College basketball is well underway this season and we are now in the final weeks of the 2011-12 regular 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 2/20/2012:
| 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-Creighton | 8-Murray St* | |
| 9-Virginia | 9-Iowa State | |
| 4-Temple* | 4-Vanderbilt | |
| 13-Iona* | 13-Washington/NC State | |
| Pittsburgh, PA. (Mar. 15-17) | Columbus, OH (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 5-Indiana | 5-Notre Dame | |
| 12-UConn/Alabama | 12-Harvard* | |
| 3-Baylor | 3-Georgetown | |
| 14-Weber St* | 14-Oral Roberts* | |
| Albuquerque (Mar. 15-17) | Nashville, TN (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 6-St. Mary's* | 6-Wisconsin | |
| 11-Arizona | 11-Memphis | |
| 7-New Mexico* | 7-Saint Louis | |
| 10-Purdue | 10-Mississippi State | |
| Greensboro, NC (Mar. 16-18) | Columbus, OH (Mar. 16-18) | |
| 2-Baylor | 2-Michigan State* | |
| 15-Davidson* | 15-Belmont* | |
| MIDWEST | WEST | |
| 1-Kentucky* | 1-Missouri* | |
| 16-Savannah St* | 16-UNC Ashville* | |
| Louisville,KY (Mar. 15-17) | Omaha, NE(Mar. 16-18) | |
| 8-San Diego State | 8-California* | |
| 9-West Virginia | 9-Xavier | |
| 4-Louisville | 4-UNLV | |
| 13-Akron* | 13-Middle Tennessee St.* | |
| Columbus, OH (Mar. 16-18) | Albuquerque (Mar. 15-17) | |
| 5-Wichita State | 5-Florida State | |
| 12-Long Beach State* | 12-Northwestern | |
| 3-Michigan | 3-Marquette | |
| 14-Drexel* | 14-Nevada* | |
| Nashville, TN (Mar. 16-18) | Portland, OR (Mar. 15-17) | |
| 6-Florida | 6-Kansas State | |
| 11-Miami | 11-BYU | |
| 7-Gonzaga | 7-Southern Mississippi* | |
| 10-Seton Hall | 10-Cincinatti | |
| Omaha, NE (Mar. 16-18) | Louisville, KY(Mar. 15-17) | |
| 2-Kansas | 2-Ohio State* | |
| 15-Valparaiso* | 15-Bucknell* |
*Denotes Automatic Bid
Last 4 in: UConn, Alabama, Washington, NC State
First 4 out: South Florida, Central Florida, St. Joseph’s , Illinois
Next 4 out: Dayton, Minnesota,Texas, Mississippi
Krueger’s Notes on the Bracket:
The bubble keeps getting weaker as the weeks go on. There were some tough calls at the top of the bracket as well. The top two overall seeds are still in doubt. The middle of the pack–seeds four thru nine–there is not much difference between these 20 teams. Frankly, seeds 10 thru 12 in most years would not make the tournament.
The Jays move up after their two win week. The most important thing to come out of last night was the jump in non-conference strength of schedule. It went from 178 to 122. That is big as far as the Jays getting into the tournament as well as seeding. I think they are solidly in. If they split this week and win the first game in the Valley tourney, they should be good. But hey–let’s just win the thing in St. Louis okay?
Next Bracket Update: Later this week