ESPN's Joe Lunardi is a self-proclaimed "bracketologist"...a major that I wish was an option during my days at Ball State & IPFW. I'm not going to call it Bracketology, because it's ridiculous. Say all of that, his to-the-minute, NCAA tournament guessimations are up. Here are the teams that he lists as being the "Last Four In".Northwestern: I really don't see them getting in without a winning conference record. The Big Ten is considered the best conference in the country, but a few upsets in major tournaments could easily knock them out. They need at least two wins in the Big Ten tournament to assure their spot. A side note, I'm full aware of the amount of white boys that fill their bench, I would be excited if they made it, since they've never made the tournament.
Seton Hall: Many of the same reasons that I don't like Northwestern's chances, Seton Hall has them all. Their conference record was 8-10, added with a few bad losses earlier in the year. The Big East can start devouring each other in their long conference tournament. A few mid-majors deserve to be in the mix, they've had their shot.
Drexel: This team didn't lose a game from January 2nd, until they lost a close game against VCU. I think they deserve a shot at the NCAA Tournament more than Northwestern & Seton Hall. You can easily make an argument that they don't deserve to be in, because they played one of the easiest schedules of all of the bubble teams. I think the tournament committee has proven that they like to give mid-major teams a chance to shine.
Xavier: They definitely have the best player out of this group, Tu Holloway. He didn't have as strong of a season this year, but he'll end up in the NBA. They are a little disappointing, since they were favored to win Atlantic 10 this year. They need to at least make their conference final to have a shot.
Some of the other teams that are on the bubble are Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, Miami (FL), Arizona, and Iona (who has a great shot at sneaking in). Most of the bubble teams come from power conferences. I've seen a lot of games this year and Tennessee has the best shot of leapfrogging all of these teams. The Vols played up to their opponents abilities and even sweeped Florida this season. If they can win a few games in their conference tournament, they will be dancing. Iona has the second best shot, because they are a talented team who had a bad game in their conference championship game.
...but I'm not a "bracketologist".
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