Quote Originally Posted by xubrew View Post
It's worth pointing out that he has UC San Diego and George Mason seeded ahead of the First Four. How much does he think they would drop if one or both ended up needing the at-large bid?

If Drake and UC San Diego both win out until their conference tournaments, I think the committee takes them. I obviously can't prove that, and others may disagree, but it is my own personal opinion that this particular committee will select those two teams if they win out. I could also see them possibly selecting UC Irvine simply because of the sheer number of games they have won away from home. Again, I could be completely wrong, but they have the type of profile that the committee NORMALLY (albeit not always) places inside the bubble.

Another thing that I noticed about the committee's top 16 teams this past week. Where a team tops out carries a lot of weight. Kentucky has some garbage in the middle of their profile, but the top of thier profile is outstanding and the committee gave them a protected seed. That is NOT a good sign for Xavier because the top of X's profile is not that great. It's also bad for UC Irvine, who I know I just said might get selected, but I'm just saying. Perhaps they're both left out.

Just a side note, Yale does not have the profile and won't get in without winning the Ivy Tournament, but holy crap are they good!! They didn't get up to their full speed right away, and therefore didn't quite get the wins early in the season that they needed, but February Yale would blow November Yale off the floor, and if Yale were to play the four teams that Lunardi has on his 10 line, I think they'd blow all four of them off hte court.
I always like seeing these teams get in, but when I look at Irvine, I just don't see it with their resume. George Mason kind of in the same boat in my opinion. UCSD and Drake I think have a good case to get in if they win out regular season. Xavier better hope that those two teams win their conference tournaments!