College basketball is well underway this season and we are now in the stretch run of the conference season. Many will play the role of Bracketologist predicting the field of 68. Tim Krueger, co-host of the Bluejay Banter radio show, is one such fan. Krueger has conducted his own bracket projections for years, even before ESPN’s Joe Lunardi gave such a practice the term Bracketology.
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 590 AM, Omaha’s ESPN Radio, with podcasts of the show available via www.am590espnradio.com and the Bluejay Underground A/V room
The bracket as of 2/13/2012:
| EAST | SOUTH | |
| 1-Syracuse* | 1-Duke* | |
| 16-Stony Brook/Tex-Arlington** | 16-LIU/Miss Valley St** | |
| Pittsburgh, PA. (Mar. 15-17) | Greensboro, NC (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 8-Illinois | 8-St. Louis | |
| 9-Creighton | 9-Mississippi St. | |
| 4-Temple* | 4-Michigan | |
| 13-Harvard* | 13-Long Beach State* | |
| Pittsburgh, PA. (Mar. 15-17) | Portland, OR (Mar. 15-17) | |
| 5-Vanderbilt | 5-St. Mary's* | |
| 12-BYU/Northwestern | 12-West Virginia | |
| 3-Ohio State | 3-Georgetown | |
| 14-Davidson* | 14-Loyola (MD)* | |
| Louisville, KY (Mar. 15-17) | Nashville, TN (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 6-Notre Dame | 6-Memphis | |
| 11-Miami | 11-New Mexico | |
| 7-San Diego State | 7-Virginia | |
| 10-California* | 10-Alabama | |
| Albuquerque,NE (Mar. 15-17) | Columbus, OH (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 2-Baylor | 2-Michigan State* | |
| 15-Weber St.* | 15-Valparaiso* | |
| MIDWEST | WEST | |
| 1-Kentucky* | 1-Missouri* | |
| Mercer* | 16-UNC Ashville* | |
| Louisville,KY (Mar. 15-17) | Nashville, TN (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 8-Murray St.* | 8-Seton Hall | |
| 9-Iowa State | 9-Purdue | |
| 4-Indiana | 4-Florida | |
| 13-Akron* | 13-Harvard* | |
| Columbus, OH (Mar. 16-18) | Portland, OR (Mar. 15-17) | |
| 5-Louisville | 5-Southern Mississippi* | |
| 12-Texas/North Carolina State | 12-Middle Tennessee State* | |
| 3-Marquette | 3-UNLV* | |
| 14-VCU* | 14-Oral Roberts* | |
| Omaha, NE (Mar. 16-18) | Albuquerque, NM (Mar. 15-17) | |
| 6-Florida St. | 6-Wisconsin | |
| 11-Minnesota | 11-Kansas State | |
| 7-Wichita State* | 7-Florida | |
| 10-Xavier | 10-UConn | |
| Omaha, NE (Mar. 16-18) | Greensboro, NC (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 2-Kansas | 2-North Carolina | |
| 15-Bucknell* | 15-Norfolk St* |
*Denotes Automatic Bid
Last four in: Texas, NC State, Northwestern, BYU
Last four out: Arizona,Dayton,Iona, Ole Miss
Next four out: Colorado St., Arkansas, Cincinnati, Colorado
Krueger’s Notes on the Bracket:
The top 10-12 teams seem to be moving away from the pack. You then have about another 15 who are solidly in the field. After that you have teams who are an 8 seed today, but next week could be out of the field. Unfortunately the Jays are now in that group after their week.
On the positive, of all the teams 11 seed and lower the Jays have far and away the better numbers. The only thing holding the Jays back is their non conference Strength of Schedule. That should be helped by the game against Long Beach State. The Jays need to go 3-1 to finish out the year, with one of those wins against Long Beach State. Make it to the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tourney and they should be in good shape. Again they are being helped by the weak bubble this year.