Spec Sheet 2/27

A day late but never a dollar short with the info...

2007 NCAA Spec SheetPicks as of 2/27

Its moving day for a lot of teams in this weeks spec sheet. A lot of teams handled their business and solidified their tourney status.

The following conferences will get multiple bids teams listed are the ones with the best chances

Atlantic Coast
Locks- North Carolina, Duke, Va. Tech, Virginia, Bost. College, Maryland
Good Shape-
Needs Help- Florida St.
The Terrapins win over UNC makes them a spot on lock, the Cavs and Hokies have had their collective foot on the gas for a while. The Noles have to win out and go deep in the ACC tourney to get any consideration.
Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament: March 8-11 St. Pete Times Forum, St. Petersburg, Florida

Atlantic Ten
Good Shape Xavier
Needs Help Rhode Island, UMass
Xavier is charging hard to a tourney slot and their record might even get them an at-large should something bad happen in Atlantic City. But the Muskies must finish the regular season strong.
Atlantic Ten Confernce Tournament: March 7-10-Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City

Big East
Locks- Pitt, Marquette, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Louisville
Good Shape- Syracuse
Needs Help- Villanova
Notre Dame earned its lock after rallying to beat Marquette. Louisville closed the deal and even though I’m making them a lock I’m not sold yet but I’ll give it to them.I know they are 3rd in the Big East, but. Syracuse is still very much in the picture, their win over Georgetown puts them in much better shape. The same cant be said for Providence who’s loss to the Orange put them is serious trouble. Nova needs to win out and the Mountaineers just don’t have the numbers to keep their lock. They’re still in good shape, but I’ll like them better if they get a win or two in NYC. Providence is done with their tough loss to the ‘Cuse.
Big East Conference Tournament: March 7-10-Madison Square Garden New York City

Big Ten
Locks-Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State
Good Shape-Indiana , Illinois
Work To Do- Michigan, Purdue
Illinois has moved into the GS category with its 6 wins in their last 7. The only thing that got settled in Columbus Sunday was that the Bucks get the #1 seed in the Big 10 tourney in Chicago and unless they take an unlikely pratfall in the Big 10 quarters, should be a regional #1 as well. Michigan State has locked themselves in with a gritty stretch drive that included wins over locked Wisconsin and an all but locked Indiana. I’ve held them out saying that they had to prove that they were tourney worthy and they are.
Big Ten Conference Tourney: March 8-11 United Center, Chicago

Big 12
Locks-Kansas, Texas A&M , Texas
Good Shape- Kansas State
Needs Help- Texas Tech
Tech is back on the list and Oklahoma State is off. The Pokes shocking slide from Lock to out is complete. This is a far cry from the team that beat in Texas in 3OT and started 15-1. This same team has went 4-8 since that start. Mizzou is out after their loss to Nebraska. Texas has all but locked up their spot and Kansas State needs to keep winning. I cant see them getting locked out with 23 wins. Tech needs to win out and get 1 or two wins in the Big 12 tourney.
Big 12 Conference Tournament: Mar 8-11 Ford Center, Oklahoma City

Horizon
Lock-Butler
Needs Help-Wright State, Loyola
Butler won and should be focused for the Horizon tourney. It’ll be interesting to see how the Ramblers and Raiders do. All of these teams need to get to the final to stay in the hunt…three teams, two spots. Call it March Math; someone will get on the wrong side of this equation.
Horizon Conference Tournanment: Feb 27th First Round Campus Sites (First Round) Mar 2-3 Nutter Center, Dayton (Quarterfinals and Semi-Finals) Finals Mar 6th Highest Seed Campus

Missouri Valley
Lock- Southern Illinois,
Good Shape- Missouri State, Creighton
Needs Help Bradley
Now the fun really begins as the “Arch” Madness starts in St. Louis later this week. The Salukis are safe, the Bears and Bluejays need only avoid first round defeats and they should be good to go. Creighton got a badly needed win against Wichita State which should steady them for any kind of tourney run.
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament: Mar 1-4 Scottrade Center, St. Louis

Mountain West
Locks-Air Force, Brigham Young
Good Shape-UNLV
Needs Help-San Diego State
On the real, is Air Force in trouble? Their sudden swoon has dropped them to third in the Mountain West and their shocking loss to cellar dweller TCU has made me rethink their lock status. The so-called power conferences are happy, as a swoon by one of the contenders here would free up an at-large for an Iowa, Clemson or other middling power conference team. The Aztecs are forcing their way into the tourney with attention grabbing wins.
Mountain West Conference Tournament: Mar 6-10 Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

Pacific 10
Locks- UCLA, Oregon, Wash. St, SC
Good Shape- Arizona
Needs Help-Stanford, Washington
SC rebounded nicely and has locked up their tourney chances. Arizona struggled with sad sack Arizona State and the jury still is out on them. Washington is out and Stanford may need to win out to still be in consideration.
Pacific Ten Tournament: March 7-10 Staples Center, Los Angeles

Southeastern
Lock-Florida,Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Good Shape- UK
Work to do- Georgia, Ole Miss
Wildcat nation is apoplectic after another loss to Vandy. The Commodores are just about home free as only a swan dive kills their tourney chances and even then their overall profile is too good to leave out. Georgia and Ole Miss pretty much need to get to the SEC title game if not outright win it to get a look.
Southeastern Conference Tournament: March 8-11 Georgia Dome, Atlanta

West Coast
Good Shape-Gonzaga, Santa Clara
It’s a photo finish for the regular season title. You could very well see the Bulldogs and Broncos in a winner take all WCC title game.
West Coast Conference Tournament: March 2-5 Chiles Center, Portland Ore.

1 Bid major conferences

Conference USA
Lock-Memphis
The Tigers are playing for a #1 seed, playing your conference tourney in your own arena is almost unfair
Conference USA Championships: Mar 7-10 FedEx Forum, Memphis

Western Athletic
Lock-Nevada
Needs Help- New Mexico St
The Wolfpack is the only lock no matter what happens in Las Cruces. New Mexico States chances fell into the win it to get in it class when they lost to Fresno State.
Western Athletic Conference Tournament Mar 6-10 Las Cruces, New Mexico

And remember the teams from the following get an automatic bid: Amer. East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West , Ivy, MAC, MAAC, MEAC, Mid-Continent, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Southern, Southland, Sun Belt, SWAC Remember, this is spec and nothing here is solid yet though that will change and you know that there is no chance that there will be upsets or an unseen team making a mess of this right?

Next Update: Mar 2nd