College Basketball Pairwise NCAA Forecast #4

If the season ended today (rankings here🙂

AUTOMATIC BIDS (31) (ties broken with pairwise ranking):

America East: Albany (8-6, #151)
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis (12-2, #34)
ACC: Duke (12-1, #3)
Atlantic Sun: Belmont (9-5, #73)
Big 12: Baylor (13-0, #2)
Big East: Syracuse (15-0, #1)
Big Sky: Weber State (10-3, #81)
Big South: Coastal Carolina (10-3, #94)
Big Ten: Ohio State (13-2, #20)
Big West: Cal State-Fullerton (9-3, #141)
Colonial: VCU (10-3, #79)
Conference USA: Southern Miss (13-2, #18)
Horizon: Milwaukee (10-5, #102)
Ivy: Harvard (12-1, #11)
Metro Atlantic: Fairfield (8-6, #137)
Mid-American: Ohio (12-1, #13)
MEAC: Norfolk State (10-5, #77)
Missouri Valley: Missouri State (9-5, #89)
Mountain West: UNLV (15-2, #19)
Northeast: Robert Morris (10-4, #62)
Ohio Valley: Murray State (14-0, #7)
Pac 12: California (12-3, #56)
Patriot: Lehigh (11-4, #47)
SEC: Kentucky (13-1, #8)
Southern: Charleston (10-3, #53)
Southland: Lamar (9-5, #98)
SWAC: Jackson State (2-10, #203)
Summit: South Dakota State (12-4, #41)
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee State (13-2, #35)
West Coast: Saint Mary’s (13-2, #29)
WAC: Nevada (10-3, #83)

The two opening round doubleheaders feature, the last 4 at-large teams and the 4 lowest seeds in general:

The draw, disregarding regions and seeding rules:

EAST (Boston)

(1) Syracuse vs (16) Cal State-Fullerton/Albany
(8) Cleveland State vs (9) Alabama
(4) Seton Hall vs (13) Indiana State/West Virginia
(5) Gonzaga vs (12) Wichita State/Oral Roberts
(2) Kentucky vs (15) Nevada
(7) Creighton vs (10) Denver
(3) North Carolina vs (14) Weber State
(6) Louisville vs (11) South Dakota State

WEST (Phoenix)

(1) Connecticut vs (16) Milwaukee
(8) Saint Mary’s vs (9) Illinois
(4) Ohio vs (13) Robert Morris
(5) Michigan State vs (12) Wagner
(2) Missouri vs (15) Lamar
(7) Oklahoma vs (10) Purdue
(3) Virginia vs (14) Belmont
(6) Marquette vs (11) Colorado State

MIDWEST (Saint Louis)

(1) Baylor vs (16) Fairfield/Jackson State
(8) Minnesota vs (9) Saint Louis
(4) Ohio State vs (13) Charleston
(5) Southern Miss vs (12) Lehigh
(2) Murray State vs (15) Missouri State
(7) San Diego State vs (10) New Mexico
(3) Kansas State vs (14) VCU
(6) Michigan vs (11) Wisconsin

SOUTH (Atlanta)

(1) Duke vs (16) Eastern Kentucky
(8) Mississippi State vs (9) Middle Tennessee State
(4) Georgetown vs (13) California
(5) UNLV vs (12) Virginia Tech
(2) Indiana vs (15) Coastal Carolina
(7) Florida vs (10) Temple
(3) Harvard vs (14) Norfolk State
(6) Iona vs (11) North Dakota State

Conference Ratings

Meadow Muffins of the Mind