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| Originally sent on Monday, March 3, 2003. |
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| Teams proceeded by their
conference names in all caps are the current MRI leaders in those conferences
projected to get one bid. |
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| East Region | |
| Indianapolis, IN | |
| #1 | Kentucky |
| #16 | Southern: College of Charleston |
| #8 | Stanford |
| #9 | Connecticut | |
| Spokane, WA | |
| #5 | St. Joseph's |
| #12 | Butler |
| #4 | Oklahoma |
| #13 | Big Sky: Weber State |
| Birmingham, AL | |
| #3 | Duke |
| #14 | DePaul |
| #6 | LSU |
| #11 | MAC: Western Michigan |
| Boston, MA | |
| #7 | Purdue |
| #10 | Colorado | |
| #2 | Pittsburgh |
| #15 | Southland: Stephen Austin |
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| South Region | |
| Oklahoma City, OK | |
| #1 | Kansas |
| #16 | Play-in game: SWAC Mississippi Valley State vs. Big South Winthrop |
| #8 | Georgia |
#9 | Oregon |
| Spokane, WA | |
| #5 | Syracuse |
| #12 | Southern Illinois | |
| #4 | Wake Forest |
| #13 | Texas Tech |
| Tampa, FL | |
| #3 | Florida |
| #14 | Big West: Utah State |
| #6 | Memphis |
| #11 | Cal | |
| Indianapolis, IN | |
| #7 | Patriot: Holy Cross |
| #10 | Ivy: Pennsylvania | |
| #2 | Wisconsin |
| #15 | MCC: Valparaiso |
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| West Region | |
| Salt Lake City, UT | |
| #1 | Arizona |
| #16 | MEAC: Hampton |
| #8 | Oklahoma State |
#9 | Colonial: UNC-Wilmington |
| #5 | Mississippi State |
| #12 | Illinois-Chicago |
| #4 | Marquette |
| #13 | Sunbelt: Western Kentucky |
| Birmingham, AL | |
| #3 | Creighton |
| #14 | Boston College |
| #6 | BYU |
| #11 | Alabama |
| Tampa, FL | |
| #7 | Cincinnati |
| #10 | Dayton | |
| #2 | Maryland |
| #15 | OVC: Murray State |
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| Midwest Region | |
| Oklahoma City, OK | |
| #1 | Texas |
| #16 | Northeast: Wagner |
| #8 | Utah |
#9 | Arizona State | |
| Nashville, TN | |
| #5 | Notre Dame |
| #12 | Auburn |
| #4 | Illinois |
| #13 | MAAC: Manhattan |
| Boston, MA | |
| #3 | Xavier |
| #14 | WAC: Fresno State |
| #6 | WCC: Gonzaga |
| #11 | Atlantic Sun: Troy State |
| Nashville, TN | |
| #7 | Missouri |
| #10 | Michigan State | |
| #2 | Lousiville |
| #15 | America East: Vermont |
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| Conferences with multiple bids: SEC (7), Big 12 (7), Big
East (5), C-USA (5), Pac-10 (5), Big 10 (4), ACC (3), Atlantic 10 (3),
Mountain West (2), Horizon (2), MVC(2) |
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| Moved Down for placement requirements: Oregon 8 to 9 |
| Moved Up for placement requirements: Oklahoma State 9 to 8 |
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| Last 4 At-Large Teams In: Southern Illinois, Texas Tech, Depaul, Boston College |
| Last 4 At-Large Teams Out: Tulsa, Villanova, Seton Hall, Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
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| I just go by my numbers. The magic MRI number this week was 55, which means you needed an MRI
ranking of 55 or greater to get an at large bid. There will be one more tournament projection next week, and then I will publish
what the final bracket would look like from an MRI standpoint after Selectin Sunday. Obviously by that point, we will know
who is in and who is out which will give us an idea of how good the projections were this week. In addition, conference
tournaments start this week, which could change this in a heartbeat if one of the leaders falls. |
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| Interesting Matchups: |
- Stanford and UConn have bothhave up and down seasons this year. Having them meet in the 8-9 game just seems
appropriate overall to match their rollercoaster seasons.
- All three top MAC teams continue to struggle. Kent State has lost 6 of their last 7 games and Western Michigan
sits in the middle of the conference, bolstered in the MRI by a great non-conference season. Central Michigan
continues to close on the top guns in the MRI and now even Miami of Ohio has entered the mix as a contender for the
crown, despite a loss this weekend to Bowling Green. This MAC season will come down to the final few games and it
will be interesting to see which team holds up in the tournament. The conference is strong from top to bottom and
any team could win on any given day. With Kent's loss on Bracket Buster day, it looks like only the conference
champion will be moving into the tournament.
- Cincinnati and Dayton meet in what could be the 3rd biggest rivalry in Ohio, after Cincy-Xavier, and Xavier-Dayton.
This game would be a close one and definitely one where the winner would not be an easy thing to predict.
- Xavier draws the tough Fresno State this week. While Fresno may be the only team to represent the WAC conference,
which has fallen off after the Mountain West split, Fresno could have still been a force in the other league. When the
tournament comes around, whatever team draws Fresno will need to watch out as they could send someone home earlier
than expected especially since they will most likely end up with a low seed..
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| Toughest Region: South |
| Easiest Region: West |
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