Pre-Championship Week Ranks

Now that it's March, college basketball season can really begin. In five days we'll have our first "locked" bid for the tournament, and when the top 3 teams all lose this weekend, it's going to get pretty crazy.

1: Syracuse (Big East)
2: Duke (ACC)
3: Kansas State
4: Kansas (Big 12)
5: West Virginia
6: Kentucky (SEC)
7: Pittsburgh
8: Georgetown
9: Villanova
10: Tennessee
11: Texas A&M
12: Wisconsin
13: Purdue (Big 10)
14: Vanderbilt
15: New Mexico (MWC)
16: Baylor
17: Maryland
18: Michigan State
19: Xavier (A-10)
20: California (Pac-10)
21: Ohio State
22: Butler (Horizon)
23: Texas
24: Oklahoma State
25: Temple
26: Louisville
27: Georgia Tech
28: Wake Forest
29: Connecticut
30: Clemson
31: BYU
32: Missouri
33: Richmond
34: Gonzaga (WCC)
35: Marquette
36: Florida State
37: Dayton
38: Northern Iowa (MVC)
39: Rhode Island
40: Utah State (WAC)
41: Florida
42: San Diego State
43: Old Dominion (Colonial)
44: UNLV
45: Notre Dame
46: Illinois
47: Siena (MAAC)
48: UAB
49: UTEP (C-USA)
50: Kent State (MAC)
51: Cornell (Ivy)
52: Weber State (Big Sky)
53: Oakland (Summit)
54: Sam Houston State (Southland)
55: Wofford (Southern)
56: UC-Santa Barbara (Big West)
57: Troy (Sun Belt)
58: Murray State (OVC)
59: Belmont (A-Sun)
60: Morgan State (MEAC)
61: Stony Brook (Amer. East)
62: Robert Morris (NEC)
63: Coastal Carolina (Big South)
64: Lehigh (Patriot)
65: Jackson State (SWAC)

Just Missed It: Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, St. Mary's, Wichita State.

So, to focus on the Big 12 (which should be locked on 7 teams in with no bubble teams) we have to look at what the "bottom 5" can do to screw things up. Oklahoma and Texas Tech are looking at matching up in the 8-9 game of the Big12 tourney, so one of them won't be dangerous. But Tech is like Baylor last year, an upset of the 1-seed and a run to the title game might be enough.
As for Mizzou, ESPN has the Tigers as a 7-seed, but I've got them as an 8. The loss to K-State probably revealed what's missing from last year. If you've got the guards to run with them and avoid back-court turnovers, and you've got the big men to clog the inside, and they can't make threes, you can beat them. Last year, Carroll and Lyons were able to help pull out the junk wins because they could score inside... Ramsey and Moore don't look to score unless it's off rebounds. There is the difference.