A Wonderful Time of the Year

Bracketology, YoCo Style.

Ahead of the Selection Special, my thoughts:
Team (Record, RPI)

--IN (LOCKS)--
ACC: Duke (27-4, 1), Georgia Tech (23-9, 14), Maryland (18-11, 27), N.C. State (20-9, 12), North Carolina (18-10, 16), & Wake Forest (19-9, 19).
America East: Vermont
Atlantic 10: Dayton (23-8, 37), St. Joe's (27-1, 3), & Xavier (23-10, 40).
Atlantic Sun: Central Florida
Big 10: Illinois (25-5, 24), Michigan State (18-11, 35) & Wisconsin (23-6, 18).
Big 12: Kansas (20-8, 12), Oklahoma State (26-3, 9), Texas (22-6, 10) & Texas Tech (22-10, 29).
Big East: Boston College (23-9, 21), Connecticut (27-6, 7), Pittsburgh (29-4, 5), Providence (20-8, 20), Seton Hall (20-9, 28), & Syracuse (21-7, 15).
Big Sky: Eastern Washington
Big South: Liberty
Big West: Utah State (25-3, 43) & Pacific.
Colonial: Virginia Commonwealth
Conference USA: Charlotte (21-8, 34), Cincinnati (23-6, 11), DePaul (21-9, 36), Louisville (20-9, 23), Memphis (21-7, 31) & UAB (20-9, 32).
Horizon: Illinois-Chicago
Ivy: Princeton
Metro Atlantic: Manhattan
Mid-American: Western Michigan (27-4, 51).
Mid-Continent: Valparaiso
Mid-Eastern: Florida A&M
Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois (25-4, 25) & Northern Iowa.
Mountain West: Utah (23-8, 39).
Northeast: Monmouth (N.J.)
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Pacific 10: Arizona (20-9, 41), Stanford (29-1, 6) & Washington (19-11, 67).
Patriot: Lehigh
SEC: Alabama (17-12, 26), Florida (20-9, 18), Kentucky (25-4, 2), Mississippi State (25-3, 4), South Carolina (23-10, 45) & Vanderbilt (21-9, 22).
Southern: East Tennessee State
Southland: Texas-San Antonio
Sun Belt: Louisiana-Lafayette
SWAC: Alabama State
WAC: Nevada (23-8, 33).
West Coast: Gonzaga (27-2, 8)

--IN (Bubble)--
Atlantic 10: Richmond (20-12, 47) -- Ooh. A tough call, but wins over Colorado and at Kansas sealed the deal. Last team in (but if the Spiders fail to receive a bid, they should look no further than the late-season loss to Rhode Island).
Mountain West: Air Force (22-6, 70) -- Politically popular. Avoids controversy by honoring MWC regular-season champ.
Mountain West: BYU (21-8, 30) -- RPI too low to overlook. Huge win over Oklahoma State. Strong finish.

--OUT (Bubble)--
SEC: Georgia (16-13, 46) -- Mediocre record. 5-5 down the stretch. Harrick's stigma doesn't help.
WAC: UTEP (23-7, 44) -- Not a single victory against RPI top 25 competition. 2-3 against RPI top 50 opponents. When was the last time the teams that make-up the conference formerly known as the WAC (and now known as the WAC and the MWC) sent 5 teams? Not this year.
Big 12: Colorado (18-10, 56) -- Losses to Iowa State, Texas Tech hurt their cause. But the December loss to Richmond seals their fate.

--OUT--
ACC: Florida State (18-13, 52) -- 6-10 overall, 0-8 on the road, in conference play.
Big 10: Michigan (18-11) -- Only one marquee win (Wisconsin) but several questionable losses (Indiana X2, Minnesota, & Iowa).
Big 12: Oklahoma (19-10, 49) -- Not a single victory against RPI top 25 competition (0-7).
Big 12: Missouri (16-13, 48) -- Ugly loss to Kansas suggests Missouri's late-season run won't carry on into the tournament. If only they had started warmer...
Big East: Notre Dame (17-12, 50) -- Too many losses down the stretch.
SEC: Without Jaime Lloreda, LSU (18-10, 38) is an unlikely bet in the eyes of the Stewart Mandel and Joe Lunardi. I'm not sure how play absences factor in to the committee's decision and will therefore err on the side of caution.