VTTW Board Index

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/NCAA-tournament-bracket-predictions-030412

Lunardi is a better guy to look at. Right now he has us as one of the first 4 out. We weren't even on the radar before the Vandy game. That means we can play our way into it, probably need 2 wins.

In that case the bye may not help.

Jay Coleman's Dance Card now has us 63rd, the 7th team behind the bubble burst. I think that's probably pretty accurate. It wouldn't surprise me if Lunardi is using a metric very similar to the Dance Card when he comes up with his Bracketology.

FWIW, Ole Miss is just behind us at 71st, so a win over them (assuming they beat Auburn) would help. The next game (MSU or Vandy) would likely put us over the top if we could win it, as the winner of that game is almost certain to be in the tourney.

Some conference tourney games early this week we need to keep an eye on:

Tonight
CAA finals: VCU vs. Drexel. Honestly this one may not matter, but we're probably better served if Drexel wins. They are in the tourney either way, but VCU may be borderline.
Southern Conf finals: Western Carolina vs. Davidson. Davidson is virtually our equal in bubble talk right now, so we need them to win this game to take the auto bid. Western is not a tourney team unless they win.
Summit semifinals: Oral Roberts vs. W. Illinois and S. Dakota St. vs. Southern Utah. Oral Roberts is just above the bubble line and we should root for them to win tonight and then win the finals. S. Dakota St. is a few spots behind us and we'd be better served if they lost in the semis, tonight. It's doubtful that this league gets two in, but if S. Dakota beats Oral Roberts in the final that may happen and eat up an at-large.
Sun Belt semifinals: Denver vs. Western Kentucky and Arkansas St. vs. North Texas. Denver is 15 spots behind us on the Dance Card and is the only Sun Belt team with any shot at an at-large. We'd be best served if they won the title, but second best would be a loss in the semis tonight. They are probably not in play for an at-large anyway but I'd rather not take chances.

Tomorrow
Big Sky semifinals: Weber St. vs. Portland St. and Montana vs. E. Washington. Montana is 9 spots behind us and Weber St. is 24 spots behind us. I don't think there's any way this conference will get two teams in, but worst case scenario would be for Montana to lose in the finals. So we either need to pull for them to lose in the semis or win the whole thing (which would be the best case scenario).
Horizon League finals: Detroit vs. Valparaiso. Valpo is 16 spots behind us, while Detroit has no shot at an at-large. We should root for Valpo, though it probably won't matter. The Horizon team with the best at-large credentials, Cleveland St. (10 spots behind us), lost in the semis. I doubt they are up for an at-large now.
Several other tournaments start tomorrow, so in general we just need to root for chalk in those.

Don't you just love March? I just talked about games in six different small-conference tournaments that are relevant to UT's future. There's simply nothing else like this.

Maybe, maybe not.

The quality of the opponent is actually worth more than a win for RPI and in the first round we would have played Auburn or Georgia, which probably would be a wash at best in terms of RPI.

For subjective impressions, it might matter more if we win 3 than 2, but Ole Miss and Vandy, should we play them both, are quality opponents and I think those two wins could do it for us.

I would agree - make it to the SECT finals and we're very likely in, otherwise we are almost certainly NIT bound.

Related but unrelated... I remember the joy and the look on Bruce's face when we got the #2 seed...  Sigh, good times.

Making the dance this year will be good times, especially going back to the Austin Peay loss.   :thumbup:

At the beginning of the season, how many of us would have dreamed of even being a bubble team?
We always want more as fans, so we might be disappointed if we don't make it in, but it's been a terrific season as a whole. Thanks CCM!

The future is bright with CCM, I'm convinced.