Ever spend the night in an airport? Ever try to get a real night's sleep squeezed into a chair at Gate A-5?
As all of this transpired Sunday night, two things should have occurred to me:
Squeezing one's body into an airport seat is not unlike fitting 34 at-large teams into the NCAA Tournament.
And Bracketology was going to be late this week.
Like the gate attendant kept announcing, "We apologize for the delay and hope you continue flying ESPN.com."
A reminder: Teams preceded by their conference name in ALL CAPS are the current league (or RPI) leaders of those conferences. Teams so labeled are projected to qualify via their league's automatic bid. Projections as of Feb. 19:
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MIDWEST REGION
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March 16: Dayton, Ohio
University of Dayton Arena
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1. Michigan State
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16.SWAC/Alabama State-NEC/St. Francis-N.Y.
(NCAA play-in game) |
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8. Tennessee |
9. USC
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5. Maryland |
12. TAAC/Georgia State
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4. Notre Dame
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13. MAC/Kent
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March 16: Kansas City, Mo.
Kemper Arena
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3. UCLA
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14. MID-CONTINENT/Valparaiso
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6. Syracuse |
11. Penn State |
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7. Creighton |
10. Georgia Tech
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2. Iowa State
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15. SOUTHLAND/McNeese State
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REGIONAL FINAL
March 23-25: Alamodome, San Antonio
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SOUTH REGION
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March 16: New Orleans, La.
Superdome
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1. North Carolina
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16. BIG SOUTH/Radford
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8. Wisconsin |
9. Cincinnati |
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5. Texas |
12. Arkansas |
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4. Boston College
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13. SUN BELT/Western Kentucky
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March 16: Memphis, Tenn.
The Pyramid
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3. Arizona
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14. MAAC/Iona
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6. Ohio State |
11. Richmond
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7. Xavier |
10. Missouri |
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2. Kentucky |
15. OVC/Tennessee Tech
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REGIONAL FINAL
March 23-25: Georgia Dome, Atlanta
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EAST REGION
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March 15: Greensboro, N.C.
Greensboro Coliseum
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1. Duke
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16. MEAC/Hampton
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8. Georgetown |
9. Iowa
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5. St. Joseph's |
12. AMERICA EAST/Hofstra
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4. Mississippi
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13. C-USA/Memphis
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March 15: Uniondale, N.Y.
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
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3. Kansas
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14. CAA/UNC-Wilmington
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6. California |
11. Connecticut |
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7. Alabama |
10. MCC/Butler |
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2. Illinois |
15. PATRIOT/Holy Cross
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REGIONAL FINAL
March 22-24: First Union Center, Philadelphia
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WEST REGION
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March 15: San Diego, Calif.
Aztec Bowl Arena
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1. Stanford
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16. SOUTHERN/East Tennessee State
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8. Wake Forest |
9. Georgia
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5. Providence |
12. BIG WEST/UC Irvine
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4. Oklahoma
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13. WCC/Gonzaga
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March 15: Boise, Idaho
Boise State University Pavilion
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3. Virginia
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14. BIG SKY/Cal-Northridge
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6. Fresno State |
11. Oklahoma State
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7. Indiana |
10. Utah
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2. Florida |
15. IVY/Princeton
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REGIONAL FINAL
March 22-24: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, Calif.
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FINAL FOUR
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Humphrey Metrodome
Minneapolis, Minn.
Semifinals: March 31 (East vs. West; Midwest vs. South)
Championship Game: April 2
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Bracket Bits
Please note that Georgia Tech cannot be placed in the South Region, where it is an institutional host at the Georgia Dome for the regional semifinals and finals. Same for Memphis (first/second rounds) at The Pyramid.
Who's hot? The following projected postseason teams are 10-0 or 9-1 in their last 10 games: Creighton (10-0), Hofstra (10-0), McNeese State (10-0), Alabama State (9-1), Butler (9-1), Florida (9-1), Georgia State (9-1), Gonzaga (9-1), Hampton (9-1), Iowa State (9-1), Notre Dame (9-1), Radford (9-1), Richmond (9-1), St. Joseph's (9-1), Stanford (9-1), Southern Utah
(9-1), UC-Irvine (9-1), UCLA (9-1), Valparaiso (9-1), Western Kentucky (9-1).
Who's not? With less-than-great records in their last 10 games: Oregon (2-8), Seton Hall (2-8), Vanderbilt (2-8), Minnesota (3-7), Purdue (3-7), Tennessee (3-7), Mississippi State (4-7), Colorado (4-6), Iowa (4-6), Pittsburgh (4-6), SMU (4-6), South Carolina (4-6), Villanova (4-6), Wake Forest (4-6).
