Bracketology, Just Because: Arizona State and Mississippi Editions

According to Google Images, these young ladies go to ASU.... On second thought, I can think of much worse things to happen to the Sun Devils than missing the NCAA Tournament.... One of those things is gonorrhea, but still...

In the edict for those of us on the Intertubes that use words to describe college basketball in informed (hopefully) and entertaining (rarely) ways, the right to create a bracket is indelible. It's right there with making fun of Dick Vitale and finding Erin Andrews attractive in the "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness" portion of our Constitution. And even though you can go basically anywhere else to get one of these bad boys (including here, here, here and here), I'm going to post my projected bracket every Tuesday and Friday until Selection Sunday anyway, with each including a extra special bonus*: a profile of a Bubble team or two.
*bonus may not be extra or special

Since it's basically impossible to post an entire bracket in a Blogger post without burning the retinas of readers, you can check it out in beautiful yet annoying spreadsheet form by clicking the link below. (Conference champs, the yellow cells, based on current league standings; auto-bids in teal or whatever that is).

Bracketology, March 11

Last Four In:
Syracuse (62)
Oregon (63)
Arizona State (64)
South Alabama (65)
First Four Out:
Mississippi (66)
New Mexico (67)
UAB (68)
Illinois State (69)

Bubble Profiles
Previously:
March 7, Ohio State and Florida
March 4, Maryland and New Mexico
February 29, St. Joe's and Kentucky
February 26, Rhode Island and UAB

IN: Arizona State
Record: 19-11 (9-9, Pac-10), 4-5 road, 5-6 vs. Top 50, 7-9 vs. Top 100
RPI: 76
Key Wins: Xavier, Arizona (2), Stanford, USC
Key Losses: Illinois, Nebraska, Washington State (2), UCLA (2), Cal, Washington


I personally think the Sun Devils should be considered a lock based on the seven Top 100 wins and the fact that they were only swept by UCLA and Washington State and swept Arizona and Oregon State in conference. For a 9-9, fifth place team in a league like the Pac-10, I'm not sure what else should be expected. But I realize that even with that win over Xavier (RPI: 9), their low RPI and nine wins against the bottom 150 in D-I is going to prove problematic. But still, I just don't see how you can beat the teams Arizona State has beaten, and prove to be a MUCH better team after November, and still be left out over the likes of New Mexico or Illinois State, both of which are safely in according to Joey Brackets, both of which have zero wins that can match the Sun Devils' best wins. Plus, ASU finished ahead of Oregon and Arizona in conference, two teams that look to be pretty safe at-large bets (or at least, safer). The lowest RPI to ever get an at-large was, wouldn't you know it, those pesky Lobos of New Mexico, that were ranked 74th in 1999. This team should be the most interesting Bubble case of the year now that Kentucky looks solid.

How To Stay/Get In: While I don't think it should come to this, it looks like the Sun Devils will have to beat USC in the Pac-10 first round (in LA no less), to get in. Not sure how a team with four top 20 wins, just two non-conference losses and a .500 record in the best conference in America has a must-win against the No. 31 RPI in the nation, but this is what we have come to in our little RPI/SOS age. The committee claims it doesn't consider RPI too much and the truth to that has been long debated. But if ASU loses Thursday afternoon, the Selection Committee's decision on them will be pretty solid evidence toward deciphering the reality on that issue. Now, if they win Thursday, and they did beat the Trojans March 1 in Tempe, the Sun Devils are in, no question, but with the way USC has been playing down the stretch, that's not going to be an easy task and could result in a long, excruciating wait for the Sun Devils.

OUT: Mississippi
Record: 21-9 (7-9, SEC), 2-7 road, 5-4 vs. Top 50, 7-4 vs. Top 100
RPI: 43
Key Wins: South Alabama, New Mexico, Winthrop, at Clemson, Florida, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Arkansas
Key Losses: Auburn (2), LSU, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama

Before the Bubble carnage last night, where losses by Gonzaga and South Alabama likely stole two at-large bids, I had Mississippi in, based off those seven wins against probably tournament teams, including fellow Bubblers South Alabama, New Mexico and Arkansas (although it split with the Razorbacks). Now it looks like a run in the SEC Tournament might be the only chance to overcome a poor conference record against a fairly weak imbalanced schedule. The Rebels split with MSU and Arkanas and only played Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and Vanderbilt once each. So five of those nine league losses were to the bottom five in the standings. But if you put Ole Miss' resume against the likes of the aforementioned New Mexico and South Alabama, teams it will be in direct competition with for bids, then the Selection Committee has a difficult decision. Losses to Auburn and LSU aren't so bad when compared to losses to the likes of North Texas and Middle Tennessee State (S. Alabama) or TCU and New Mexico State (New Mexico). The question is, even if they are ranked ahead of those two squads, how bad will they look when compared to Bubble teams from other, stronger BCS leagues like the Big East and Pac-10.

How To Stay/Get In: Well the first option is to use that creepy old tobacco-spittin, whiskey-dranking, likely pimp, definite pedophile they use as an alternative logo up there to creep the shit out of the Selection Committee into giving them a bid. But even if that guy does exist (and I'm sure he does down there), I doubt he has the transportation methods to get to Indianapolis. So instead, they need to beat Georgia for the second time in five days when they meet in the SEC Tourney Thursday and then need to beat Kentucky in the quarterfinals (or at least I think they play UK, the SEC bracket is not dissimilar to the Rosetta Stone) in one of those fancy "elimination" games everyone keeps talking about (even though losing that game shouldn't knock the Cats out, it will be deemed an elimination game by talking heads). That will probably be enough to get them in, depending on what happens elsewhere (like Butler winning tonight for starters). A loss to Kentucky wouldn't change the advantage over those Bubble teams and would still give them 22 wins and a Top 50 RPI, but losing in the conference quarters has some added weight (probably for no reason).
/end of paragraph rife with parenthetical statements