, MD is 57th in RPI, and their SOS is 20th.
I see one team – Georgetown – that could make case because of their head to head win, and their Strength of Schedule. However, at 6-11 in the Big East, that is not going to happen.
Virginia Tech RPI: 59th, SOS 37th
Penn State RPI: 66th, SOS 90th
Northwestern RPI: 81st, SOS 61st
Kansas State RPI: 84th, SOS 74th
Baylor RPI: 65th, SOS 19th
Cincinnati RPI: 61st, SOS 28th
Georgetown RPI: 45th, SOS 1st
Providence RPI: 69th, SOS 48th
Auburn RPI: 72nd, SOS 79th
South Carolina RPI: 42nd, SOS 86th
Florida RPI: 50th, SOS 91st
Northern Iowa RPI: 71st, SOS 89th
UAB RPI: 41st, SOS 66th
Tulsa RPI: 62nd, SOS 87th
Rhode Island RPI: 44th, SOS 118th
San Diego St RPI: 46th, SOS 67th
UNLV RPI: 51st, SOS 78th
New Mexico RPI: 63rd, SOS 81st
St. Mary’s RPI: 53rd, SOS 168th
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.