The committee continues to emphasize a team's play away from home. Check out the following R+N (road+neutral) records: Stanford (13-0), Hofstra (13-2), Duke (12-2), Georgia State (12-4), St. Joseph's (12-4), North Carolina (11-3), Hampton (11-5), Pepperdine (10-5), Illinois (10-6), Oklahoma (10-5), Georgetown (9-3), UC-Irvine (8-2).
Road Woes: Connecticut (2-8), Arkansas (2-7), USC (2-6), TCU (3-9), Pittsburgh (3-8), St. John's (3-8), Seton Hall (3-7), Vanderbilt (3-6), Bradley (4-9), BYU (4-8), Miami (4-8), Georgia Tech (4-7), Utah (4-7), New Mexico (4-6), South Carolina (4-6), Indiana (5-9), Princeton (5-9), Missouri (5-8), Purdue (5-7), Villanova (5-7), Wisconsin (5-7).
Movin' Up: (Alphabetical order, as determined by RPI): Cal State Northridge, Florida, Hampton, Maryland, McNeese State, New Mexico, Ohio University, Santa Clara, Siena, St. Bonaventure, UNC-Wilmington, Utah, UTEP, West Virginia.
Goin' Down: (Alphabetical order, as determined by RPI): Charleston, Holy Cross, Illinois State, Iona, Miami, Minnesota, St. Francis-N.Y., SMU, TCU, Vanderbilt.
Last Four In: Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Penn State, Richmond.
Last Four Out: Mississippi State, West Virginia, UTEP, Villanova.
Why were these teams chosen from individual conferences?
Princeton: Defeated Ivy co-leader Pennsylvania.
Iona: No. 1 conference tournament seed.
UNC-Wilmington: Swept CAA co-leader George Mason.
Valparaiso: No. 1 Mid-Continent postseason seed.
Quality wins? Here are teams with the most victories against RPI Top 25
competition: Kentucky (8-3), Stanford (5-1), Duke (5-2), Michigan State (5-2), North Carolina (4-2), Arizona (4-3), Florida (4-3), Illinois (4-3), Texas (4-3), Virginia (4-3), Georgia (4-7).
Paper tigers? The following teams have unhealthy win totals against sub-150 competition: Hampton (19), Charleston (17), McNeese State (17), Southern Utah (17), Gonzaga (16), Hofstra (16), Holy Cross (16), Radford (16), St.
Francis-N.Y. (16), Valparaiso (16), Delaware (15), Western Kentucky (15), East Tennessee State (14), Illinois State (14), South Carolina State (14), Cal State Northridge (13), Pepperdine (13), Santa Clara (13), Alabama State
(12), UNC-Wilmington (12).
Multiple-conference breakdown: Big Ten (7), SEC (7), ACC (6), Big 12 (6), Big East (6), Pac-10 (5), Atlantic 10 (2), Colonial (2), C-USA (2).
Overrated: Georgetown, Oklahoma, Syracuse.
Underrrated: Indiana, Texas, UCLA.
Games of the Week
Tuesday: Maryland at Duke; Richmond at Virginia Commonwelath.
Thursday: Cal State Northridge at Eastern Washington
Friday: TAAC championship; Princeton at Yale
Saturday: Big South championship; OVC championship; Pennsylvania at Yale; Stanford at UCLA
Sunday: Duke at North Carolina; Southern Conference championship; Kentucky at Florida
Seeding Specials
Tuesday: Michigan State at Wisconsin
Thursday: Stanford at USC; California at UCLA
Saturday: Virginia at Maryland; Wisconsin at Iowa; California at USC; Alabama at Mississippi
Sunday: Missouri at Kansas; Georgetown at Notre Dame; Xavier at Dayton
Joe Lunardi is a regular in-season contributor for ESPN.com and the editor of www.bracketology.net. Write to Joe at jlunardi@home.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
Who's on the bubble?
ESPN.com Sweet 16
Cinderella Watch
Bracketology Banter
Chat wrap: Joe Lunardi
Bracketology: Feb. 19
Bracketology: Feb. 12
Bracketology: Feb. 5
Bracketology: Jan. 29
Jan. 22: Bracketology
2001 NCAA Tournament Sites
AUDIO VIDEO
 ESPN.com's master of bracketology Joe Lunardi takes a look at the bubble teams.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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