Well, after crunching numbers, looking at resumes, and trying to project who's going ot win the Summit League, the first ever Corn Nation NCAA Tournament Projections are here.
By my count, there are 8 at-large spots that are up for grabs, with 22 teams that are competitive for those spots. Of course, with conference play just getting started, there exists the possibility that some teams can fall onto, climb onto, or fall off of the bubble, opening up opportunities for surprise teams.
I'm not going to project seeds yet -- I'll wait for conference play to establish some stronger pecking orders in the middle of the bracket. If you're curious, I think North Carolina, Duke, Pittsburgh, and Connecticut will be the #1 seeds.
Projected NCAA Teams (by conference):
ACC(8): North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, Maryland, Boston College, Miami, Florida State
Big XII (6): Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M
Big East (9): Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Georgetown, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Louisville, West Virginia, Villanova, Marquette
Big Ten (7): Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue
Mountain West (2): BYU, UNLV
Pac-10 (4): UCLA, Cal, Arizona State, Stanford
SEC (4): Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida
West Coast (2): Gonzaga, St. Mary’s
Projected One-Bid Leagues with Projected Champions (Bold indicates team likely to receive at-large berth if they do not receive automatic bid): America East – Vermont; Atlantic 10 – Xavier; Atlantic Sun – Belmont; Big Sky – Portland State; Big South – Virginia Military Institute; Big West – Pacific; Colonial – George Mason; Conference USA – Memphis; Horizon – Butler; Ivy League – Cornell; MAAC – Niagara; MAC – Miami (OH); MEAC – Morgan State; Missouri Valley – Illinois State; Northeast – Robert Morris; Ohio Valley – Austin Peay; Patriot – Navy; Southern – Davidson; Southland – Stephen F. Austin; SWAC – Alabama State; Summit League – North Dakota State; Sun Belt – Western Kentucky; WAC – Utah State.