Clay Travis
Videos by OutKick
With national letter of intent day behind us (outside of handing out grades), it’s officially become college hoops season on college campuses. Yes, Clay might not agree nor will the throngs of you who see college football as a 365 day a year focus but those of us in the desert realize people now have their eyes trained towards sports next major event: March Madness. There’s more parity in college basketball than I remember without a prohibitive favorite like last year’s UK edition. Outside of Florida, Indiana, and Michigan it’s anyone’s guess who else might find themselves on the #1 seed line. Before yesterday, Kansas made this list however a loss to TCU as 18 pt favorites gets you knocked from elite status no matter what. Rather than burden you with a complete list of who’s who of players, coaches, and teams think of this as your college basketball crash course letting numbers tell the story
The RPI is good, Ken Pom is better, and while I still don’t know what the hell the ESPN Basketball Index really is yet, it won’t stop me from using BPI as a metric to grade postseason prospects. Everyone has their own criteria for what makes a tournament resume better than the next and given the watered down product this year, filling out the field of 68 will prove challenging. To make sense of the muddled approach, you’ll find 12 bubble worthy teams and my odds for each of them to punch a ticket to the big dance. For those not interested in teams on the fringe lucky to survive opening weekend, the complete list of college basketball futures is also included below.
Saint Mary’s (Ken Pom 23, ESPN BPI 42)
Good Wins: @BYU
Bad Losses: Pacific (N)
Chance to build resume: 2/14 vs Gonzaga, 2/21 vs BYU, and 2/23 vs Creighton
Odds to make the tournament: -300
Arizona St (Ken Pom 79, ESPN BPI 56)
Good Wins: Arkansas, Colorado, UCLA,
Bad Losses: Depaul
Chance to build resume: 2/23 vs Washington, 2/27 @UCLA, 3/9 @Arizona
Odds to make the tournament: +120
Temple (Ken Pom 68, ESPN BPI 58)
Good Wins: @Villanova, Syracuse, St Louis,
Bad Losses: Canisius, St Bonaventure
Chance to build resume: 3/10 vs VCU
Odds to make the tournament: -160
Indiana St (Ken Pom 67, ESPN BPI 66)
Good Wins: Ole Miss, Miami, @ Wichita St, Creighton
Bad Losses: @Morehead St, @Southern Illinois, @ Drake
Chance to build resume: 2/19 vs Wichita State
Odds to make the tournament: -140
Illinois (Ken Pom 55, ESPN BPI 68)
Good Wins: Butler, @Gonzaga, Ohio St
Bad Losses: @Purdue, Northwestern
Chance to build resume: 2/10 @Minnesota, 2/24 @Michigan, 3/10 @Ohio State
Odds to make the tournament: +180
BYU (Ken Pom 39, ESPN BPI 68)
Good Wins: None
Bad Losses: None
Chance to build resume: 2/21 @St Mary’s, 2/28 vs Gonzaga
Odds to make the tournament: -110
Maryland (Ken Pom 54, ESPN BPI 38)
Good Wins: NC State
Bad Losses: None
Chance to build resume: 2/16 vs Duke, 3/6 vs North Carolina, 3/10 @Virginia
Odds to make the tournament: +120
Alabama (Ken Pom 66, ESPN BPI 63)
Good Wins: Villanova, Kentucky, Arkansas
Bad Losses: Dayton, Mercer, Tulane, @Auburn
