North Carolina among NIT field

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Illinois, Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State were anointed as the top seeds for the 32-team 2010 National Invitation Tournament.

The field was revealed Sunday night, approximately three hours after the NCAA Tournament disclosed its participants. Some teams that were on the bubble to make the Big Dance will play in the NIT, hoping to make its final four, which slated for Madison Square Garden on March 30, with the championship game two nights later.

North Carolina (16-16), which won the NCAA Tournament last year, is seeded fourth in the Mississippi State region and will open against William & Mary. This is UNC's sixth NIT appearance and first since 2003. The winner of that game will play the victor of Tuesday's matchup between Mississippi State (23-11) and Jackson State.

UAB is seeded second in that region and will play Coastal Carolina, while South Florida faces NC State in the 3-6 matchup.

Illinois (19-14), which lost in double-overtime to Ohio State in the semifinal of the Big Ten Tournament, will not open at home due to a scheduling conflict. Instead, the Illini will play on the road against eighth-seeded Stony Brook Wednesday.

Arizona State (22-10) starts play Tuesday at home against Jacksonville, while Virginia Tech (23-8) hosts Quinnipiac on Wednesday.

In the Illinois bracket, Cincinnati is seeded second and will take on Weber State in the first round. Dayton is seeded third with a first-round date against Illinois State, while Kent State and Tulsa tangle in the 4-5 meeting.

The winner of Arizona State/Jacksonville will face either Seton Hall or Texas Tech. Ole Miss is seeded second and will face Troy, while Memphis takes on St. John's in the other game in the bracket.

Connecticut gained a No. 4 seed in Virginia Tech's region and will host Northeastern on Tuesday. Rhode Island is No. 2 with an upcoming game vs. Northwestern, and Wichita State is third and will face Nevada.

Penn State won the NIT last year, beating Baylor in the championship game.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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