Bracket Bits: A Holiday look at the NCAA picture

BRACKET BITS

Fresh off a great Christmas with the family.  Hope you had a wonderful day, too.  As the slate of NCAA hoops games is light for the next few days, time for a quick glance at the NCAA picture – particularly some at-large scenarios.  It’s broken down by conference.  If you don’t see a conference listed, assume we expect a single-bid as of this post (Dec. 26, 2009).  Let’s get started …

Atlantic 10 – Dayton is still the favorite; so consider the Flyers an NCAA team.  Temple has put together a solid non-conference profile, followed by Richmond.  Teams in the hunt include: Xavier, Rhode Island, and Charlotte.  Of those, XU, R. Island and Charlotte have the most work to do in-conference.  Our guess is at least three A-10 teams make the field, most likely four.

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – Despite three early losses (all to Top 5 teams), North Carolina remains our favorite.  Duke, Clemson, and Florida State are solid NCAA teams at this point.  Others in the at-large picture: Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Miami-FL.  Maryland, Boston College and NC State all face a heavier workload.