Bracket Big Board: Brackets, Bids, Bears...Oh crap!
The Bracket Big Board takes into consideration past returns, current performance and expected future gains in determining who should be included among the field of 65 (31 automatic and 34 at-large bids). Essentially, the Bracket Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for amateur bracketologists if they were filling out a Tourney Pick ‘Em '09 (Sign up now!) entry today. The Bracket Big Board is updated every Monday/Friday until the dance card is officially unveiled March 15.
Adult beverage depots in College Park, Columbia and Tucson are swelled to capacity. It may seem like a typical weekend night on campus, but the real motivating factor behind the push to consume massive amounts of alcohol is rooted in hardwood devotion. For those living in a world of bubble ambiguity, Jager bombs can be very therapeutic this time each year.
With Maryland, South Carolina and Arizona clinging to Dancing hopes, the once deceased Baylor Bears are reanimated, and poised to maul bubbles. Ranked for much of the non-conference season, Scott Drew's bunch has resurrected its season. A victory tomorrow and they improbably earn an automatic bid, stealing a slot from an at-large hopeful.
The ninth seed in the Big 12 tourney, Baylor has eliminated Nebraska, Kansas and Texas, three teams it went a combined 0-4 against in the regular season, in three straight days. More incredibly, the smallish Bears, who ranked 185th in rebound heading into the day, outmuscled and out-hustled their intrastate rival, Texas, to live another day. It was Baylor's first triumph over the Longhorns in its past 24 attempts.
It's safe to assume, Saturday's Big 12 final will be watched intently by several fanbases …
With the bracket unveiling less than 48 hours away – and because the Noise is working diligently on 65 team write-ups and three madness previews slated to post selection Sunday – the Triple-B enters warp-speed to give you the freshest, fastest update possible.
Who's in? Who's out? What group of loyal supporters needs to imbibe more Jager?
Here's the latest version of the Bracket Big Board:
*For games played through Friday, March 13 (UCLA/USC game still in progress at post time)
*RPI data provided by Rivals
*Efficiency stats from kenpom.com
*Bolded teams = clinched berth
*Teams in orange = moving up
*Teams in blue/gray moving down
On the Bubble: St. Mary's (26-6), Auburn (22-10), Temple (21-11), Davidson (26-7), South Carolina (21-8), New Mexico (21-11), Tulsa (24-9)
Dropped Out: St. Mary's, South Carolina, New Mexico, Weber St.
Conference Breakdown: American East (1), ACC (7), Atlantic Sun (1), Atlantic 10 (2), Big 12 (6), Big East (7), Big Sky (1), Big South (1), Big Ten (8), Big West (1), Colonial (1), Conference USA (1), Horizon (2), Ivy (1), Metro (1), Mid-American (1), Mid-Eastern (1), Missouri Valley (2), Mountain West (3), Northeast (1), Ohio Valley (1), Pac-10 (5), Patriot (1), SEC (2), Southern (1), SWAC (1), Summit (1), Sun Belt (1), West Coast (1), WAC (1)
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Image courtesy of US Presswire