Chance to build resume: 3/2 @Florida, 3/5 @Ole Miss
Odds to make the tournament: +160
Villanova (Ken Pom 69, ESPN BPI 75)
Good Wins: Louisville, Syracuse
Bad Losses: Columbia, Providence
Chance to build resume: 2/12 @Cincinnati, 2/16 @Uconn, 2/23 vs Marquette, 3/3 @Pittsburgh, 3/6 vs Georgetown
Odds to make the tournament: -115
Bucknell (Ken Pom 58, ESPN BPI 55)
Good Wins: @Purdue, Lasalle,
Bad Losses: @Penn State
Chance to build resume: 2/18 @ Lehigh
Odds to make the tournament: -120 (should be favored to win the Patriot automatic bid)
St Johns (Ken Pom 99, ESPN BPI 89)
Good Wins: @Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Uconn
Bad Losses: @USF, UNC Asheville, Rutgers
Chance to build resume: 2/10 @Syracuse, 2/14 @Louisville, 2/24 Pittsburgh, 3/5 @Notre Dame, 3/9 vs Marquette
Odds to make the tournament: +220
Washington (Ken Pom 85, ESPN BPI 65)
Good Wins: St Louis, @California, @Stanford
Bad Losses: Albany, Nevada, Utah
Chance to build resume: 2/7 @UCLA, 2/13 vs Oregon, 2/20 @Arizona
Odds to make the tournament: +350
All futures odds courtesy of LVH
| FLORIDA | 4 |
| MICHIGAN | 4 |
| INDIANA | 5 |
| LOUISVILLE | 8 |
| DUKE | 8 |
| KANSAS | 10 |
| ARIZONA | 15 |
| SYRACUSE | 20 |
| OHIO ST | 25 |
| GONZAGA | 25 |
| MIAMI FL | 25 |
| KENTUCKY | 25 |
| MICHIGAN ST | 30 |
| PITTSBURGH | 30 |
| MINNESOTA | 40 |
| CREIGHTON | 50 |
| UCLA | 50 |
| BUTLER | 50 |
| MISSOURI | 60 |
| NORTH CAROLINA ST | 60 |
| CINCINNATI | 60 |
| NORTH CAROLINA | 75 |
| VCU | 75 |
| GEORGETOWN | 75 |
| UNLV | 75 |
| BAYLOR | 100 |
| WISCONSIN | 100 |
| MEMPHIS | 100 |
| NOTRE DAME | 100 |
| ST LOUIS | 100 |
| SAN DIEGO ST | 100 |
| NEW MEXICO | 100 |
| OREGON | 100 |
| OKLAHOMA ST | 100 |
| KANSAS ST | 200 |
| ALABAMA | 200 |
| WICHITA ST | 200 |
| OLE MISS | 200 |
| COLORADO ST | 200 |
| TEXAS | 300 |
| MARQUETTE | 300 |
| ILLINOIS | 300 |
| FIELD | 300 |
| FLORIDA ST | 500 |
| IOWA ST | 500 |
| BYU | 500 |
| ST MARY’S | 500 |
| LASALLE | 500 |
| OKLAHOMA | 500 |
| MARYLAND | 500 |
| TENNESSEE | 1000 |
| CALIFORNIA | 1000 |
| VIRGINIA | 1000 |
| WASHINGTON | 1000 |
| SETON HALL | 1000 |
| ST JOHN’S | 1000 |
| VILLANOVA | 1000 |
| STANFORD | 1000 |
| SOUTHERN MISS | 1000 |
| DAVIDSON | 1000 |
| OHIO U | 1000 |
| TEXAS A&M | 1000 |
| BELMONT | 1000 |
| XAVIER | 1000 |
| ARKANSAS | 1000 |
| COLORADO | 1000 |
| IOWA | 1000 |
| PURDUE | 2000 |
| TEMPLE | 2000 |
| WEST VIRGINIA | 2000 |
| ST JOE’S | 2000 |
| MURRAY ST | 2000 |
| SOUTH FLORIDA | 2000 |
| CLEMSON | 2000 |
| GEORGE MASON | 2000 |
| GEORGIA TECH | 2000 |
| U MASS | 2000 |
| DAYTON | 3000 |
| NORTHERN IOWA | 5000 |
| ST BONAVENTURE | 5000 |
| RUTGERS | 5000 |
| LONG BEACH ST | 5000 |
| LSU | 5000 |
| USC | 5000 |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | 5000 |
| VANDERBILT | 9999 |
| DREXEL | 9999 |
| MISSISSIPPI ST | 9999 |
| PROVIDENCE | 9999 |
| OREGON ST | 9999 |
| NORTHWESTERN | 9999 |
| MARSHALL | 9999 |
| GEORGIA | 9999 |
| VIRGINIA TECH | 9999 |
| HARVARD | 9999 |
| DEPAUL | 9999 |
| RICHMOND | 9999 |
| NEVADA | 9999 |
| UTAH ST | 9999 |
