College basketball is well underway this season and as we are in the middle of conference season. Many will play the role of Bracketologist predicting the field of 68. Tim Krueger, co-host of the Bluejay Banter radio show returns for his 5th season of predicting the field. Krueger ranks up there with the best of them with a Tier 1 ranking participating in The Bracket Project the past several years.
Leading up to Selection Sunday, Krueger will provide White & Blue Review his updated bracket predictions. Bluejay Banter can be heard every Monday from 6-7 PM on 1620 the Zone — The Home of the Jays.
The Bracket as of 1/19/14:
| EAST | WEST | |
| 1-Syracuse* | 1-Arizona* | |
| 16-Radford*/Old Dominion* | 16-South Dakota* | |
| Buffalo March 20-22 | San Diego March 21-23 | |
| 8-Xavier | 8-Baylor | |
| 9-Minnesota | 9-UCLA | |
| 4-Louisville | 4- Ohio State | |
| 13-Belmont* | 13-Manhattan* | |
| San Antonio March 21-23 | Buffalo March 20-22 | |
| 5-Michigan | 5-Cincinnati* | |
| 12-Green Bay* | 12-Harvard* | |
| 3-Iowa | 3-San Diego St.* | |
| 14-UC-Irvine* | 14-Northern Colorado* | |
| San Diego March 21-23 | Spokane March 20-22 | |
| 6-Uconn | 6-Gonzaga* | |
| 11-Stanford | 11-Missouri | |
| 7-Florida State | 7-Colorado | |
| 10-Texas | 10-SMU | |
| Raleigh March 21-23 | San Antonio March 21-23 | |
| 2-Villanova* | 2-Oklahoma State | |
| 15-American* | 15-S.F. Austin* | |
| MIDWEST | SOUTH | |
| 1-Michigan St* | 1-Wisconsin | |
| 16-Savannah St*/Chattanooga* | Stony Brook* | |
| St. Louis March 21-23 | Milwaukee March 20-22 | |
| 8-Kansas State | 8-Cal | |
| 9-George Washington | 9-Tennessee | |
| 4-Kentucky | 4-Umass | |
| 13-Delaware* | 13-Mercer* | |
| Raleigh March 21-23 | Orlando March 20-22 | |
| 5-Duke | 5-Pittsburgh | |
| 12-Dayton/Illinois | 12-Toledo* | |
| 3-Wichita State* | 3-Iowa State | |
| 14-Utah Valley State* | 14-Georgia State* | |
| Spokane March 20-22 | Milwaukee March 21-23 | |
| 6-Virginia | 6-Creighton | |
| 11-Oregon | 11-VCU/UNC | |
| 7-Memphis | 7-Oklahoma | |
| 10-St. Louis* | 10-New Mexico | |
| St. Louis March 21-23 | Orlando March 20-22 | |
| 2-Kansas* | 2-Florida* | |
| 15-Robert Morris* | 15-Southern* |
*Indicate Conference Auto-Bid
Krueger’s Notes on the Bracket:
There was plenty of movement this week, but that is pretty normal this time of year as teams get into the thick of conference play and there are usually some upsets. Teams making the big move up this week are Michigan, Iowa, Virginia, and Texas. Oregon took the biggest plunge after losing four games and barely hanging on to a spot in the field.
The Jays are in at a #6 seed despite the loss to Providence. The computers really love the Jays, which is helping their resume. Even a loss at Villanova on Monday should not effect Creighton’s seed as their resume compares favorably to teams in the 4-6 seed range.
One other note: New bracketing principles are in place this year that allow teams to play each other before the regional finals provided they meet only once during the regular season. All of the brackets I do will go under the assumption that conference teams will not meet again in their conference tournaments. For example you will see I have UCLA and Arizona meeting in the round of 32, which is permissible this year.
Last four in: VCU, North Carolina, Dayton, Illinois
First four out: Arkansas, St. Marys, Boise State, Georgetown
Next four out: Maryland, Ole Miss, Providence, LSU
